Roosevelt Institute Welcomes Elizabeth Pancotti and Congratulates Suzanne Kahn on Promotion
New York, NY—In a critical year for the advancement of progressive economic ideas, the Roosevelt Institute is pleased to announce the expansion of its executive team and think tank.
Suzanne Kahn begins her new role as vice president of Roosevelt’s think tank after serving as managing director of research and policy. As vice president, Suzanne will work with Roosevelt’s issue area experts to develop critical research and policy recommendations to rebalance and democratize power in our society and economy. Suzanne joined Roosevelt in 2019 and helped lead its work on higher education, workforce development, and labor, as well as its Great Democracy Initiative. Suzanne holds a PhD in American history from Columbia University and earned her BA from Yale University. Her book, Divorce, American Style, won the American Society for Legal History’s Cromwell Dissertation Prize. As an undergraduate, in 2005, Suzanne was a founder of the Roosevelt Network.
“It is an honor to take on the role of vice president,” said Kahn. “As the country debates our future, I am proud to be leading the think tank’s work to rebalance power, repair past harms, and create an economy that works for everyone. As a historian, I have long been inspired by the Roosevelts’ legacy. The New Deal featured incredible successes as well as significant failures that point the direction for the work we have left to do. The think tank strives to build on this legacy every day, and I’m thrilled to continue working with our team as we begin this new chapter.”
Elizabeth Pancotti joins the organization as director of special initiatives after previously serving as an advisor to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) as the labor policy director of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee and as a senior budget analyst on the Senate Budget Committee. Before working for the Senate, she was the policy director at Employ America, where she advocated for unemployment insurance benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic. In her new role as director of special initiatives for the think tank, Liz will lead the coordination of a variety of priority efforts across the organization, including research projects, policy advocacy, fundraising efforts, and strategic planning. Liz holds a BS in economics from American University.
“I’m excited to get to work with some of the best people making our economy more democratic. I look forward to leveraging my background in progressive policy and advocacy, especially the lessons learned while fighting for recent historic economic investments in the Senate, to make a meaningful impact with the Roosevelt Institute,” said Pancotti.
“We’re staffing up our entire team, with hires across the board, to help support our work and the deliverables and impact to which we’ve committed. We need the right people on board to swell the nascent sea change in how we govern our economy—and those people need each other,” said Felicia Wong, President and CEO of the Roosevelt Institute. “With Liz on board and Suzanne in her new role, we’re poised to make even greater strides towards that mission.”