Brian Reyes

CHCI Finance Postgraduate Fellow Presented by Bank of America
Hometown: Bronx, New York
School: University of Oxford
Degree: Master of Studies, U.S. History; Master of Science, Comparative Social Policy
Placement: U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

Brian (he/him) is the son of immigrants from the Dominican Republic and grew up in New York City between Spanish Harlem and the Bronx. For Brian, it was his upbringing in New York, where an act as simple as commuting to school entailed crossing racial and socioeconomic divides, that laid the foundation for his later interest in government. As he came to see that equality of opportunity in his city—and the country writ large—was far from reality, he developed an enduring commitment to remedying the divisions that shaped life at home and beyond. 

Brian earned a B.A. in History at Yale University as well as Master’s degrees in Social Policy and U.S. history at the University of Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship. Over the course of these years, he developed a background in policy analysis and research across a range of subject areas, animated by a central concern for economic equity. With the Nowak Metro Finance Lab at Drexel University, he was involved in engaging local and regional practitioners on the question of how federal funding for industrial policy could be translated into widely shared economic development. During a summer with the Brookings Institution, he worked on research projects related to inclusive local labor markets, while also supporting his team’s senior fellow as she prepared for a Senate confirmation hearing. Meanwhile, with the Nowak Lab as well as the D.C.-based organization Prosperity Now, Brian has authored or co-authored various reports, blog posts, and newsletter columns with an underlying focus on how to build and retain wealth in historically disadvantaged communities. 

As a CHCI Postgraduate Fellow, Brian hopes to continue developing the attributes that will help him be a committed and competent public servant in the future, such as familiarity with the legislative process and knowledge of economic policy. After completing his CHCI fellowship, Brian will attend Yale Law School.