On July 28 the Atlanta Regional Commission announced Ann Carpenter as the agency’s Chief Research and Innovation Officer, a new role aimed at bringing data onto the executive level.
Carpenter will head up the 11-county agency’s Research and Analytics Department, previously led by Mike Carnathan. The new role expands beyond the research team, though. Carpenter will join the executive leadership team and report directly to CEO Anna Roach.
The Chief Research and Innovation Officer aims to bring together data-driven insights and regional planning. As CRIO, Carpenter will help shape the commission’s long term vision and decision making process – the agency works in over 75 cities across the region to help communities thrive through investments and data-oriented planning, .
“I am excited to join the talented team at ARC and work across the agency to make Metro Atlanta a better place to live,’ Carpenter said. “I look forward to focusing my efforts on the Atlanta region, a place that I love and care about deeply.”
It won’t be Carpenter’s first time working with the ARC. She previously worked as the Assistant Vice President and Director of Community Development Research at the Federal Reserve Bank. In that role, she worked on issues like affordable housing, workforce development and community resilience.
Her team covered several issues that the ARC focuses on, and she worked directly with the agency during the COVID-19 pandemic. Carpenter worked with the commission to create an eviction tracker data tool used during the pandemic.
She also sat on the Advisory Board of the Atlanta Regional Housing Forum, which is co-hosted by ARC. Prior to the reserve, she also worked at the Georgia Tech Research Institute for 12 years.
The local leader was chosen after a national search, but Carpenter has roots in Atlanta. She’s a Georgia Tech graduate, Advisory Councilmember Urban Land Institute of Atlanta and Board Secretary of the Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership.
“Ann is a strong leader who brings a unique combination of subject matter expertise, technical know-how and passion for the Atlanta region,” ARC Executive Director and CEO Anna Roach said.
Expect to see a tangible difference from decisions based on deep data analysis.