Rachel Halfaker is an Associate Director at the Center for Financial Markets at the Milken Institute. Halfaker works on the Institute’s Excellence and Equity in Public Finance and Resilient Infrastructure work which focuses on identifying innovative partnership and financing models for the public finance field and emerging investment strategies for resilient infrastructure. Prior to her work at the Milken Institute, Halfaker worked at the intersection of urban technology and economic development. She worked as an Urban Development Consultant in Deloitte’s Smart Cities practice supporting clients with regional and national place-based economic development and later as the Market Launch Lead for an urban tech startup in Washington D.C. Halfaker holds a Masters in Urban Planning from Georgetown University and a BS in Information Systems from the University of Florida.