Rebecca D. Vallas
Chief Executive OfficerVallas joins the Academy as its Chief Executive Officer after spending nearly 8 years as a member of its Board of Directors, including four as Secretary. Most recently, she spent 2021-2023 as a senior fellow at The Century Foundation, where she founded the organization’s disability economic justice work and organized a bipartisan, cross-sector coalition in support of reforming Supplemental Security Income’s antiquated asset limits. She is also the founder of the Disability Economic Justice Collaborative, a first-of-its-kind project bringing together nearly 50 leading organizations across the policy/research and disability rights and justice communities to work collectively to bring a disability lens across economic and social policymaking in the U.S. Prior to TCF, she spent 2014-2018 helping to build and lead CAP’s anti-poverty work in a range of roles including as the program’s first policy director and later as its vice president—and during her time at CAP she originated the organization’s disability justice work as well as its criminal justice reform work.
Over the years, Vallas has authored a wide range of policy reports and proposals on social insurance and public assistance, disability policy, and criminal justice/reentry policy—and strengthening Social Security, and especially its disability programs, have been long-time priorities especially close to her heart. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, on MSNBC, CNN, CNBC, C-SPAN, Fox News, PBS, NPR, as well as an array of other national and local media, and she has testified before Congress on numerous occasions. Forever a legal aid lawyer at heart, Vallas began her career spending several years representing low-income individuals and families as a legal aid attorney in the Aging and Disability Unit at Community Legal Services in Philadelphia, including as a Skadden Fellow, and later as a Borchard Fellow in Law & Aging. She also previously served as the deputy director of government affairs for the National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives (NOSSCR). She is also a past co-chair of the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Social Security Task Force. And in 2019, Vallas cofounded the Clean Slate Initiative, a national organization that supports states in taking up the “clean slate” model of automated criminal record-clearing that she developed in partnership with legal aid leaders in Pennsylvania, and which is now law in a dozen states across the U.S. She is also the host and creator of “Off-Kilter,” a nationally distributed radio show and podcast about poverty and inequality.
Vallas was the inaugural recipient of the National Legal Aid and Defender Association’s New Leaders in Advocacy Award in 2012, was twice named to Forbes Magazine’s “30 Under 30” for Law and Policy, and to Emory University’s “40 Under 40.” She received her law degree in 2009 from the University of Virginia, where she was elected to the Order of the Coif and received the Margaret G. Hyde Award and the Mortimer Caplin Public Service Award. She graduated summa cum laude in 2002 from Emory University, where she received a bachelor’s degree in psychology and was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Society. Vallas was elected to membership in the National Academy of Social Insurance in 2012. She was a member of the Academy’s Economic Security Study Panel that ran from 2019-2022 as well as its Older Workers Retirement Security Task Force that ran from 2021-2023. In her spare time, she works as a practicing astrologer. She lives in Charlottesville, Virginia with her husband and four rescue kitties.
Indivar Dutta-Gupta
Distinguished Visiting Fellow and Senior AdviserIndivar Dutta-Gupta is the founder and CEO of Blue Lotus Strategies, LLC, based in Washington, DC. He is a recognized researcher, analyst, advocate and policy influencer on U.S. economic policy. Indi is currently a Doris Duke Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University, a Fellow at the Roosevelt Institute, and a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the National Academy of Social Insurance. He frequently advises political candidates and campaigns on child, family, and economic policy, testifies before Congress, and speaks to the media. His earlier work includes senior roles at the Center for Law and Social Policy, Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality, U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Freedman Consulting, and DC Hunger Solutions.
A member of the National Academy of Social Insurance, Indi also serves on the National Academies (NASEM) Committee on Federal Policy Impacts on Child Poverty, on several nonpartisan boards and advisory groups, and as US-Japan Leadership Program delegate.
Indi is a graduate of the University of Chicago, a Congressional Hunger Center Alumni Leadership awardee, one of Washington Life magazine’s most Influential 40-And-Under Leaders, and twice a Rising Star 40 And Under. He is a former Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellow, Harry S. Truman Scholar, a First Focus Campaign for Children “Champion for Children”, and co-chair of President Biden’s 2020 campaign’s economic policy committee.
Michele Evermore
Senior FellowMichele Evermore is a senior fellow at the National Academy of Social Insurance, where she focuses on innovating and improving our nation’s fractured unemployment insurance system. One of the nation’s leading authorities on unemployment insurance (UI), Michele comes to NASI as a recent senior fellow at The Century Foundation, a visiting non-resident fellow at the Heldrich Center at Rutgers University, and a visiting faculty at the University of Massachusetts Labor Center.
Michele also served in the Biden administration as deputy director for policy in the newly formed Office of Unemployment Insurance Modernization in the U.S. Department of Labor. In that role, she spearheaded efforts to improve the delivery of UI benefits in a timely and accurate manner and ensure equitable access for underserved communities. She represented those efforts to Congress and the press through technical assistance, on-the-record interviews, and Congressional testimony. She also worked for the National Employment Law Project from 2018 to 2021, focused on building a more inclusive and sufficient unemployment insurance system. Her work led to the successful passage and implementation of historic protections for unemployed workers, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the past, she has worked to promote worker rights as a legislative advocate for labor unions, including the Service Employees International Union District 1199 New England and National Nurses United. She also worked for the Obama administration’s Department of Labor as a senior legislative officer. Prior to that, she worked in Congress for a decade, primarily for then-Senator Tom Harkin and also for the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. In those roles, she worked to advance worker protections, labor organizing rights, and improving retirement security in a variety of private pension plan designs, as well as Social Security.
Michele has testified before Congress several times and is frequently quoted in major news outlets, including the Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Good Morning America, NPR, Marketplace, Associated Press, Reuters, ABC, NBC, Politico, The Hill, Bloomberg, Time and USA Today, as well as many large regional newspapers, radio shows, and television news. She holds an MS in labor studies from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a BA in interpersonal rhetoric and communication from Iowa State University.
Jason J. Fichtner
Senior FellowJason J. Fichtner is Executive Director of the Retirement Income Institute, Alliance for Lifetime Income. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center and on the Board of Directors for the FINRA Investor Education Foundation and the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI). Fichtner is a Member of the Puerto Rico Pension Reserve Trust, where he serves on both the Pension Benefits Council and the Pension Reserve Board.
His areas of expertise focus on Social Security, federal tax policy, federal budget policy, retirement security, and policy proposals to increase saving and investment.
Fichtner has significant government experience, having served in several positions at the Social Security Administration, including as Deputy Commissioner of Social Security (acting), Chief Economist, and Associate Commissioner for Retirement Policy. He also served as a senior economist with the Joint Economic Committee of the US Congress and as an economist with the Internal Revenue Service. He has held teaching positions at Johns Hopkins University – School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Georgetown University and Virginia Tech.
He has testified on numerous occasions before the United States Congress and his work has been featured in the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Investor’s Business Daily, the Los Angeles Times, the Atlantic, the USA Today, and other major media outlets, as well as on broadcasts by C-SPAN, PBS, NBC, NPR, and SiriusXM.
Fichtner earned his BA from the University of Michigan; his MPP from Georgetown University; and his PhD from Virginia Tech.
Fichtner is the author of “The Hidden Cost of Federal Tax Policy” and the editor of “The Economics of Medicaid.”
Ariella Jailal
Manager of Leadership DevelopmentAriella Jailal is the Manager of Leadership Development at the National Academy of Social Insurance with a primary focus on the year-round leadership development programs. With a strong events background, she leads the marketing, recruitment, and onboarding processes for the summer internship program and handles the planning for the awarding of the annual John Heinz Dissertation Award, the Robert M. Ball Award, annual membership renewal campaign, and other events. Ariella moved to DC from New York, where she was the catering and special events manager for an alternative-energy mobile restaurant. Before that she enjoyed four years as a preschool teacher, helping to shape the next generation to love books, nature, music, and all things crafty. Ariella received her B.A. in English, Creative Writing with a minor in sociology from Hunter College in Manhattan. When she moved to DC, Jailal sought a nonprofit that works to address hunger and economic insecurity in her community and is eager to contribute to the policy landscape through the Academy. Ariella is happiest roaming barefoot in the Australian Daintree Rainforest and dreams of returning one day but equally enjoys weekends with her niece and nephew!
Dora Mendelson
Research and Programs AssistantDora Mendelson is the Academy’s Research and Programs Assistant. In this capacity, she provides direct support to the CEO while furthering the wide range of research projects hosted by the Academy. Dora has strong interests in disability justice, public health, and policy. Before landing at the Academy, Dora had a brief stint on the Hill, interning in the Disability Policy Office of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee.
Dora graduated from Colgate University summa cum laude in May 2023 with a double major in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Peace and Conflict Studies. At Colgate, she earned high honors for her thesis on the history of gynecology and its impact on the American eugenics movement. Dora graduated in September 2024 from McMaster University with a Master of Arts in Gender Studies with a concentration in Critical Disability Studies. Her dissertation explored how diabetes stigma is imbedded in American public policy.
Dora lives in DC, where she grew up. In her free time, she enjoys baking sourdough and exploring the DC food scene. Outside of her DC policy-related career goals, Dora fantasizes about going to culinary school, writing a cookbook, and opening a bakery on a daily basis.
Tom Novotny
Director of Membership and OperationsTom Novotny is the Director of Membership and Operations at the Academy. In this role, he supports the office’s various membership and development programs, helps with the Academy’s technology management including data analysis, assists with the annual conference, and does research on income security. Prior to joining the Academy, he helped manage a branch of a welding supply company and spent time as a full-time stay-at-home parent. He holds a J.D. from The George Washington University and two B.S. degrees from The University of Utah.