Irene Lew is the Senior Research Analyst at United Neighborhood Houses, where she is charged with using data and evidence-based research to help promote UNH’s policy priorities and elevate the importance of the settlement house model. She joins UNH after five years as a Policy Analyst at the Community Service Society of New York (CSS), where she conducted economic, demographic and labor market research to help improve the upward mobility of low-income New Yorkers—this included analysis of the inequitable impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic; making the case for investing in public transit affordability through the Fair Fares program; supports for out-of-school, out-of-work young adults; raising awareness of paid sick leave; and expanding labor protections for app-based workers. Prior to CSS, Irene was a Research Analyst at the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, where she conducted research on housing challenges and issues faced by low-income households. Irene received her Master’s degree in Urban Policy Analysis and Management from The New School.
Irene was born and raised in Queens, where she currently lives with her husband and two daughters. When she’s not crunching numbers, she is running, in the rock-climbing gym, or eating her way through all the delicious food in Queens.
