David Edwards

David Edwards is the founding executive director of the Center for Urban Research and a professor of practice in the School of Public Policy at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He also serves as the policy advisor for neighborhoods in the Office of the Mayor in the City of Atlanta. He is the former chief executive officer of Purpose Built Communities, a nonprofit focused on revitalizing distressed urban neighborhoods. Edwards also served as the global offerings manager for IBM’s Smarter Cities program and served as the chief policy advisor for the City of Atlanta during the two terms of Mayor Shirley Franklin. He spent eight years in corporate management consulting, most recently at the Boston Consulting Group. Before his management consulting career, Edwards led the strategic planning team at Columbia University while serving as the Associate Provost for Academic Affairs. Edwards began his career at the Office of Management and Budget in the Executive Office of the President in Washington D.C. He is the author of numerous articles and white papers on public administration, neighborhood revitalization, public safety, and the relationship between poverty and place. He earned a Master’s in Public Policy from Duke University and two Bachelor of Arts degrees in Economics and History from Franklin and Marshall College.