Chika Okafor

As an economist and a lawyer with diverse policy and leadership expertise, Chika O. Okafor uses the tools of economics, law, and public policy to explore foundational matters of justice—with recent research spanning economic inequality, criminal justice, and climate change. Methodologically, his scholarship integrates economic theory, empirical techniques, and legal analysis to uncover mechanisms of—as well as inform solutions to—major economic and social problems impacting contemporary American society.

Okafor has public and private sector expertise on the local, national, and international level. He is licensed to practice law in New York (active status) and Illinois (inactive status). A former consultant with McKinsey & Company, he is also a former attorney in the London office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. Okafor has consistently worked to translate private sector skills into public sector impact. As a public policy practitioner, he has led elements of local gun violence prevention efforts with the Chicago Public Schools, supported national economic and environmental policy with the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), and promoted international human rights with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide.

Okafor earned his PhD in economics from Harvard University, his JD from Yale Law School, and his BA from Stanford University.