Allison Plyer, MBA, ScD: Deputy Director

allisonp@gnocdc.org | 504-304-8260 x225

Allison Plyer is co–Deputy Director of the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center. She works collaboratively with the Brookings Institution to analyze the state of the New Orleans recovery through the regular publication of The New Orleans Index and with the Urban Institute to analyze the state of the New Orleans housing market. Allison is recognized as an expert in post–Katrina demographics and New Orleans recovery trends. Her other areas of expertise include market research and analysis. Allison spearheaded the City of New Orleans’ challenge to the Census Bureau’s 2007 population estimate, resulting in a nearly 50,000 person adjustment to the Bureau’s estimate of the city’s population. She frequently provides commentary on recovery issues to local and national media such as WDSU television, WWL radio, the New Orleans Times Picayune, NPR, the Associated Press and the New York Times.

Allison joined Knowledge Works with 12 years experience developing the management capacity of nonprofit and micro-enterprise organizations in New Orleans, the San Francisco Bay Area and Guatemala. Additionally, she has almost a decade of experience in the for-profit sector as a marketing consultant to large and small companies including AT&T, Barnes and Noble, Lexus, and Inc. Magazine. Allison received her Doctorate in Science from Tulane University’s School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine with a dissertation entitled “An Analysis of Administrative Data for Measuring Population Displacement and Resettlement Following a Catastrophic U.S. Event.” She has an MBA in marketing and organizational behavior from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and a BA in religious studies and Spanish from Vanderbilt University.

Expertise

• Post–Katrina demographics and recovery trends
• Census data
• Market research and analysis

Experience

• Director of Grant Seekers Assistance, Center for Nonprofit Resources
• Business Support Services Specialist, Women’s Initiative for Self Employment
• Consultant, Rxiin Tnamet
• Consultant, Kestnbaum & Company

Education

• ScD in Health Systems Management, Tulane University
• MBA in Marketing and Organizational Behavior, Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University
• BA in Religious Studies and Spanish, Vanderbilt University

Select Publications

• Plyer, A., J. Bonaguro, & K. Hodges. (November 2009). Using Administrative Data to Estimate Population Displacement and Resettlement Following a Catastrophic U.S. Disaster. Population and Environment. Available at: http://www.springerlink.com/content/27r338422847q807/

Select Presentations

• Plyer, Allison. (Aug 2008). “Three Years After Katrina: Findings from The New Orleans Index plus new analysis after Hurricane Gustav.” The Gulf Coast and the New Administration: An Agenda for the First 100 Days, Washington DC. Available at: www.vimeo.com/2101445/

Awards

• The Power Generation 2001. CityBusiness, New Orleans.