Melody Harvey

Melody Harvey was a National Poverty Fellow at the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation from 2018 to 2020 and was mentored by IRP Affiliate J. Michael Collins. Harvey earned her Ph.D. at the RAND Pardee Graduate School. She is a social scientist who studies how public policies affect financial capability among economically vulnerable populations. Her current research encompasses three main domains: (1) assessing the effects of K–12 financial education policies on youth and young adults’ financial outcomes across different socioeconomic groups; (2) investigating how financial regulations affect alternative financial services use; and (3) examining heterogeneities in consumer policy implementation. Harvey is currently an Assistant Professor of Consumer Science at University of Wisconsin–Madison.