Economic and Social Well-being of Indigenous Children: Recent Research

In this talk, Randall Akee, Professor of Indigenous Governance and Development at the Harvard Kennedy School will share an overview of recent economic research that aims to answer these questions. Focusing on American Indian and other Indigenous Peoples children, the research used a combination of administrative and survey-based data.

Dr. Akee will also examine how intergenerational mobility differs for American Indians and other groups in the U.S and summarize some data on differences in mortality for First Nations’ children and that of non-natives in Canada.

Randall Kekoa Akee is the Julie Johnson Kidd Professor of Indigenous Governance and Development at the Harvard Kennedy School. Previously he was a Professor in the Department of Public Policy and American Indian Studies at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles), where he served as the Chair of the American Indian Studies Department. Dr. Akee completed his doctorate at Harvard University in June 2006, is an applied microeconomist, and has worked in the areas of Labor Economics, Economic Development and Migration. He spent several years working for the State of Hawaii Office of Hawaiian Affairs Economic Development Division. Previously, he served as a David M. Rubenstein Fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution and has served on the University of California Office of the President’s Native American Advisory Council.

Dr. Akee also served on the National Advisory Council on Race, Ethnic, and Other Populations at the US Census Bureau. For the year 2022-2023, Dr. Akee served as a Senior Economist in the Council of Economic Advisers in the Office of the White House working on Labor and Social Inclusion topics. Dr. Akee also conducted work for the US Census Bureau focusing on the Statistical Products First initiative. Currently, Dr. Akee is a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) in Labor Studies and the Children’s Groups.

This talk is made possible thanks to the generous financial support from the David & Cecilia Ting Endownment for Education for Public Responsibility and BMO (Bank of Montreal). We are grateful for their support.

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