Background & experience
Emily Goldstein is an associate director at ESI and leads economic analysis and strategic advisory work for public agencies, nonprofit organizations, and private sector clients. She manages this range of projects across the firm’s economic development, government and public policy, and equity and inclusion practice areas. With nearly a decade of experience in economic policy, urban planning, and data-driven decision-making, helping clients evaluate investment strategies, policy choices, and planning initiatives.
Emily plays a central role in delivering economic impact studies, labor market and demographic analyses, disparity studies, and real estate market assessments for communities, institutions, and private entities navigating growth, reinvestment, and changing market conditions. Her work emphasizes rigorous quantitative analysis to help clients understand impacts, evaluate tradeoffs across policy and investment options, and communicate findings clearly to decision-makers.
Beyond these core analytical engagements, Emily delivers an array of planning and development services, including market research, program evaluation, and geospatial analysis. Her experience includes place-based economic development strategies, corridor and site-specific redevelopment analyses, and real estate market and feasibility studies, with a focus on translating complex data into practical, decision-ready insights aligned with client goals and local context.
Emily earned a Master of City Planning from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Arts in geography, public policy, and urban planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to joining the firm, she worked in applied economic research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and supported capital planning and commercial corridor redevelopment for business improvement districts in New York City. Emily is an active Urban Land Institute (ULI) member, serving in a leadership role on ULI America’s national Urban Revitalization Council.
