FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 12, 2026
City of Charlottesville Welcomes Abigail Matthew Wade as Economic Mobility Officer
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – The City of Charlottesville is pleased to announce that Abigail Matthew Wade has joined the City Manager’s Office as the City’s new Economic Mobility Officer, beginning last week. In this newly created role, Matthew Wade will lead the City’s efforts to strengthen pathways to opportunity and reduce poverty by coordinating work across City departments and in close partnership with the community.
Matthew Wade will work closely with the Assistant to the City Manager and City leadership to build and implement Charlottesville’s Economic Mobility and Opportunity Work Plan, a framework designed to align the many programs, partners, and investments already supporting residents across the community.
“Economic mobility is about more than programs — it’s about whether people can see a real path forward for themselves and their families,” said City Manager Sam Sanders. “Abi brings deep expertise, lived experience, and a collaborative approach that will help Charlottesville build a more connected and effective strategy for advancing opportunity across our community.”
Prior to joining the City, Matthew Wade worked at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where she led and supported interagency and intra-agency efforts focused on reducing poverty and expanding opportunity for families. Her work included staffing the federal U.S. Interagency Council on Economic Mobility, supporting national strategies to reduce child poverty, partnering with people with lived experience on project teams, and designing learning efforts around benefit cliffs—the point at which individuals who earn more income can lose access to essential public benefits, creating barriers to economic advancement.
“Charlottesville is my home, and I was excited by the opportunity to think about economic mobility in a community I’ve been part of for years,” said Matthew Wade. “This work is about building a shared direction with residents—understanding what economic mobility looks like here and then working together to move the needle in meaningful, lasting ways.”
Matthew Wade brings both professional and personal commitment to the role. “I have lived experience with poverty, which is what drew me to this work in the first place,” she said. “At its core, economic mobility is about ensuring that people who have experienced poverty or struggled to make ends meet at any point in their lives have real opportunities to thrive—especially here in Charlottesville.”
Matthew Wade holds a Master of Arts in Economics from the University of Virginia’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Williams College, where she concentrated in Latina/o/x Studies.
Her work in Charlottesville will focus on building a citywide, community-informed economic mobility strategy that brings together City departments, community organizations, and residents to identify barriers, align resources, and co-design solutions that expand opportunity.
“This work is meant to be built with the community, not just for it,” Matthew Wade said. “Some of the most important expertise already exists right here—in our neighborhoods, in our nonprofits, and in the lived experience of residents. My job is to help bring that together into a clear, shared plan for where we’re going.”
Matthew Wade lives in Charlottesville with her husband and enjoys exploring the local food scene, caring for her indoor plants, and following both college and NFL football.
Media Contact:
Afton Schneider
Director of Communications & Public Engagement
City of Charlottesville
434-996-0331
media@charlottesville.gov