Because our stories are those of millions of other working people, they are critical to shaping EPI’s policy agenda.

[link removed]
Friend,

Did you know that over half of EPI’s Ph.D. economists are women? And half of them are women of color?

I am the first woman and person of color to lead EPI. My father immigrated to the United States from China as a child. My great-great-grandfather was one of the original “guest workers” in the U.S., traveling here in the 1880s to build our railroads. But these guest workers faced racism and legal obstacles to citizenship, so in each generation, they returned to China to start their families.

I tell you this story about myself because in many ways it is our own lived experiences―indeed our identities―that shape our research agenda. EPI knows that the research and policy questions that we ask and answer are born of our own experience, the skin we live in, and the neighborhoods we grew up in. We place a premium on mentoring and advancing women and men of color in the field of economics, because we know our research will be richer and more relevant because of it.

Our stories are not unique. From navigating the high cost of child care and housing to the racial and gender wage gaps to the inadequacy of teacher pay and the impact on our public schools, our children, and our democracy; these are the experiences of millions of people throughout the United States.

Please support EPI’s work today to advance our shared policy agenda that strengthens working families. ([link removed])

Across America, more and more women have assumed positions of authority and contribute greatly to American productivity and ingenuity.

Yet—despite with the huge gains women have made in the workforce—women are still paid less than men, even with the same education and experience, and even within most occupations.

This hurts women throughout our careers as well as in retirement. That’s why so much of EPI’s research is dedicated to advancing policies that will close the gender wage gap and maximize women’s economic security by giving low- and moderate-wage workers more economic leverage.

These are just some of the brilliant, talented, hardworking women of EPI:

Elise Gould’s research covers wages, poverty, inequality, economic mobility, child care, and health care. Elise is a frequent contributor to EPI’s jobs day analysis, helping journalists and policymakers make sense of the latest government data.

Emma García specializes in the economics of education and education policy. Her research focus includes students’ academic performance and whole development, education equity, segregation, school choice, and teacher working conditions.

Heidi Shierholz leads EPI’s policy team, which monitors wage and employment polices coming out of Congress and the administration and advances a worker-first policy agenda.

Jhacova Williams is an economist with EPI’s Program on Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy (PREE). Jhacova explores the role of structural racism in shaping racial economic disparities in labor markets, housing, criminal justice, higher education, and other areas that have a direct impact on economic outcomes.

Monique Morrissey focuses on issues affecting older workers and retirees, including Social Security, employer-based retirement plans, household savings, and disability benefits. She is also interested in public employees, unions, and other labor topics.

Valerie Rawlston Wilson is director of our Program on Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy (PREE), a nationally recognized source for expert reports and policy analyses on the economic condition of America’s people of color.

The women of EPI research advance a policy agenda that lifts up all working people. Many of the factors that have kept women’s pay from growing over the last decades are the same forces that have suppressed wages for male workers.

EPI’s policies will close the gender wage gap and raise wages to improve living standards for women and all working people.

Donate to EPI today to strengthen working families through our critical research and reports that lead our movement for progressive economic change. ([link removed])

Thank you for all that you do for all working people.

In solidarity,

Thea Lee
President, Economic Policy Institute
DONATE TODAY ([link removed])

============================================================
** ([link removed])
** Facebook ([link removed])
** ([link removed])
** Twitter ([link removed])
** ([link removed])
** epi.org ([link removed])
** View this email in your browser ([link removed])
| ** Unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])