Thomas Asher

Thomas Asher
Tom Asher is the Director of Research and Engagement at Columbia World Projects at Columbia University in the City of New York. He was also Senior Fellow in the Office of Management and Budget at the White House, where he executed US President Biden’s priority for advancing racial equity.

Thomas Asher joined Columbia World Projects in 2018 and leads work to address democratic futures, responsive government, and civic infrastructure. Prior to joining CWP, Tom worked at the Social Science Research Council for a decade where he directed grant and fellowship programs to strengthen social science research capacity and networks across the world, including in Africa, Asia, and the United States. He was a visiting fellow at Centre for Humanities Research at the University of Western Cape in 2019. He spent the last year on leave from Columbia, executing President Biden’s priority for advancing racial equity and leading a whole-of-government effort to insert robust community engagement and public participation into the design and implementation of federal policies, programs, and practices. Tom also was part of a collective installation on migration in Southern Africa at the landmark 2023 Venice Biennale Architettura. He holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Chicago.

Tom is an institution builder who has developed innovative programs with a track record of significant success in government, NGOs, and universities. He builds global networks that connect rising and established leaders from community and movement organizations, practitioner groups, government, foundations, and research institutions to address longstanding challenges to democracy, civic infrastructure, equity, thriving communities.