Sheida Elmi is the Research Program Manager at the Aspen Institute Financial Security Program (FSP). She believes in learning directly from people’s lived experiences to elevate, shape, or otherwise influence policy, product, and programs that can improve family financial security. Sheida manages FSP’s Consumer Insights Collaborative, an effort across nine nonprofits to collectively understand and amplify data about the financial lives of families with low- or moderate-incomes. She supports research efforts related to guaranteed income and cash infusions, wealth building, liquid savings, public and workplace benefit arrangements, and other projects connecting short- and long-term financial security. Before joining Aspen, Sheida was an Associate Manager with The Pew Charitable Trusts. There, she led quantitative analyses, in-depth interviews, and focus groups to explore how families fare across different measures of financial well-being. Before that, she was a research analyst at MEF Associates, where she helped evaluate federal programs aimed at promoting economic security through education, matched-savings accounts, and employment and training programs.

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Sheida received a Master of Public Policy degree from UC Berkeley, and a Bachelor’s degree in political science and international studies from Northwestern University.