Allison Plyer is chief demographer of The Data Center, an independent research institution based in New Orleans, and she is Chair of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Scientific Advisory Committee. Plyer is recognized as an international expert in demographics and disaster recovery trends. She is co-author of The New Orleans Index series, developed in collaboration with the Brookings Institution to analyze the state of the New Orleans recovery post-Katrina. She is also co-author of The New Orleans Prosperity Index, which examines the extent to which economic outcomes have improved for black New Orleanians since the end of the Civil Rights era. Allison received her doctorate in science from Tulane University’s School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.