I'm an anthropologist and ethnographer—of money, technology, institutions, and everyday economic and political life.
I’m a leader with experience building teams and guiding organizations through creative collaborations in industry, academia, and non-profits.
And I’m a market researcher, product lead, and consultant, strategist, and speaker with a track record of helping financial institutions and other organizations navigate uncertainty, build capacity, and grow with people-first, outcomes-oriented strategies.
I am currently the Vice President of Research and Insights at the Financial Health Network, a national nonprofit focused on consumer financial well-being.
Before that, I was the Senior Director of Market Insights and Advisory Services at the Filene Research Institute, the independent think tank of the U.S. credit union industry. I previously led Filene’s research team and portfolio.
I earned my PhD in Anthropology from the University of California, Irvine, where I also worked at the Institute for Money, Technology and Financial Inclusion. and I am the current Editor at Large (and former Co-Editor in Chief) of the Journal of Cultural Economy.
What’s new?
A blogpost on four words shaping the future of financial health
Brief reflections on trust
Thoughts on hybrid work and the tensions between bosses and workers
An idiosyncratic thought piece on dollarization, political economy, and apocalypse in Ecuador
A podcast and webinar interview series on navigating diverse publics in knowledge production and dissemination, and how to move between academic, industry, policy, and nonprofit worlds
Related to credit unions …
A newsletter on credit unions on strategy execution. Another one on open banking. And a third on organizational friction.
A new approach to consumer segmentation in financial services (+ more info here!)
A report on outcomes and learnings from an innovation group focused on building partnerships between HBCUs and community financial institutions
A deep dive into the implications of climate change for credit unions (+ a blogpost on some of the opportunities)
A big, chunky report on what makes small credit unions thrive
Email me at tnelms at finhealthnetwork dot org OR taylor dot nelms at gmail dot com.