MATHIEU (Mat) DESPARD (he/him/his) is a Consultant with the Center for Social Development and an adjunct Assistant Professor at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. From 2021 to 2023, Despard served on the Academic Research Council for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. He has been engaged in research at CSD and Washington University since 2006. An expert on the intersection of employment and financial health, financial technology, social welfare and tax policy, and household financial well-being among low- and moderate-income households, he has taught graduate courses in social work (MSW and PhD) for 17 years. Prior to his academic career, he worked for 16 years primarily with nonprofit organizations serving low- and moderate-income households.
Despard is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he earned his MSW and his PhD degrees.