Laurel Bliss

Laurel Bliss is currently the Research Manager at Interise, a position they have held since July 2021. Prior to that, they were the Program Associate, Research and Evaluation at Interise from July 2021 to May 2022. In that role, Laurel Bliss was responsible for maintaining and developing program evaluation surveys for Interise's core programs, including their flagship 13-week course that graduates over 1000 alumni annually. Laurel also analyzed program impact for both technical and general audiences, as well as data to improve programming and promote mobility for small businesses in low- to moderate-income census tracts and/or with minority owners.

From June 2020 to June 2021, Laurel Bliss was the Senior Research Support Associate (Political Science) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In that role, they provided research support to faculty and students in the Department of Political Science, with a focus on American politics and public policy.

Before that, Laurel Bliss was the Civic Engagement Intern at Scholars Strategy Network from October 2019 to March 2020, where they assisted with research projects on voting rights and democracy, among other topics.

Laurel Bliss began their career as a Summer Research Fellow at MassINC in June 2019, where they worked on a variety of research projects focused on Massachusetts public policy issues.

Laurel Bliss earned their Bachelor's degree in Political Science & Civic Studies from Tufts University. Laurel has a certification from Essential Partners in Basic Essential Partners Facilitation Training.

Laurel Bliss reports to Harrison Ackerman, Sr. Program Manager Research.