KaLeigh White

KaLeigh White is a National Poverty Fellow for 2023–2025 in residence in the Division of Economic Independence (DEI) at the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE). White earned her PhD in sociology at the University of Iowa. Her research interests include social inequality and equity, social policy, poverty alleviation, and quantitative methods. Her dissertation examined how experiences of social safety net program benefit conditions (e.g., work requirements) and sanctions (e.g., benefit cuts) are related to participant well-being, including material hardship, health, and sense of autonomy. In her work, she seeks to use data to inform policy and practice decisions and empower communities. She was a 2021–2022 awardee of the Behavioral Interventions Scholars (BIS) grant from OPRE and the U.S. Administration for Children and Families. Prior to graduate school, White gained practice-based experience in leadership positions focused on social service provision in rural communities. White is mentored by IRP Affiliate Katherine Michelmore and Heather Hahn, Associate Vice President of the Center on Labor, Human Services, and Population at the Urban Institute.