“Milwaukee policymakers and community members face a serious obstacle in working to improve housing conditions, neighborhood stability and displacement: we don’t know “who own’s what.” We need a public-facing portfolio of property ownership that shines a light on bad actors who neglect properties and profit illicitly.”
Branden DuPont has spent his career connecting analytics to community outcomes, especially regarding social justice.
A data analyst at the Medical College of Wisconsin, Brandon’s work focuses on criminal and civil justice policy. He has built a statewide database of Wisconsin Criminal Cases that analyzes sentencing and developed a method to evaluate statewide recidivism. He also built out a project that tracks evictions in the City of Milwaukee. Beyond Milwaukee, he recently analyzed Covid-19's effect on crime in Chicago. His work has been featured extensively in the news and highlighted by a variety of social organizations, including the Sunlight Foundation and the Safety and Justice Challenge Network.
Branden graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He also completed an executive program in applied data analytics offered collaboratively by the University of Chicago, the University of Maryland, and New York University.
Organization
Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
Area of Focus
Housing equity and justice
Fellowship Project
Property ownership mapping of landlords in Milwaukee inspired by Justfix.nyc to inform government, community organizations, and residents about “who owns what” and prevent derelict owners from hiding behind LLC structures.
Bringing the Power of Data to the People: Q&A with Branden DuPont
Branden DuPont, a 2021 Rubinger Fellow and data analyst in Milwaukee, created a property ownership mapping tool that has the potential to change the way cities handle evictions: “Who Owns What” makes it possible for local stakeholders to identify where evictions are happening, who owns those properties, and which landlords are the city’s most prolific evictors. DuPont sat down with us to explain how it works and why it’s so critical.