Heather Boushey
Heather Marie Boushey is an American economist who served as a member of President Joe Biden's Council of Economic Advisers and the Chief Economist for the Invest in America Cabinet at the White House. Prior to joining the Biden-Harris Administration, she was the president and CEO of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, which she co-founded with John Podesta. She has also worked as an economist at the Center for American Progress, the United States Congress Joint Economic Committee, the Center for Economic and Policy Research and the Economic Policy Institute. She has written for a variety of publications, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Democracy Journal, and the American Prospect. She regularly appears in the media to discuss economic issues.
The New York Times has called Boushey one of the “most vibrant voices in the field,” and laid out how she is “at the forefront of a generation of economists rethinking their discipline.” Politico has twice named her one of the top 50 “thinkers, doers and visionaries transforming American politics.”
Early life and education
Boushey was born in Seattle and grew up in Mukilteo, Washington. She earned her bachelor's degree from Hampshire College and her Ph.D. in economics from The New School for Social Research.Career
Boushey's work focuses on the relation between inequality and economic growth. She previously served as an economist for the Center for American Progress, the United States Congress Joint Economic Committee, the Center for Economic and Policy Research, and the Economic Policy Institute.In 2013, Boushey and John Podesta launched the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, a DC-based research organization at the Center for American Progress, also founded by Podesta. In the year when Boushey resigned to join the Biden-Harris Administration, the organization had a budget of $10 million and the organization had awarded over $6 million in grants to nearly 200 academics nationwide.
Boushey was part of a team advising Hillary Clinton on her economic agenda during her presidential campaign, where she advised her on how to address inequality and a menu of policies to build up the care economy. In July 2016, Boushey was announced as chief economist on the Clinton-Kaine transition following the Democratic National Convention.
Boushey is widely seen as one of the architects of the President's “middle out” approach to boosting economic growth and part of a slate of economic advisers that commentators saw as signifying a shift in direction for economic policy, which was hailed as a win for progressives. In August 2020, Boushey was featured in a New York Times article focusing on her role in the Biden presidential campaign and the work that she and Equitable Growth have been doing in the wake of COVID-19. Shortly after Biden's victory in November 2020, it was announced that Boushey would serve as a member of Biden's Council of Economic Advisers where she helped articulate his economic agenda. In February 2023, President Biden appointed her to Chief Economist for his newly-formed Invest in America Cabinet. In that role, she helped articulate the economic theory of the case for the invest in America agenda and traveled the country, connecting with communities directly benefiting from the President's economic agenda. After Boushey's role in the Biden administration was announced, Claudia Sahm, a former employee at Equitable Growth, accused her of mismanagement. Equitable Growth denied Sahm's account.
Boushey has often testified before the U.S. Congress, written for popular media, including , The Atlantic, and Democracy Journal, and makes frequent television appearances on Bloomberg, MSNBC, CNBC, and PBS.
Boushey previously sat on the board of the Opportunity Institute. She was a senior fellow at the Schwartz Center for Economic and Policy Analysis at the New School for Social Research, and a Research Affiliate with the National Poverty Center at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. She has been an associate editor of Feminist Economics, and on the editorial review board of WorkingUSA and the Journal of Poverty.