Since joining Heartland Forward, Jackson Li has worked on reports including Most Dynamic Metropolitans 2022 and 2023 as well as Most Dynamic Micropolitans 2022. Additionally, he assisted the research economists on a report released called Keepers of a Healthy Heartland:  Strategies for Building a Robust Health Care Workforce.

Jackson graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he majored in economics and attended Johns Hopkins on the Washington, D.C. campus, where he received his master’s in applied economics. While working on his master’s, Li contributed to scholarly reports including U.S. Foreign Policy Toward Latin America During the Pandemic Outbreak, The Effects of Unemployment Benefits During the Pandemic and Sports Team Performances v. GDP Per Capita Growth.

He was raised in China and made his way ultimately to the U.S. from Australia.