About Us

Ross is the founder and CEO of Blueprint Local, a new venture that aims to become the premier platform for people to invest in their communities, and the founder of Village Capital, a venture capital firm and incubator that supports impact-driven entrepreneurs.

Laura is the Director of the Nathan Cummings Foundation’s Corporate and Political Accountability program. She has nearly two decades of experience engaging public corporations on topics with implications for climate change and inequality.

Ronald was the National Political Director at the American Civil Liberties Union, where he oversaw policy, advocacy, organizing, and electoral programming. Previously, he served as the Director of Human Rights and Refugee Protection at the National Security Council.

Ben is an attorney and founding Executive Director of Justice Catalyst and Justice Catalyst Law, which pursues path-breaking approaches to social justice lawyering to improve the lives of those denied access to justice. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School.

Mark Ellis is an independent consultant and expert witness in finance and economics in utility regulatory proceedings. Previously, Mark was the Chief of Corporate Strategy and Chief Economist at Sempra, a consultant with McKinsey & Company, an analyst at ExxonMobil, and an engineer for Southern California Edison and Sanyo Electric.

Emma Freer is a Senior Policy Analyst for Healthcare at the American Economic Liberties Project, where she focuses on the harms of corporate consolidation in the healthcare sector. Emma previously worked as an associate editor at Texas Medicine and as a local news reporter in Austin, Texas. Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, she is a graduate of Columbia Journalism School and the University of St Andrews.

Pat directs Economic Liberties’ policy advocacy and engagement with state and local stakeholders. An alum of the Center for American Progress, he is also the author of The Billionaire Boondoggle: How Our Politicians Let Corporations and Bigwigs Steal Our Money and Jobs.

Morgan leads Economic Liberties and Fight Corporate Monopolies’ advocacy efforts. She is a lawyer and, most recently, was a progressive candidate to represent Ohio in the U.S. Senate. Morgan holds an M.P.A. from Princeton and a J.D. from Stanford Law School.

Nidhi develops Economic Liberties’ organizational strategy and programs and directs operations. She is a seasoned international development professional and an alum of the Open Markets Institute, the Monitor Group, FSG, and the Omidyar Network.

Lee is a California-based antitrust lawyer and Senior Legal Counsel for the American Economic Liberties Project. He started his career in civil litigation, representing plaintiffs in labor and First Amendment litigation. For the last decade, he has worked in and out of government on policies that address corporate power at the local, state and federal level.

Katie Hettinga is the Program Associate at the Rethink Trade initiative at the American Economic Liberties Project.

Benjamin Jolley is a Senior Fellow at the American Economic Liberties Project. A third-generation independent pharmacy operator and pharmacist, Benjamin is dedicated to supporting pharmacists across the nation in unraveling the complexities of the financial systems that drive their businesses.

Laurel manages AELP’s team of policy analysts and coordinates with expert advisors and fellows to develop original research and policy briefs. An experienced attorney, she also frequently writes and speaks about high profile court cases that impact the economic liberties of the American people.

Kainoa is a Communications Associate at the American Economic Liberties Project.

William J. McGee is a veteran consumer advocate and aviation expert with decades of experience standing up against airline industry consolidation and in support of passengers.

Ashley is a policy analyst at Economic Liberties, where she stands up against consolidation and corruption in support of a better future across the economy.

Helaine Olen is Managing Editor at Economic Liberties and a contributing columnist for MSNBC.com. She is the author of Pound Foolish: Exposing the Dark Side of the Personal Finance Industry and a co-author of The Index Card: Why Personal Finance Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated. She’s been featured on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and took part in Frontline’s Emmy award-winning The Retirement Gamble.

Bharat served as Deputy Director of the National Economic Council and Advisor for Strategic Economic Communications in the Biden-Harris Administration from 2021 through 2023. In that role, he helped shape the Administration’s economic message, worked with Congress to secure the enactment of several landmark pieces of economic legislation, and helped lead the Administration’s efforts on student debt, competition policy, small business, broadband, housing, technology and social media platforms, financial regulation, and more.

Daniel specializes in international trade and investment law and policy and he is an expert in trade and labor matters. He was one of the lawyers that drafted the first stakeholder petition to activate the USMCA rapid response mechanism.

Hayden Rooke-Ley is a federal judicial law clerk and a recent graduate of Stanford Law School. His academic and policy writing focuses on issues of health care law and policy, including corporate consolidation of medical providers, Medicare and Medicaid financing, and labor organizing in the health care sector.

Faiz Shakir is the Founder and Executive Director of More Perfect Union. He also serves as chief political adviser to Senator Bernie Sanders, after running his 2020 presidential campaign. Previously, Shakir was ACLU’s National Political Director and served in congressional roles as senior advisors to Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Lilly assists with Hill and partner events and briefings, crafts various communications materials, and partakes in project development and tracking.

Matt is the author of the Simon and Schuster book Goliath: The Hundred Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy, called “one of the year’s best books on how to rethink capitalism and improve the economy.” He is a former advisor to the Senate Budget Committee.

Zephyr Teachout is a Senior Advisor at the American Economic Liberties Project and a Professor at Law at Fordham Law School, where her research focuses on antimonopoly law and democratic theory. Her most recent book, Break ’em Up (2020), makes a case for reimagining the relationship between democracy and antimonopoly law. Her prior book, Corruption in America (2014), argued that the American constitutional system has an embedded anti-corruption principle that has been discarded by the modern Court.

Lori is the director of the Rethink Trade program at AELP and a 30-year veteran of international and U.S. congressional trade battles. She was named to “Politico’s 50” list of thinkers, doers and visionaries transforming American politics for her leadership in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) debate. A lawyer, Lori is the author of The Rise and Fall of Fast Track Trade Authority and Whose Trade Organization? A Comprehensive Guide to the WTO.

Elizabeth Wilkins is a Senior Fellow at the American Economic Liberties Project. Previously, she was the Chief of Staff to the Chair and Director of the Office of Policy and Planning at the Federal Trade Commission.

Jake Willis is the Executive Assistant for the American Economic Liberties Project, assisting in event coordination and office management. Jake had previously served various roles on political campaigns both directly and while interning at The Politics Company Inc., a pro-labor political consultancy firm.

Jimmy drives Economic Liberties’ communications strategy, creating written materials, generating social media and digital content, and handling the organization’s press and media relations.