Sarah Williams is Associate professor of technology and urban planning at MIT, where she directs the Civic Data Design Lab and the Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism. Trained in computation and design, she creates tools and visualizations that make complex urban issues visible to the public, a process she calls Data Action, also the title of her recent MIT Press book. Her projects — ranging from mapping informal transit systems to visualizing the cost of migration — aim to spark dialogue and drive policy change. Her work has been exhibited at the Guggenheim, MoMA, the Venice Biennale, and the Cooper Hewitt and presented to Congress. She has received numerous awards for innovation in design and civic engagement. Before MIT, she co-directed the Spatial Information Design Lab at Columbia University.