We write, crunch #’s, and tweet about the labor market and economic policy.
Employ America seeks to promote macroeconomic policies that ensure the sustained advancement of labor market outcomes for all American workers. What does that mean? Tight labor markets encourage employers to compete for talent, which gives workers more leverage to win higher wages and better working conditions, and reduces employment disparities across race, gender, and abilities.
Our Team
Skanda Amarnath
Executive Director
he/him/his. 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.
On Twitter
On Mastodon
On Post News
Arnab Datta
Managing Director of Policy Implementation
he/him/his. Arnab was previously Senior Counsel at Employ America, and in the past also served as law clerk for the Senate Judiciary Committee, as a fellow with the Office of Senator Michael Bennet, as a teacher, and as a speechwriter.
Arnab is a trusted and credible expert on not just important policy questions, but the legal and economic premises that underlie them. His writing has been featured in the New York Times, the Financial Times, the Washington Post, Slate, and Business Insider, and has been interviewed for popular podcasts including Bloomberg’s Odd Lots, The Weeds, and Pitchfork Economics.
Arnab has a Master of Science degree in Foreign Service, a Juris Doctor from George Washington University, where he was a George Washington Scholar and served as Articles Editor of the George Washington Law Review.
On Twitter
Kim Stiens
Director of Operations & Culture
she/her/hers. Kim has sampled just about every cheese on the Ops platter, from bookkeeping and compliance at the Marijuana Policy Project to editorial operations at Vox.com to talent operations at Namati. She’s also a(n infrequent) writer on the human experience at work.
On Twitter
On BlueSky
Ashley George
Senior Policy Advisor
she/her/hers. Ashley has experience in policy development and implementation at the state, local, and federal levels. A policy generalist, Ashley has dabbled in higher education, housing, climate, community development, and economic policy. Ashley received her Bachelor's Degree in Political Science and a Master's Degree in Public Policy.
Preston Mui
Senior Economist
he/him/his. Preston is an economist specializing in macroeconomics and labor economics. He previously worked as an analyst with the Research Group at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley.
On Twitter
Alex Williams
Senior Economist
Alex is a macroeconomist whose work focuses on business cycle analysis and stabilization policy. His work on these topics has been featured in the New York Times, Bloomberg, and the Financial Times, as well as many other publications. Prior to Employ America, Alex worked in tech and the music industry. He holds an MSc in Economics from the Levy Institute at Bard College.
On Bluesky
On Twitter
Vikas Patel
Program Manager
he/him/his. Prior to joining Employ America, Vikas served as policy director and deputy chief of staff for Suraj Patel's 2020 and 2022 congressional campaign in New York's 12th District, where he developed a comprehensive policy platform that received national attention in outlets such as the New York Times, CNBC, and Scientific American in addition to speechwriting, debate preparation, campaign strategy, and finance.
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