Safiya Merchant works on the policy team at the City of Detroit's Housing & Revitalization Department, where she focuses on strategy development, policy research and analysis, and community engagement on affordable housing and homelessness issues. She graduated with a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of Michigan's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy in 2021. Before starting her public policy career, she worked in higher education communications and as a journalist. After obtaining a bachelor's degree in journalism from Northwestern University in 2014, she worked for newspapers in the Chicago area and Calhoun County, Michigan, where she developed a passion for community-centered policymaking.