Economic Speakers Bureau Adds New Experts

Michael Linden, Kate Gordon, Aya Ibrahim, Bobby Kogan, Bilal Baydoun, Jessica Fulton, Skanda Amarnath are available to speak on the economic news of today

WASHINGTON — Today, the Economic Speakers Bureau announced a new slate of economic policy experts and former Biden administration officials who are available to speak on a wide range of issues and add underrepresented voices and new perspectives to economic coverage.

Since the bureau launched in June of this year, its experts have frequently been featured on national television and radio and quoted across newspapers and digital media. As former senior administration officials, think tank experts, leading researchers, and renowned academic voices, these experts seek to inform coverage of the U.S. economy and how policy decisions impact working-class Americans. Bureau experts are available for on-air and print interviews, panel discussions, and speaking engagements.

The new experts join the ranks of Kitty Richards, Rakeen Mabud, Angela Hanks, Ganesh Sitaraman, Jennifer Harris, K. Sabeel Rahman, Michele Evermore, and Sharon Block. More information on the new members can be found below. Please visit www.econspeakers.org to learn more and email [email protected] to schedule an interview.

Michael Linden
Senior Policy Fellow, Washington Center for Equitable Growth and former Executive Associate Director, Office of Management and Budget

Michael Linden is a Senior Policy Fellow at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth. He has more than 15 years of experience in economic policy roles, ranging from government service to think tanks to advocacy organizations. Immediately prior to joining Equitable Growth, Linden served in the Biden administration and was a Senior Advisor and then the Executive Associate Director at the White House Office of Management and Budget, where he worked on a wide array of public policies and was integrally involved in producing the president’s budget, as well negotiating the 2023 Fiscal Responsibility Act, among other responsibilities. Linden also previously served as a Senior Advisor on the Senate Budget and Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pension Committees under the leadership of Sen. Patty Murray. Linden was the founding Executive Director of the Groundwork Collaborative, as well as the inaugural managing director for policy and research at The Hub Project. He also was the Managing Director of Economic Policy at the Center for American Progress. He is available to speak on the federal budget and appropriations process, as well as fiscal and tax policy.

Aya Ibrahim
Former Senior Advisor, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and National Economic Council

Aya Ibrahim is a strategist with deep expertise in economic and technology policy, coalition building, and storytelling. She recently left the White House after serving as the Senior Advisor to the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), leading the finalizing and rollout of the Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights. Aya came to OSTP from the National Economic Council, where she managed a portfolio including financial regulation, consumer finance, and technology and led the president’s Executive Order on the Responsible Development of Digital Assets. Prior to her time at the White House, Aya served as Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley’s Senior Economic Advisor, managing her work on the Financial Services Committee and broader technology and civil liberties agenda. She is available to speak on issues related to technology, artificial intelligence, data privacy, and financial and cryptocurrency regulation.

Bobby Kogan
Senior Director of Federal Budget Policy, Center for American Progress

Bobby Kogan is the Senior Director of Federal Budget Policy at American Progress, working to ensure the federal budget prioritizes policies that help the most vulnerable people. He is an expert in federal budget issues, including aggregate spending, revenues, interest, deficits, and debt. He is also an expert in the congressional budget reconciliation process, as well as in budget concepts and budget scorekeeping. Prior to joining American Progress, Kogan served in the Biden-Harris White House as Adviser to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, where he assisted with the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act, as well as the president’s budget requests, budget concepts, and budget scorekeeping. Before the administration, Kogan joined the Biden-Harris transition team in August 2020 as Policy Adviser and Budget Coordinator. Prior to that, he served on the Democratic staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Budget, under Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), as the Chief Mathematician and the head of budget analysis, budget concepts, and budget scorekeeping. He is available for interviews on all things related to the federal budget and appropriations process.

Skanda Amarnath
Executive Director, Employ America

Skanda Amarnath is the Executive Director of Employ America, which seeks to promote macroeconomic policies that ensure the sustained advancement of labor market outcomes for all American workers. Prior to joining Employ America in April 2019 as Research Director, Skanda was Vice President at MKP Capital Management, where he served as a market economist and strategist. He previously worked as an Analyst within the Capital Markets function of the Research Group at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He has undergraduate degrees in Applied Mathematics and Economics from Columbia and graduated in 2022 with a JD from Columbia Law School. He is available to speak on the Federal Reserve and analyze macroeconomic data.

Kate Gordon
Former Senior Advisor to the Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy

Kate Gordon has spent the past two decades working at the intersection of climate change, energy policy, and economic development. Before serving as a Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Energy, Gordon served under California Governor Gavin Newsom as the Director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research and Senior Policy Advisor to the Governor on Climate. Prior to that, Gordon was the Founding Director of the Risky Business Project, which focused on quantifying the economic impacts of climate change on key U.S. regions and sectors. Gordon has served in senior leadership positions at several nonpartisan think tanks. Gordon got her start on energy and climate issues working at the national Apollo Alliance, where she ultimately served as co-Executive Director until the merger with the Blue-Green Alliance in 2011. She is available for interviews on issues such as the economic impacts of climate change, the clean energy transition, and energy and climate policy.

Bilal Baydoun
Director of Policy and Research, Groundwork Collaborative

Bilal Baydoun is the Director of Policy and Research at Groundwork Collaborative. A policy and communications strategist committed to advancing economic justice in the policy arena and the public square, Bilal served as a senior advisor in several government organizations, including the City of Dearborn, the Michigan Attorney General’s Office, and the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice under a Harvard Government Innovation fellowship. As a journalist at The Appeal, Bilal edited long-form analyses by leading scholars that clarified the stakes around inequality and authored policy polling memos. Bilal also served on former President Clinton’s policy briefing team at the Clinton Foundation, where he led an executive briefing protocol on a wide range of international policy issues. He is available to discuss poverty, income and wealth inequality, and the political and economic climate of Michigan and the Midwest.

Jessica Fulton
Interim President and Vice President of Policy, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies

Jessica Fulton is the Interim President and Vice President of Policy at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. An expert on issues at the intersection of race and economic policy, Jessica’s work focuses on identifying and promoting policies to advance the socioeconomic status of the Black community. In her current role, she oversees the Joint Center’s research and policy team and leads our Economic Policy research. Before joining the Joint Center, she served as External Relations Director at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, where she worked with scholars to advance policymaker understanding of the connection between economic inequality and economic growth. She has also held local research and advocacy positions at the DC Fiscal Policy Institute and the Chicago Urban League. She is available for interviews on the intersection of race and economic policy and well as employment and labor topics.

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About the Economic Speakers Bureau
The Economic Speakers Bureau, an initiative of the Groundwork Collaborative, includes a diverse group of experts available for comment on a variety of topics. Bureau members include former Biden Administration officials, labor law and policy experts, economists, and professors of law and public policy. They will be available to speak to a wide range of issues and add underrepresented voices and new perspectives to economic coverage. While these bureau members are diverse in experience and policy areas, they are all grounded in the shared understanding that the strength of the economy should be judged by the economic well-being and trajectory of workers and families. The Economic Speakers Bureau will add nuance and underrepresented voices to the economic conversation, painting a fuller picture of the economy and what can be done to support working people.