Senior Fellow: Good-Jobs Democracy (Wages and Affordability)

Role Overview

The Senior Fellow for Good-Jobs Democracy will focus on repairing the structural links between democracy and economic power. This fellow will work to ensure economic policy serves all workers, particularly those historically excluded due to race, gender, or status.

Core Responsibilities

• Economic-Democracy Linkage: Identify and develop policies that connect economic stability—such as higher wages and affordable necessities for workers—to a stronger, more inclusive democracy.
• Policy Leadership & Innovation: Design innovative, leading policy solutions—moving beyond past approaches—such as indexing minimum wages to median wages and/or monthly rent, to lead state-level policy shifts and emphasize NELP's critical leadership ("But for NELP").
• Analytical Impact: Ensure all policy decisions are analytically informed, focusing on the projected scale of impact and the number of workers assisted, in partnership with the VP of Narrative and Impact.
• Advocacy Alignment: Develop ideas for policy change that balance other work on unemployment insurance and worker protections enforcement by focusing on tangible wage and affordability outcomes.
• Strategic Partnership: Work closely with the VP of Policy Solutions and the VP of Partnerships and Advocacy to align policy research with high-impact advocacy campaigns.

Key Deliverables:

• Conduct outreach and map policy trends and campaigns in their focus area.
• Convene and lead strategy sessions, including with NELP staff and the Board Program Committee.
• Author a final policy report/proposal with actionable recommendations, co-authoring with NELP staff where appropriate.
• Present findings publicly, including through public speaking and media engagement.

Qualifications

• Expertise in the intersection of labor policy and economic policy.
• Experience in policy development related to labor as it affects democracy.
• Strong commitment to dismantling structural racism within economic and democratic institutions.

Program Logistics

• Duration: 6 months (June – November/December)
• Contract: Consultancy
• Availability: Fellow must be available to attend internal meetings (estimated 2 hours per week.) Additionally, Fellow must be able to participate in-person at a NELP convening in September in either Washington DC or New York.
• Location: Any location within the US
• Reporting: Reports to the VP of Policy and Strategy.
• Compensation: NELP offers competitive compensation.

Application Deadline and Instructions

Deadline: Please apply no later than May 25, 2026

Instructions: Submit a resume and expression of interest highlighting your experience and availability.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.