The Century Foundation (TCF), a leading progressive think tank, today announced the hiring of four additional high-ranking officials from the Biden-Harris administration who focus on economic, labor, and work and family policy issues, continuing a series of hires TCF has made in recent weeks to attract top administration talent, including former acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie Su and former CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure.
Joining the ranks of full-time, senior fellows at TCF are Lauren McFerran, who most recently served as Chair of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB); Gayle Goldin, former Deputy Director of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau; Rachel West, who served as Special Assistant to the President for Labor and Workers at the White House Domestic Policy Council; and Dr. Ruth Friedman, former Director of the Office of Child Care at the Administration for Children & Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
“As the last few weeks have shown, this is an all-hands-on-deck moment to protect American workers and defend the progress made under the most pro-worker, pro-union presidential administration in history, and I’m immensely proud that Century is stepping up to meet the moment with these new hires,” said TCF President Mark Zuckerman. “Lauren, Gayle, Rachel, and Ruth are among the most experienced, effective, and tireless champions for workers and economic justice in our country. I’m thrilled that they and other Biden administration leaders are choosing TCF as their new home for this critical next chapter.”
Lauren McFerran
Lauren McFerran joins TCF as a senior fellow, having previously been appointed by President Biden to serve as Chair of the National Labor Relations Board from 2021 to 2024. She served as a member of the NLRB from December 2014 to December 2019 and from July 2020 to January 2021.
Prior to her appointment to the NLRB, McFerran served the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions as deputy staff director to Chairman Tom Harkin and previously as senior labor counsel to Senator Ted Kennedy. Before her work in the United States Senate, McFerran was an associate at Bredhoff & Kaiser, PLLC and served as a law clerk for Chief Judge Carolyn Dineen King on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. She received a BA from Rice University and a JD from Yale Law School.
Gayle Goldin
Gayle Goldin joins TCF as a senior fellow, previously having served as deputy director of the Women’s Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor, during the Biden–Harris administration, where she provided executive leadership to the only federal agency mandated by Congress to focus on the needs of working women. She represented the Women’s Bureau domestically and internationally while managing a portfolio of policy issues, including paid leave, sick time, child care, gender-based violence and harassment, and gender equity.
Goldin is a policy analyst, strategist, and former Rhode Island state senator. Prior to joining the Women’s Bureau, she served as campaign advisor to Family Values @ Work, where she helped grassroots coalitions around the country pass paid leave legislation while also advocating for a national paid family and medical leave program. Gayle has also served as the strategic initiatives officer at Women’s Fund of Rhode Island, where she developed a gender equity policy platform, ran the Women’s Policy Institute, and oversaw the grant making process. Gayle holds an undergraduate degree from McGill University and earned her master’s degree from Tufts University.
Rachel West
Rachel West joins TCF as a senior fellow, most recently having served as special assistant to the President for labor and workers at the White House Domestic Policy Council, where she led efforts to strengthen workers’ pay and overtime protections, advance health and safety protections, and strengthen workplace rights. Prior to her time in the Biden-Harris Administration, Rachel was senior advisor to U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, where she led legislative efforts on tax policy—including the expanded refundable Child Tax Credit—as well as unemployment insurance, housing, and retirement policies. She also previously served as senior economic policy advisor for the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor under Chair Bobby Scott.
Before her tenure on Capitol Hill, Rachel was director of poverty research at the Center for American Progress, where she led policy development and strategy on a wide range of issues, including minimum wage, social assistance programs, tax policy, unemployment insurance, Social Security, disability policy, and criminal justice. Rachel began her career as an economist in the U.S. Department of Transportation. She holds a master of public policy (MPP) from the University of California, Berkeley, and a bachelor’s degree in economics and physics from Mount Holyoke College.
Ruth Friedman
Dr. Ruth Friedman joins TCF as a senior fellow after having served as Director of the Office of Child Care at the Administration for Children & Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Appointed during the pandemic, she led the office to rapidly and strategically deploy relief to child care programs across the country at a critical time for the sector, leveraging more than $50 billion in supplemental child care funding to help keep programs open and lower child care costs for families. As Director, she oversaw the administration of the Child Care and Development Fund program, the $12 billion federal program that helps families afford child care and improves the quality of care for all children, where she achieved major child care policy reforms on behalf of children, families, and child care providers.
Dr. Friedman is a national leader on early childhood policy with over 25 years of experience in child and family public policy and a strong record of achieving major policy wins that improve the well-being of children and families. Previously, Dr. Friedman led the early learning agenda in the U.S. House of Representatives for more than a decade on behalf of Representative George Miller (D-CA), the House Education & Labor Committee, and House Democrats, including laws and initiatives on Head Start, pre-K, child care, and home visiting as well as on family poverty, child abuse, early intervention, juvenile justice, and child safety. After her time in Congress, Dr. Friedman worked as an independent consultant, providing policy, political, and child development expertise to think tanks, advocacy organizations, researchers, foundations, and other stakeholders. Dr. Friedman has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and an M.A. in public policy.
Four More Biden Officials Covering Economic Policy Join TCF: Lauren McFerran, Gayle Goldin, Rachel West, Ruth Friedman
The Century Foundation (TCF), a leading progressive think tank, today announced the hiring of four additional high-ranking officials from the Biden-Harris administration who focus on economic, labor, and work and family policy issues, continuing a series of hires TCF has made in recent weeks to attract top administration talent, including former acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie Su and former CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure.
Joining the ranks of full-time, senior fellows at TCF are Lauren McFerran, who most recently served as Chair of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB); Gayle Goldin, former Deputy Director of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau; Rachel West, who served as Special Assistant to the President for Labor and Workers at the White House Domestic Policy Council; and Dr. Ruth Friedman, former Director of the Office of Child Care at the Administration for Children & Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
“As the last few weeks have shown, this is an all-hands-on-deck moment to protect American workers and defend the progress made under the most pro-worker, pro-union presidential administration in history, and I’m immensely proud that Century is stepping up to meet the moment with these new hires,” said TCF President Mark Zuckerman. “Lauren, Gayle, Rachel, and Ruth are among the most experienced, effective, and tireless champions for workers and economic justice in our country. I’m thrilled that they and other Biden administration leaders are choosing TCF as their new home for this critical next chapter.”
Lauren McFerran
Lauren McFerran joins TCF as a senior fellow, having previously been appointed by President Biden to serve as Chair of the National Labor Relations Board from 2021 to 2024. She served as a member of the NLRB from December 2014 to December 2019 and from July 2020 to January 2021.
Prior to her appointment to the NLRB, McFerran served the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions as deputy staff director to Chairman Tom Harkin and previously as senior labor counsel to Senator Ted Kennedy. Before her work in the United States Senate, McFerran was an associate at Bredhoff & Kaiser, PLLC and served as a law clerk for Chief Judge Carolyn Dineen King on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. She received a BA from Rice University and a JD from Yale Law School.
Gayle Goldin
Gayle Goldin joins TCF as a senior fellow, previously having served as deputy director of the Women’s Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor, during the Biden–Harris administration, where she provided executive leadership to the only federal agency mandated by Congress to focus on the needs of working women. She represented the Women’s Bureau domestically and internationally while managing a portfolio of policy issues, including paid leave, sick time, child care, gender-based violence and harassment, and gender equity.
Goldin is a policy analyst, strategist, and former Rhode Island state senator. Prior to joining the Women’s Bureau, she served as campaign advisor to Family Values @ Work, where she helped grassroots coalitions around the country pass paid leave legislation while also advocating for a national paid family and medical leave program. Gayle has also served as the strategic initiatives officer at Women’s Fund of Rhode Island, where she developed a gender equity policy platform, ran the Women’s Policy Institute, and oversaw the grant making process. Gayle holds an undergraduate degree from McGill University and earned her master’s degree from Tufts University.
Rachel West
Rachel West joins TCF as a senior fellow, most recently having served as special assistant to the President for labor and workers at the White House Domestic Policy Council, where she led efforts to strengthen workers’ pay and overtime protections, advance health and safety protections, and strengthen workplace rights. Prior to her time in the Biden-Harris Administration, Rachel was senior advisor to U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, where she led legislative efforts on tax policy—including the expanded refundable Child Tax Credit—as well as unemployment insurance, housing, and retirement policies. She also previously served as senior economic policy advisor for the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor under Chair Bobby Scott.
Before her tenure on Capitol Hill, Rachel was director of poverty research at the Center for American Progress, where she led policy development and strategy on a wide range of issues, including minimum wage, social assistance programs, tax policy, unemployment insurance, Social Security, disability policy, and criminal justice. Rachel began her career as an economist in the U.S. Department of Transportation. She holds a master of public policy (MPP) from the University of California, Berkeley, and a bachelor’s degree in economics and physics from Mount Holyoke College.
Ruth Friedman
Dr. Ruth Friedman joins TCF as a senior fellow after having served as Director of the Office of Child Care at the Administration for Children & Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Appointed during the pandemic, she led the office to rapidly and strategically deploy relief to child care programs across the country at a critical time for the sector, leveraging more than $50 billion in supplemental child care funding to help keep programs open and lower child care costs for families. As Director, she oversaw the administration of the Child Care and Development Fund program, the $12 billion federal program that helps families afford child care and improves the quality of care for all children, where she achieved major child care policy reforms on behalf of children, families, and child care providers.
Dr. Friedman is a national leader on early childhood policy with over 25 years of experience in child and family public policy and a strong record of achieving major policy wins that improve the well-being of children and families. Previously, Dr. Friedman led the early learning agenda in the U.S. House of Representatives for more than a decade on behalf of Representative George Miller (D-CA), the House Education & Labor Committee, and House Democrats, including laws and initiatives on Head Start, pre-K, child care, and home visiting as well as on family poverty, child abuse, early intervention, juvenile justice, and child safety. After her time in Congress, Dr. Friedman worked as an independent consultant, providing policy, political, and child development expertise to think tanks, advocacy organizations, researchers, foundations, and other stakeholders. Dr. Friedman has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and an M.A. in public policy.