Bruce Katz

Bruce Katz is the Co-Founder and inaugural Director of the Nowak Metro Finance Lab. Katz regularly advises global, national, state, regional, and municipal leaders on public reforms and private innovations that advance the well-being of metropolitan areas and their countries. He was the inaugural Centennial Scholar at the Brookings Institution from January 2016 to March 2018, focusing on the challenges and opportunities of global urbanization. In particular, his work codified global models around the strategic use of public assets, including case studies of public asset corporations like Copenhagen’s City and Port, and Hamburg’s HafenCity. Prior to this role, Katz was a vice president at the Brookings Institution and founding Director of the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program. Before joining Brookings, Katz served as chief of staff to U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros and as senior counsel and staff director for the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Housing and Urban Affairs. After the 2008 presidential election, Bruce co-led the housing and urban transition team for the Obama administration and served as a senior advisor to Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan for the first 100 days of the Administration. During this time, he was integrally involved in creating the Sustainable Communities Program, which helped cities and metros integrate transportation, housing, and land use. Katz is a graduate of Brown University and Yale Law School and is a senior staff member and advisor to the Task Force.