EPI President Thea Lee will join the Center for Strategic and International Studies Commission on Affirming American Leadership. Led by Frederick W. Smith, chairman and CEO of FedEx Corporation; Ambassador Charlene Barshefsky, former U.S. trade representative; and Senator William Brock, former U.S. trade representative, the Commission will bring together a distinguished and diverse group of leaders to outline a positive trade agenda for the United States.

“I’m delighted to join this commission,” said Lee. “For the first time in decades, policymakers are reconsidering trade policies that have hurt American workers. In this critical moment, we need to address skyrocketing inequality by place working people front and center of our 21st century trade agenda.”

A trade economist and expert on U.S.–China trade, Lee has spent her career advocating on behalf of working families in national policy debates on issues such as fair trade and workers’ rights. Prior to becoming president of EPI in 2018, she served as the deputy chief of staff at the AFL-CIO, where she built a track record of conducting rigorous economic research, overseeing an ambitious policy agenda, and helping steer a large organization through change. Lee has also served on the State Department Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy, the Export-Import Bank Advisory Committee, and the Board of Directors of the National Bureau of Economic Research. She currently also serves as a commissioner on the U.S.–China Economic and Security Review Commission.