Vanessa Brown Calder

About the Author

Vanessa Brown Calder is a policy analyst at the Cato Institute, where she focuses on social welfare, housing, and urban policy. Previously, Calder worked as a graduate fellow in welfare studies at The Heritage Foundation, where she analyzed the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and Chicago’s housing voucher program. Calder has published articles on housing and poverty at the Daily Signal and Kennedy School Review and consulted for a nonpartisan state policy think tank. Much of her experience is in environmental consulting for the energy industry, urban planning for local municipalities, and international development for a humanitarian organization.

Calder holds a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard Kennedy School. Her thesis, which was selected for showcase, focused on the role of incomplete survey data in measuring housing affordability. She attended Brigham Young University and University of Utah, and graduated at the latter with a bachelor of science in urban planning, summa cum laude.