Jim Miller serves as the Policy & Innovation Center’s senior research fellow, developing and communicating actionable, equity-focused research and technical information, and writing grants. Miller’s experience as a regional and environmental economist and writer, and his specializations in public speaking and benefit-cost analysis, strengthen PIC’s team and its work to support a variety of stakeholders and the public with research and policy analysis to help solve the region’s biggest problems.

Miller has more than three decades of experience in economic research and statistical analysis for regional and federal agencies with a focus on housing, environmental, and transportation programs. He is also a published writer whose work has been featured in The Washington Post and currently on Bluedot Living.

Prior to joining PIC, Miller served for eight years as senior economist for the San Diego Association of Governments, where he helped manage the agency’s economic research team, presenting analyses on the regional economy to regional leaders, stakeholder groups, and the public.

Previously, as the Wampanoag Tribe’s environmental program coordinator, Miller designed and managed projects and obtained grants to support the Tribe’s environmental and natural resource programs. As transportation planner for the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, Miller drafted the agency’s regional transportation plan.

Earlier in his career, Miller also served as an economist for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and an analyst for an environmental consulting firm in Virginia.

Passionate about civic policy related to urban planning and the environment, Miller served as a board member of Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation and the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, both in Massachusetts. He holds a master’s degree in environmental economics from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a bachelor's degree in economics from Wesleyan University.