Rita Ko
Rita Ko
Chief Data Officer
Director, Racial Equity Analytics Lab
Office of Race and Equity Research
  • Profile
  • Outside Affiliations
  • Rita Ko is the chief data officer and director of the Racial Equity Analytics Lab at the Urban Institute. A global data strategy and social impact executive with 15 years of experience as a trusted leader, Ko joins Urban from The Hive and USA for UNHCR’s innovation lab, where she was director. Her leadership is based in taking missions and visions to execution by leading multidisciplinary teams, designing technical roadmaps that build capacity, and operationalizing initiatives across organizations.

    Ko founded the USA for UNHCR Data advisory board and is a member of the Harvard Data Science Review advisory board. She received a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Toronto and an MBA from Cornell University.

    Research Areas
    Race and equity
    Tags
    Racial Equity Analytics Lab

    Outside Affiliations
    Harvard Data Science Review
    Advisory Board Member
    Body

    Urban experts are permitted and empowered to work and affiliate with outside organizations, whether serving on boards, volunteering their time, or providing advice and counsel. And Urban welcomes visiting scholars, nonresident or affiliated fellows who work for other organizations. These outside affiliations enrich our perspectives and our learning environment. We also require all paid and unpaid experts to disclose their affiliations to Urban leadership and follow rules governing their engagement to ensure transparency for audiences and independence of experts.