The Century Foundation (TCF) today announced the hiring of high-ranking former Biden administration labor official Andrew Stettner as its Director of Economy and Jobs. Stettner most recently served as Director of Unemployment Insurance (UI) Modernization at the U.S. Department of Labor.
Stettner is among the first in a series of new hires the progressive think tank expects to make in the coming weeks—an effort to attract top talent from the Biden administration who are eager to protect progress, defend rights, and develop a positive policy agenda in the areas of education, health care, and the economy during a second Trump term.
“Think tanks will play an indispensable role in countering the Trump administration’s radical policy agenda, and those best suited to defend progress are those who’ve been on the frontlines of achieving progress,” said Mark Zuckerman, TCF President and former deputy director of President Obama’s Domestic Policy Council. “Andy Stettner is a remarkable, relentless policy leader and advocate for working people. I’m thrilled he’s come back home to The Century Foundation and will lead our world-class jobs and economy team.”
“The Biden administration was the most pro-worker, pro-union administration in history, and I am immensely proud of the work we accomplished to bring our antiquated unemployment insurance systems into the 21st century,” said Andrew Stettner, TCF’s new Director of Economy and Jobs. “There is much work that remains though—not just to fix our unemployment safety net, but to grow worker power and strengthen our entire workforce regardless of race, gender, and ability. I couldn’t be more excited to return to TCF and get to work.”
Stettner returns to TCF as Director of Economy and Jobs, overseeing the organization’s work to advance economic equity in the areas of unemployment insurance, workforce development, disability justice, labor rights and worker power, and more. He was previously a TCF senior fellow from 2016 to 2022, where he led pioneering efforts to revitalize manufacturing communities throughout the industrial Midwest, secure passage of an expanded Child Tax Credit, and helped deliver more than $800 billion in new aid for jobless workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He rejoins TCF from the Biden administration, where he served as Director of Unemployment Insurance Modernization at the U.S. Department of Labor, and prior to that, as Deputy Director for Policy at the Office of Unemployment Insurance Modernization (OUIM). There, he played a critical role in working with states to undergo myriad technology deployments and upgrades, hold criminal actors accountable for more than $1 billion stolen in the UI system, and make needed improvements to the timeliness of UI payments and equitable access to benefits. Under his leadership, the federal government invested over $780 million in grants to improve state UI systems, accounting for more than 600 discrete modernization projects underway, most of which are slated to be completed by December 2025 or earlier. In 2024, Andrew was named by GovExec magazine as part of the Fed100 most influential leaders in federal government technology.
Stettner’s career as a civic leader spans 25 years of improving workforce protections and social insurance programs at multiple levels, including research, policy, organizing, technology, and program development. He served as Deputy Director at the National Employment Law Project, where he spearheaded a decade-long effort to realign the UI safety net with the needs of the modern workforce, culminating with a multi-billion dollar package of reforms enacted in the Recovery Act in 2009. In addition, Andrew held senior roles in nonprofit technology companies facilitating access to benefits including Single Stop and Seedco’s EarnBenefits. He has a B.A. from Columbia University and an M.P.P. from Georgetown University, and recently took a volunteer position as President of the Board of the Autism Society of Maryland.
Andrew Stettner, Unemployment Insurance Expert and Former Biden Official, Rejoins TCF
The Century Foundation (TCF) today announced the hiring of high-ranking former Biden administration labor official Andrew Stettner as its Director of Economy and Jobs. Stettner most recently served as Director of Unemployment Insurance (UI) Modernization at the U.S. Department of Labor.
Stettner is among the first in a series of new hires the progressive think tank expects to make in the coming weeks—an effort to attract top talent from the Biden administration who are eager to protect progress, defend rights, and develop a positive policy agenda in the areas of education, health care, and the economy during a second Trump term.
“Think tanks will play an indispensable role in countering the Trump administration’s radical policy agenda, and those best suited to defend progress are those who’ve been on the frontlines of achieving progress,” said Mark Zuckerman, TCF President and former deputy director of President Obama’s Domestic Policy Council. “Andy Stettner is a remarkable, relentless policy leader and advocate for working people. I’m thrilled he’s come back home to The Century Foundation and will lead our world-class jobs and economy team.”
“The Biden administration was the most pro-worker, pro-union administration in history, and I am immensely proud of the work we accomplished to bring our antiquated unemployment insurance systems into the 21st century,” said Andrew Stettner, TCF’s new Director of Economy and Jobs. “There is much work that remains though—not just to fix our unemployment safety net, but to grow worker power and strengthen our entire workforce regardless of race, gender, and ability. I couldn’t be more excited to return to TCF and get to work.”
Stettner returns to TCF as Director of Economy and Jobs, overseeing the organization’s work to advance economic equity in the areas of unemployment insurance, workforce development, disability justice, labor rights and worker power, and more. He was previously a TCF senior fellow from 2016 to 2022, where he led pioneering efforts to revitalize manufacturing communities throughout the industrial Midwest, secure passage of an expanded Child Tax Credit, and helped deliver more than $800 billion in new aid for jobless workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He rejoins TCF from the Biden administration, where he served as Director of Unemployment Insurance Modernization at the U.S. Department of Labor, and prior to that, as Deputy Director for Policy at the Office of Unemployment Insurance Modernization (OUIM). There, he played a critical role in working with states to undergo myriad technology deployments and upgrades, hold criminal actors accountable for more than $1 billion stolen in the UI system, and make needed improvements to the timeliness of UI payments and equitable access to benefits. Under his leadership, the federal government invested over $780 million in grants to improve state UI systems, accounting for more than 600 discrete modernization projects underway, most of which are slated to be completed by December 2025 or earlier. In 2024, Andrew was named by GovExec magazine as part of the Fed100 most influential leaders in federal government technology.
Stettner’s career as a civic leader spans 25 years of improving workforce protections and social insurance programs at multiple levels, including research, policy, organizing, technology, and program development. He served as Deputy Director at the National Employment Law Project, where he spearheaded a decade-long effort to realign the UI safety net with the needs of the modern workforce, culminating with a multi-billion dollar package of reforms enacted in the Recovery Act in 2009. In addition, Andrew held senior roles in nonprofit technology companies facilitating access to benefits including Single Stop and Seedco’s EarnBenefits. He has a B.A. from Columbia University and an M.P.P. from Georgetown University, and recently took a volunteer position as President of the Board of the Autism Society of Maryland.