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Rachel Burstein is a research associate for the California Civic Innovation Project. Based in the Bay Area, Ms. Burstein is investigating how local governmental leaders use formal and informal networks to share information and make decisions, and how innovation spreads within and between cities.  

In addition to her work at the New America Foundation, Ms. Burstein is pursuing a PhD in History at the CUNY Graduate Center.  Her dissertation examines the public relations strategies of American labor unions between 1947 and 1959. Previously, Ms. Burstein worked as a researcher at Ithaka, an organization committed to promoting technology in higher education, and at the Samuel Bronfman Foundation in New York City. During her time in graduate school, Ms. Burstein taught courses at Brooklyn College (CUNY), provided project management for an assessment project at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, and completed freelance work for McGraw-Hill Higher Education, the American Social History Project and the Museum of the City of New York.  

Ms. Burstein graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a BA in History from Swarthmore College and holds an MPhil in History from the CUNY Graduate Center.