Honorary Academic Advisor (Economic Security Initiative)

Dr. Yunju Nam is an Associate Professor at the School of Social Work, University at Buffalo – the State University of New York. She holds a Ph.D. in Social Work and Social Science from the University of Michigan and a MSW from the University of Pennsylvania. 

Her scholarly interests center around economic inequality and social policy. She is particularly interested in financial capability and asset-building policies as social and economic development tools for disadvantaged populations, including immigrants and refugees, racial and ethnic minority groups, and low-income families. She has carried out economic security and financial capability among low-income Asian immigrants. She is currently conducting research on refugees’ economic integration in collaboration with Buffalo’s refugee community. Her research has been funded by various governmental agencies and private foundations, including the US Department of Health and Human Services, New York State Office of New Americans, Ford Foundation, and Hartford Foundation. Her work has been published in diverse scholarly journals, including Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Journal of Consumer Affairs, American Journal of Public Health, and the Gerontologist.