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Allison Plyer, MBA, ScD: Deputy Director

allisonp@gnocdc.org

Allison Plyer is 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 housing in the New Orleans Metro. Allison is recognized as an expert in post–Katrina demographics and New Orleans recovery trends. 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, and again in 2008 resulting in another 25,000 person adjustment — ultimately bringing the estimate for New Orleans within 3 percent of the 2010 Census count. 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

  • Liu, A., Anglin, R., Mizelle, R., & Plyer, A. (Eds.). (2011). Resilience and opportunity: Lessons from the U.S. Gulf Coast after Katrina and Rita. Washington D.C.: Brookings Institution Press.
  • Plyer, A., & Colten, C. (2011). New Orleans Before and After Katrina. Assessing national resilience to hazards and disasters: The Perspective from the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Mississippi: Summary of a workshop. Washington D.C.: The National Academies Press. Retrieved from http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13178
  • Plyer, A., Pettit, K., & Ortiz, E. (2010, November 30). Optimizing blight strategies: Deploying limited resources in different neighborhood housing markets. Greater New Orleans Community Data Center. Retrieved June 27, 2011, from http://www.gnocdc.org/OptimizingBlightStrategies/index.html
  • Plyer, A., & Ortiz, E. (2010, August 4). Jobs that matter most: Regional export industries in the New Orleans area. Greater New Orleans Community Data Center. Retrieved June 27, 2011, from http://www.gnocdc.org/ExportIndustries/index.html
  • Plyer, A., Turner, M. A., Pettit, K., & Ortiz, E. (2009, November 12). Housing production needs: Three scenarios for New Orleans. Greater New Orleans Community Data Center. Retrieved June 27, 2011, from http://www.gnocdc.org/HousingProductionScenarios/index.html
  • Plyer, A., Bonaguro, J., & Hodges, K. (2010). Using administrative data to estimate population displacement and resettlement following a catastrophic U.S. disaster. Population & Environment, 31(1), 150–175. doi:10.1007/s11111-009-0091-3

Select Presentations

Awards

  • Phi Beta Kappa
  • The Power Generation 2001. CityBusiness, New Orleans.

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