Staff

Expertise

• Racial Wealth Gap
• Integrated Data Systems
• Education
• Health

Elaine Jacobs joined the Charlotte Urban Institute after more than 20 years with the Charlotte Observer, most recently as the newsroom administration manager. Currently, she serves as the operations manager working with Executive Director Lori Thomas, Ph.D., and other directors to manage the overall work of the Institute — especially with pre and post-award grant […]

Andrew McGomery is the director of the Transportation Information Management System (TIMS) at the Charlotte Urban Institute. Andrew provides technical assistance to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction in the implementation of TIMS. Prior to joining the Institute, Andrew served in various capacities for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools as the technology specialist for a year, TIMS […]

Dr. Eric Moore a is a senior research associate for the Charlotte Urban Institute. He earned his doctorate in political science from Binghamton University in 2018 with a focus on voter behavior, electoral institutions, and quantitative research methods. While he has worked predominantly in higher educational settings, Dr. Moore always enjoys working with data and […]

Dr. Liz Morrell is the director of public policy research at the Charlotte Urban Institute.  She brings with her to this role a broad set of experiences in applied research, organizational development and community engagement. Previously, she worked as the historic and cultural resources manager for Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation, where she managed the effort to […]

Jenny Niu is a research associate who is originally from China. She holds a master’s degree in public health from Tufts School of Medicine with a concentration in epidemiology and biostatistics. Previously, Jenny served as a community health strategist at the Gaston County Department of Health, where her experience conducting comprehensive assessments to identify local […]

Nick Occhipinti is the data scientist at the Charlotte Urban Institute for the Charlotte Regional Data Trust where he updates and maintains the Institute’s data warehouse. Part of his responsibilities also include looking at new ways to improve current processes such as improvements to record linkage between entities in the different datasets we receive and […]

Fatima Rodriguez Caba is a research assistant from Charlotte, North Carolina. She graduatedfrom Winston-Salem State University with a bachelor’s degree in social work. She earned hermaster’s degree in social work from UNC Charlotte in May 2024. Fatima is passionate aboutpromoting access to resources and services within local and international communitiesthrough research and the arts. When […]

Expertise

• Housing instability
• Chronic homelessness
• Mixed Methods research
• Evaluation
• Participatory research models

Dr. Kailas Venkitasubramanian leads the data science practice of the Charlotte Urban institute in his role as director of research analytics. As an engineer turned social scientist, who metamorphosed as a data scientist over the years,  Dr. Venkitasubramanian works at the intersection of social science disciplines, including public policy, sociology, public health and education with […]