Researchers Jarrod Goentzel and Lauren Finegan of the MIT Humanitarian Supply Chain Lab have used their research and experience to inform policymakers and relevant stakeholders on several critical policy topics, including restoring housing supply chains after disasters and a nationally coordinated disaster research strategy.
With support from the Policy Lab, Jarrod and Lauren facilitated a housing policy roundtable in Washington, DC that brought together relevant stakeholders from private industry, academia, and state, local and federal governments. The roundtable resulted in a report that identified five policy recommendations for scaling post-disaster housing capacity.
This engagement and its publication resulted in Lauren being interviewed by the Washington Post during the devastating wildfires in southern California in January 2025, wherein she described the MIT research that could be leveraged by policymakers to restore affected communities.
