Heidi Shierholz (born October 10, 1971) is the president of the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank based in Washington, D.C. She previously served as Chief Economist of the United States Department of Labor under Secretary Thomas Perez.
Education
Shierholz studied mathematics at Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa, earning a B.A. in 1994. She earned a M.S. in statistics at Iowa State University in 1996. She then studied economics at the University of Michigan, earning a M.A. in 2001 and Ph.D. in 2005.
Career
Shierholz worked as an assistant professor of economics at the University of Toronto from 2005 to 2007. Shierholz joined the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) in 2007. At EPI, Shierholz worked on unemployment policy, ways to support the long-term unemployed, and possible policies to pull America out of the recession. She co-authored two editions of The State of Working America, EPI's flagship publication. Before joining the Department of Labor, Shierholz regularly wrote for a number of publications, including U.S. News & World Report column "Economic Intelligence," the Washington Post, and the Huffington Post. She has been called to testify before Congress on labor market issues, including unemployment insurance and immigration.