The headquarters of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Image Courtesy of Fox-orian / CC BY-SA 3.0
The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston has named five new members to the advisory board of the New England Public Policy Center, including two from Connecticut.
Founded in 2005, the NEPPC is part of the Boston Fed’s research department and informs regional policymaking by producing and sharing evidence-based research and analysis on New England’s economic issues, the Boston Fed said in a statement last week. Some recent work focused on education, the workforce, and household migration.
Board members advise the center on emerging research and how to best share findings with policy leaders in their states and communities, the statement said. The Boston Fed covers all of New England except Fairfield County.
Boston Fed Vice President Jeffrey Thompson, the center’s director, said in the statement that the new members have “expertise, perspective, and local connections that will strengthen the center’s research and ability to inform regional policy making.”
“Our advisory board members are crucial to how we connect to the region,” Thompson said. “We’re excited to welcome these five new members to the group, and we’re looking forward to the ways they help expand the center’s network and positive impacts.”
The new members include Rachel Grentencord, vice president of research at AdvanceCT, a nonprofit organization focused on engaging, retaining and recruiting businesses in Connecticut. Grentencord has more than 15 years of experience in real estate finance, asset management, and economic development, the statement said. Prior to joining AdvanceCT, she worked as a portfolio manager at Doral Bank and also worked as the program director for real estate development at the Economic Development Corp. in New Haven.
Also joining the 20-member board is Manisha Srivastava, a policy coordinator and economist in the data and policy analytics unit of the Connecticut Office of Policy & Management. Srivastava leads initiatives that use state data to inform policy, measure outcomes and promote research, the statement said. She was also part of the state’s COVID-19 response, establishing testing strategies and assisting with planning by helping determine the state’s financial needs. She was previously a tax policy analyst and economist, and she has published research related to population and migration trends, the gender wage gap, and the 2008 financial crisis, the statement said.
