Dr. Leslie Abrahams, Deputy Director and Senior Fellow, Energy Security and Climate Change Program, Economic Security & Technology Department, CSIS
Dr. Leslie Abrahams is a leading expert in energy systems, clean technology innovation, and climate policy. As deputy director and senior fellow with the Energy Security and Climate Change program at CSIS, she provides strategic insight at the intersection of energy security, emerging technologies, and decarbonization pathways. Prior to joining CSIS, Leslie served as assistant director for clean energy and energy systems innovation at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy where she helped shape federal energy policy and advance technology deployment. She previously served as a policy fellow with Elemental Impact where she focused on climate finance and emerging clean energy technologies. She was also previously the director of energy systems analysis at Clean Air Task Force where she led research on decarbonization pathways and scaling clean energy infrastructure to manage risk and uncertainty. Leslie holds a doctorate in engineering and public policy and civil and environmental engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and a BS in chemical engineering from Washington University in St. Louis.
Dr. Vipin Arora, Director, Bureau of Economic Analysis
Vipin Arora is the Director of the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Dr. Arora oversees the production of closely watched economic statistics that provide an objective and timely picture of the U.S. economy. These include gross domestic product (GDP), personal income, and other national statistics, as well as data about states, counties, and industries, and U.S. international trade and investment.
He works with BEA's executive team to expand the agency's statistical programs and collaborates with BEA’s researchers to bolster the impact and effectiveness of research that furthers the agency’s mission. He is working with leadership to position BEA as an employer of choice for years to come.
Before joining BEA, Dr. Arora served as deputy director of the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics and led economic analysis at the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Dr. Arora also served as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Army, as an analyst at the U.S. Government Accountability Office, and in the private sector in multiple organizations.
Dr. Arora holds a Ph.D. in economics from the Australian National University, a master’s degree in public administration from Syracuse University, and a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois.
Dr. Mark A. Calabria, Chief Statistician of the United States, Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President
Dr. Mark A. Calabria formerly served as Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) where he led the agency’s response to COVID and laid the groundwork for a removal of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from government conservatorship. As Director, Calabria also revitalized FHFA as a prudential regulator, establishing the agency’s new Research, Accounting Policy, and Resolution Divisions. Prior to leading FHFA in the first Trump Administration, he served at the White House as Chief Economist to the Vice President. In addition, Calabria previously worked as a senior aide to the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs and served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Housing at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, where he supervised HUD’s regulation of the mortgage and real estate market. He was most recently a Senior Advisor to the Cato Institute.
Calandra Cruickshank, CEO and Founder, StateBook International
Calandra Cruickshank is founder and CEO of StateBook International, the premiere location intelligence company providing strategic economic insights powered by data science to inform the optimal locations for investment across industries such as real estate, health care, insurance, economic growth, and climate resilience.
Calandra has more than a decade of experience supporting Fortune 500 corporations, developers, lenders, investors, and government agencies with interactive, digital solutions to inform strategic decision-making. She also works closely with economic development organizations, providing them with data and technology-driven, strategic planning and marketing tools to help build capacity and catalyze growth across their regions.
Calandra partnered with the International Sustainable Resilience Center to launch the first Economic Resilience ScorecardTM. She also spearheaded the development of StateBook’s award- winning data APIs, which enable PropTech companies to seamlessly embed raw or visualized, interactive data into their platforms to provide always-updated insights to their customers.
Calandra Cruickshank, CEO and Founder, StateBook International
Navin Girishankar, President, Economic Security & Technology Department, CSIS
Navin Girishankar is president of the Economic Security and Technology Department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He leads a bipartisan team of over 40 resident staff and an extensive network of non-resident affiliates dedicated to providing independent research and strategic insights on economic and technology policies and their critical role in competitiveness as well as national security.
Prior to joining CSIS, Navin served as Counselor to the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce on a wide range of domestic and international issues. In that role, he crafted the Department of Commerce’s place-based framework for industrial investments in chips, broadband, and other strategic technologies; its approach to U.S.-China economic relations; and U.S. economic diplomacy efforts with allies in the Indo-Pacific, Europe, and the Global South, including the U.S. commercial engagement strategy for the G7 Partnership for Global Infrastructure and the first-ever Department-wide Africa strategy. Navin also helped architect the Department’s national security approach to critical and emerging technologies and threats covering investment screening, export controls, and strategic capital deployment.
Prior to his service in U.S. government, Navin held senior commercial roles at Bridgewater Associates, where he worked with founder Ray Dalio advising the largest institutional investors in the Middle East and Asia. Prior to his work in asset management, Navin spent over 20 years at the World Bank, where he held senior policy, country, finance, and evaluation roles. He holds a master in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School and a bachelor of arts in economics with a minor in African and Middle East studies from Williams College. He is a percussionist in the Indian classical tradition and a student of various meditation traditions.
Dr. Bryan Grady, Assistant Executive Director for Labor Market Information, South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce
Bryan P. Grady, Ph.D., serves as the Assistant Executive Director for Labor Market Information at the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce. In this capacity, he oversees the production and dissemination of data and analysis on employment, wages, and related topics in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Labor as well as the South Carolina Coordinating Council for Workforce Development. Prior to his arrival at DEW in January 2022, he was Chief Research Officer at the South Carolina State Housing Finance and Development Authority for three years. Dr. Grady earned a Ph.D. in planning and public policy from Rutgers University and degrees in economics from the University of Delaware and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Dr. John J. Hamre, President and CEO, and Langone Chair in American Leadership, CSIS
John Hamre was elected president and CEO of CSIS in January 2000. Before joining CSIS, he served as the 26th U.S. deputy secretary of defense. Prior to holding that post, he was the under secretary of defense (comptroller) from 1993 to 1997. As comptroller, Dr. Hamre was the principal assistant to the secretary of defense for the preparation, presentation, and execution of the defense budget and management improvement programs. In 2007, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates appointed Dr. Hamre to serve as chairman of the Defense Policy Board, and he served in that capacity for four secretaries of defense.
Before serving in the Department of Defense, Dr. Hamre worked for 10 years as a professional staff member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. During that time, he was primarily responsible for the oversight and evaluation of procurement, research, and development programs, defense budget issues, and relations with the Senate Appropriations Committee. From 1978 to 1984, Dr. Hamre served in the Congressional Budget Office, where he became its deputy assistant director for national security and international affairs. In that position, he oversaw analysis and other support for committees in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Dr. Hamre received his Ph.D., with distinction, in 1978 from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C., where his studies focused on international politics and economics and U.S. foreign policy. In 1972, he received his B.A., with high distinction, from Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, emphasizing political science and economics. The following year he studied as a Rockefeller fellow at the Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Dr. Ron Jarmin, Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer, U.S. Census Bureau
Ron S. Jarmin is the deputy director and chief operating officer of the U.S. Census Bureau. In these roles, he plans, coordinates and oversees daily operations at the largest statistical agency of the federal government.
While best known for the decennial census, the Census Bureau conducts other surveys and censuses that measure changing individual and household demographics and the economic condition of the nation.
Jarmin served as acting director from January 2021 to January 2022, performed the nonexclusive functions and duties of the director from July 2017 to January 2019, and previously served as the associate director for economic programs.
In these roles, Jarmin championed modernization efforts across the Census Bureau including the introduction of internet response for the 2020 Census and moving to 100 percent internet data collection for the Economic Census beginning in 2017. He has overseen the introduction of new nonsurvey data to improve economic indicators, the consolidation of surveys, and the deployment of enterprise investments to minimize system, application, and dissemination costs. From 2011 to 2016, Jarmin served as assistant director for research and methodology where he oversaw a broad research program in statistics, survey methodology, and economics aimed at improving economic and social measurements within the federal statistical system. Since beginning his career at the Census Bureau in 1992, he has also served as the chief economist, chief of the Center for Economic Studies, and as a research economist.
Jarmin holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Oregon. An elected fellow of the American Statistical Association, he has published papers in the areas of industrial organization, business dynamics, entrepreneurship, technology and firm performance, urban economics, data access, and statistical disclosure avoidance.
Dr. Philip Luck, Director, Economics Program and Scholl Chair in International Business, Economic Security & Technology Department, CSIS
Philip A. Luck is director of the CSIS Economics Program and Scholl Chair in International Business. He served in the Biden-Harris administration as the deputy chief economist at the U.S. Department of State. Dr. Luck is an expert on the economics of international trade, global supply chains, and international migration policy. He has spent his career in public service, both in government and academia. At the Department of State, Dr. Luck led analytical efforts to combat sanctions and export control evasion, increase global supply chain resilience, combat economic coercion, as well as improve migration policy design and implementation. Prior to joining the U.S. Department of State, Philip was an assistant professor of economics at the University of Colorado, Denver. Dr. Luck’s research focuses on the international organization of production—specifically, how international trade and migration impact the structure of firms, supply chains, demand for skills, labor market dynamics, and aggregate welfare. He graduated with honors in economics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and earned MSc and PhD degrees in economics from the University of California, Davis
Rachel Lyngaas, Senior Policy Researcher, RAND, and Professor of Policy Analysis, RAND School of Public Policy
Rachel Lyngaas is a senior policy researcher at RAND and a professor of policy analysis at the RAND School of Public Policy. She specializes in the intersection of international economics and national security. Prior to RAND, her research and professional interests focused on international economic strategy, sanctions policy, development finance, international capital flows, management and taxation of natural resources, and the international financial institutions. Lyngaas served as the first Chief Sanctions Economist at the U.S. Treasury, where she built and managed the Sanctions Economic Analysis Division within the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). She was previously an Economist in the African Department of the IMF and Advisor to the U.S. Executive Director. She also served in various capacities as an international economist in the U.S. Treasury's Office of International Affairs, including as an advisor to the U.S. Executive Director of the African Development Bank in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. Prior to government service, she conducted evaluations of international development programs for the World Bank and Millennium Challenge Corporation. Lyngaas holds an M.A. in development economics from the Fletcher School, Tufts University and a B.A. in political science with a minor in French from the University of New Mexico.
Todd McCracken, President and CEO, National Small Business Association
Todd McCracken currently serves as President of NSBA, directing all activities of the advocacy-oriented association since 1997, previously serving as vice president of government affairs since he joined our staff in 1988.
Todd represents NSBA before the U.S. Congress and myriad other settings. As director of its government affairs arm, he plays a key role in developing NSBA’s policies on issues and the strategies in implementing them. Since coming to the association, Todd has testified before Congress numerous times about issues ranging from fundamental health care reform, to restructuring the tax code.
Todd also is a frequent commentator in the media, having appeared on CNN, CNBC, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, and NBC Nightly News as well as in the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and myriad other publications on behalf of NSBA and its members.
Dave McNellis, Managing Director, Co-Head of Global Macro, and Head of Private Markets Portfolio Construction, KKR
Dave McNellis (New York) joined KKR in 2011 and is a Managing Director. He serves as Co-Head of Global Macro and Head of Private Markets Portfolio Construction within the Global Macro and Asset Allocation team. Prior to joining KKR, Mr. McNellis was a managing director at Morgan Stanley Investment Management where he was head of research and a portfolio manager for the global macro and asset allocation team. Prior to his time at Morgan Stanley, he was a macro strategist at Fortress Investment Group and a U.S. equity strategist within equity research at Morgan Stanley. Mr. McNellis was also a member of Morgan Stanley's asset allocation committee. He earned a B.A. in Philosophy from Yale University and is a CFA Charterholder.
Dr. Amy O'Hara, Research Professor, Massive Data Institute, and Executive Director of the Federal Statistical Research Data Center, McCourt School for Public Policy, Georgetown University
Amy O’Hara is a Research Professor in the Massive Data Institute and Executive Director of the Federal Statistical Research Data Center at the McCourt School for Public Policy. She works on data governance, linkage, and privacy enhancing technologies. Her research focuses on methods to improve secure data access, particularly involving administrative data with applications in education, justice, and population measurement.
O’Hara has published on topics including the measurement of income, longitudinal linkages to measure economic mobility, and the data infrastructure necessary to support government and academic research.
Prior to joining Georgetown, O’Hara was a senior executive at the U.S. Census Bureau where she founded their administrative data curation and research unit. She received her Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Notre Dame.
Dr. Andrew Reamer, Senior Associate (Non-resident), Economic Security and Technology Department, CSIS; Research Professor, George Washington University
Andrew Reamer’s research efforts aim to encourage U.S. national economic development and competitiveness. Areas of focus include strategic economic analysis and policy, innovation and entrepreneurship, workforce development, and the federal economic statistics system. Intended to inform public decision-makers, Reamer's work resides on the boundary between research and practice. Recent sponsors include the National Science Foundation, the Census Bureau, the American Economic Association, Third Way, the Lumina Foundation, and the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness. Reamer has served on a number of federal advisory committees, including the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Workforce Information Advisory Council, the Bureau of Economic Advisory Committee, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics Data Users Advisory Committee. Reamer joined the George Washington Institute of Public Policy in 2010, after six years at the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program and 20 years as a consultant in U.S. regional economic development and public policy. He received a PhD in economic development and public policy and a Master of City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a BS in economics at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Trent Reasons, Partner, EYParthenon
Trent has extensive experience as an investor, policy maker and strategic adviser to C suite leaders.
Most recently, he led the federal strategy consulting practice at EYParthenon serving civilian and defense agency leaders on key initiatives including strategic competition, critical technologies and digital assets
Prior to EYParthenon he was a partner at BCG advising central banks, asset managers and financial institutions. Trent also served at the US Dept. of the Treasury as Director of Analysis and senior advisor to the Secretary, Federal Reserve Chair and other financial policy leaders after over a decade in investment banking.
Robert Sheets, Fellow, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation
Dr. Robert Sheets is a fellow with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, where he conducts research related to education, workforce development, and economic development policy as well as labor market and education and workforce data systems. Previously, he was a research professor at the George Washington Institute for Public Policy at George Washington University, and Director Research at the University of Illinois Business Innovation Services.
Kenneth D. Simonson, Chief Economist, Associated General Contractors of America
Ken Simonson has been Chief Economist for the Associated General Contractors of America, the leading construction trade association, since 2001. He provides insight into the economy and what it implies for construction and related industries through frequent media interviews, presentations, and the Data DIGest, his weekly one-page e-newsletter that goes to more than 20,000 subscribers.
Ken has over 40 years of experience analyzing, advocating, and communicating about economic and tax issues. He currently serves as an advisor to the Census Bureau’s construction data re-engineering initiative. He is a Fellow and past president of the National Association for Business Economics, and he is co-director of the Tax Economists Forum, a professional meeting group he co-founded in 1982. Ken has a BA in economics from the University of Chicago, and an MA in economics from Northwestern University.
William Wiatrowski, Acting Commissioner, Bureau of Labor Statistics
Bill Wiatrowski became Deputy Commissioner in 2015. He served as Acting Commissioner from January 2017 to March 2019, March 2023 to January 2024, and August 2025 to the present. He previously served as Associate Commissioner of the Office of Compensation and Working Conditions from 2005 to 2015. Before that he was Assistant Commissioner for the Occupational Safety and Health Statistics programs and held a number of staff and supervisory positions in the BLS pay and benefit programs.
Mr. Wiatrowski received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and the History of Art from Yale University and a Master of Business Administration degree from the George Washington University. He is the author of numerous articles on employee benefits, compensation, and occupational safety and health issues and speaks on these topics before a wide range of audiences.
Oliver Wise, Executive Director, Bloomberg Center for Government Excellence (GovEx) at Johns Hopkins University
Oliver Wise joined the Bloomberg Center for Government Excellence (GovEx) at Johns Hopkins University as Executive Director in September 2025, after a wide-ranging career leading public sector use of data and artificial intelligence at the local and federal level.
Beginning in 2022, Wise served as the Chief Data Officer for the U.S. Department of Commerce, leading major data governance programs including strategies focused on AI and open data. For over a year, he also served as the Acting Under Secretary for Economic Affairs, overseeing the U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Earlier in his career, Wise launched and served as the director of New Orleans’ Office of Performance and Accountability, setting new standards for leveraging data to set goals, track performance, and drive results for city residents. He spearheaded BlightSTAT, a tool to track the city’s blight reduction strategy, contributing to a reduction of more than 10,000 blighted units, earning national recognition, including What Works Cities certification, and multiple awards for innovation in governance.