Peter Casey is Director of Strategy at CPL’s UCLA site. He aligns CPL’s work with its goal to improve the lives of Californians by informing and influencing public policy with high-quality research.

Peter developed his passion for public policy through his early work as a staff member at a homeless shelter, a public school teacher, an after-school tutoring program manager, and a behavioral health specialist at a youth intensive residential treatment center. These experiences inspired him to attend graduate school to learn how public policy can address the structural conditions that create poverty and inequality. After graduate school, Peter worked as a Data Scientist at the Democratic National Committee. While there, he also volunteered as an organizer to improve housing and homeless services in Washington, D.C. His volunteer work sparked his interest in the impact of local government on people’s lives, so he took a job as an inaugural member of The Lab @ DC, a policy lab in the mayor’s office.

While at The Lab @ DC, Peter worked on a wide range of public policy research, but he was most passionate about work that helped people overcome homelessness and rise out of poverty. Working with the D.C. Deputy Mayor for Education and the Department of Human Services, Peter designed, implemented, and evaluated a ride-share subsidy program for improving school attendance among children experiencing homelessness in short-term family housing. He also supported implementation and evaluation of the D.C. Flexible Rent Subsidy program. Peter later developed his leadership and management skills as the Director of Analytics at Catalist, a data firm that supports progressive political organizations, and then as Program Director for Data Science for Social Good at Carnegie Mellon University.

At CPL, Peter provides operational and research leadership especially in the areas of homelessness and employment services. Peter is actively engaged with partners in the LA area to develop, support, and evaluate efforts to resolve homelessness. He also leads work improving CPL’s use of predictive analytics including an initiative focused on preventing long-term unemployment. Peter is deeply committed to the ethical and equitable use of data to improve public policy, and actively works to ensure it.

Peter recently relocated to Los Angeles from Pittsburgh. He loves to be outdoors and to read social histories about the places he lives, as well as spending time with his wife, Stephanie, and his dog, Charlie.