Equitable Growth Announces Janelle Jones as New Vice President of Policy and Advocacy
Former DOL chief economist and renowned economic inequality researcher will oversee the development and execution of the organization’s policy and advocacy strategy
CONTACT:
Katie Wilcoxson, kwilcoxson@equitablegrowth.org
WASHINGTON – The Washington Center for Equitable Growth announced today that Janelle Jones has been named its new Vice President of Policy and Advocacy. She joins the organization from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), where she served as chief economist and policy director.
“We are thrilled to welcome Janelle Jones as our new Vice President of Policy and Advocacy,” said Equitable Growth President and CEO Shayna Strom. “Her extensive experience in economic policy, including her time in the Biden administration, think tanks, and the labor movement, makes her uniquely well-equipped to spearhead the next chapter of Equitable Growth’s policy and advocacy programming. We look forward to her leadership as we continue to provide policymakers with evidence-backed ideas and proposals to foster strong, stable, and broad-based economic growth.”
Before joining SEIU, Jones was the chief economist at the U.S. Department of Labor from 2021-2022, the first Black woman to serve in the role. Prior to her time in the Biden administration, she held roles as the managing director of policy and research at the Groundwork Collaborative; economic analyst at the Economic Policy Institute; and research associate at the Center for Economic and Policy Research. Jones earned a B.S. in mathematics from Spelman College and an M.A. in applied economics from Illinois State University.
In addition to her experience in the government and nonprofit sectors, Jones is also a leading economic researcher on racial inequality, unemployment, job quality, and unions. In 2020, she developed Black Women Best, an economic framework arguing that the government can only build an effective, equitable economy if it pursues policies that center Black women, who have been among the most excluded and exploited by the rules that structure American society. She is also a member of Equitable Growth’s 2015 grantee cohort for her research, Inheriting inequality: Wealth transfers and racial wealth gaps.
“Equitable Growth’s efforts to build bridges between academics and lawmakers were crucial to craft evidence-based pandemic recession policies—which led to one of the strongest, most inclusive economic recoveries in history,” added Jones. “However, policymakers still have much more work to do to build a resilient economic future with widely-shared prosperity. I’m excited to work with the organization’s staff and extensive academic network to make this a reality for American workers and their families.
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The Washington Center for Equitable Growth is a nonprofit research and grantmaking organization dedicated to advancing evidence-backed ideas and policies that promote strong, stable, and broad-based economic growth. For more information, see www.equitablegrowth.org and follow us on Twitter and Facebook @equitablegrowth.
