Kristin Seefeldt has been named acting faculty director of Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan through June 2025 while inaugural faculty director Luke Shaefer is on sabbatical.
Seefeldt, who has served as associate faculty director of Poverty Solutions since 2019, has established a national reputation for her contributions to U-M’s poverty research agenda over the past three decades.
She was a researcher on a number of U-M studies of welfare reform conducted during the late 1990s and early 2000s. From 2004-10, she was assistant director of the National Poverty Center, when U-M hosted the federally funded research center that preceded Poverty Solutions, which launched as a presidential initiative in 2016.
Seefeldt is an associate professor of social work in the School of Social Work and an associate professor of public policy in the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in sociology and public policy from U-M.
Seefeldt is the principal investigator administering and studying Guaranteed Income to Grow Ann Arbor, an innovative guaranteed-income pilot providing monthly payments of $528 to 100 low-income entrepreneurs and gig workers in Ann Arbor in 2024 and 2025.
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She also is part of the research team for the Community Tech Workers program in Detroit. Seefeldt’s overall research agenda focuses on how policy and economic changes affect people’s everyday lives.
“I am enthusiastic about the future outlook of the Poverty Solution initiative, and I am looking forward to working with Professor Seefeldt as its acting director. Her professional track record places her in a unique position to lead this initiative to new levels of growth and engagement,” said Valeria Bertacco, vice provost for engaged learning.
Seefeldt steps in for Shaefer, who founded Poverty Solutions in 2016 and established its focus on action-based research, done in partnership with policymakers and community groups, to find new ways to prevent and alleviate poverty.
During his sabbatical, Shaefer will continue his role as principal investigator for Rx Kids, a first-of-its-kind citywide maternal cash assistance program in Flint that works in partnership with Michigan State University. It recently received $20 million from Michigan’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds to expand to other communities across the state.
