Lily Roberts

Lily Roberts is the managing director for Economic Policy at American Progress. Her work includes a focus on raising wages; combating economic inequality linked to race, gender, and geography; and building wealth and stability for American families.

Prior to joining American Progress, Roberts worked at Mathematica Policy Research, where she researched federal strategies to support low- and middle-income families. While at Mathematica, she provided technical assistance to Department of Labor programs to pair child care and early childhood education with training and employment. She conducted research on two-generation anti-poverty strategies and public health policy in home visiting, substance use, and psychiatric emergency care.

Roberts received a master’s degree in social work, focusing on community development, from Case Western Reserve University. During graduate school, she interned with the Economic Opportunity and Financial Inclusion team at the National League of Cities. Her undergraduate degree in military history and English is from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Roberts has served as a case manager at a Washington, D.C., social services nonprofit and is a former advisory neighborhood commissioner in Shaw.