Sarah Williams is an associate professor of technology and urban planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she also directs the Civic Data Design Lab and the Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism. She combines her training in computation and design to create communication strategies that expose urban policy issues to broad audiences and promote civic change. She’s the author of the book “Data Action,” named after this process. Williams also co-founded and developed Envelope.city, a web-based software product that visualizes and allows users to modify zoning in New York City. Previously, she was co-director of the Spatial Information Design Lab at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation. Her design work has been exhibited at the Guggenheim, MoMA, Venice Biennale and the Cooper Hewitt Museum.