Dr. Linda Swanson // Senior Associate
Dr. Linda Swanson, of LLS Research/Consulting since 1999, serves as a consultant in demographics and economic development for rural and farming communities, as well as for organizations with an agricultural and rural development focus.
She worked for the Economic Research Service (ERS) of USDA as a demographer for 19 years (1980 to 1999), first as a member and then as the Leader of the Population Section in the Rural Development Division. The Population Section provides demographic and development research on the U.S. farm population and rural communities to Federal government agencies and Congress, and also to rural communities themselves. In her last several years at ERS, by working directly with the national Rural Empowerment Zones, Dr. Swanson formulated methods to maximize the usefulness of research results to rural community leaders as they make economic development decisions for their area.
She worked as Senior Policy Associate for Regional Technology Strategies, Inc. from 2002-2005, focusing primarily on cluster-based economic development options, including an international network of rural community colleges in creative economies.
Dr. Swanson holds a Masters and PhD in Sociology, with a specialization in Demography, from the University of Michigan.