ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ

What have you been up to since graduating from ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ?

I am currently a PhD student in the economics department at Stanford University, focusing on labor and industrial organization. Before starting my PhD, I spent three years as a predoctoral research fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR), where I collaborated with Heidi Williams on research related to incentives in patenting and innovation.

Why economics?

My path to becoming an economist actually began in my senior year of high school when I was lotteried out of AP psychology. Instead, I enrolled in AP economics as my social science class and have been engaged with the discipline ever since. Even before studying economics, I enjoyed policy discussions, largely through my participation on the high school debate team.

Are there any classes, professors, or experiences that had a lasting impact on you?

Professor of Economics John Fitzgerald's Economic Evaluation of Public Programs seminar during my sophomore year was the first time at ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ that I felt like I was doing “real economics.” The course excellently distilled the concept of applied economic research, teaching both causal inference and policy design with a rigor I hadn’t found elsewhere at the college. This class equipped me with the skills to write my thesis, work at the Boston Fed, and serve as a predoctoral researcher at before applying to graduate school.

Similarly, Associate Professor of Economicsssor Dan Stone’s Game Theory and Strategic Behavior course closely resembled my first-year graduate classes. For anyone considering a PhD in economics, taking mathematically rigorous courses like this is invaluable. I’m often surprised how many topics from that class reappear in the accelerated first-year PhD curriculum. The foundation gained here is crucial to keeping pace in graduate school.

But coursework wasn’t the only way ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ’s economics department shaped my career. In my first year, I met with an alum from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston who spoke during our Macroeconomics lecture. That connection was pivotal, leading to an internship in the bank’s research division, which I later leveraged into my research fellow position at SIEPR. 

What advice would you give to current students or recent graduates interested in your field?

Read broadly. Economics underpins far more than it initially seems. Often other disciplines are practicing economics without realizing it. In many ways, our greatest contribution is refining and formalizing intuitions that others have already developed.

What have you been up to since graduating from ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ?

Since leaving campus, I’ve taken my love of science and economics to build companies and teams that advance research and develop better medicines for us all. Right out of ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ, I joined the hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, where I quickly learned how large organizations make strategic decisions and investments as a member of the internal strategy team. Missing science, I pivoted out of finance and dove headfirst into the startup world as the first business hire at two healthcare technology startups (one failed, one exited). Sometimes the economics of a business just doesn’t work out! Between companies, I earned my MBA at Dartmouth and used my time as a student to explore the venture capital side of building companies. I then built my own consulting practice advising technical founders on their commercial strategy, with particular emphasis on business model design, go-to market strategy, and pricing—work rooted in the principles and fundamentals I learned as a student in lectures in Hubbard Hall. Most recently, I joined Egon Zehnder’s Health Practice, where I advise healthcare companies on their talent strategy. I’ve learned it all comes down to people and their ability to make decisions in the face of limited resources. You could say everything is really just economics principles at the end of the day!

Why economics?

I was initially drawn to the beautiful simplicity of core economic theory and the vast complexity that could be explained with something like supply and demand. Don’t let simplicity fool you; instead, I’d encourage you to see it as a hallmark of excellent thinking. My economics degree is the foundation from which I make sense of the world at every level, from global markets to individual decision-making. I particularly loved my Behavioral Economics courses and the ability to bring in economics and neuroscience together to understand how people actually make decisions. Spoiler alert: we humans stray from theory more often than not in how we make decisions, thanks to bias, irrationality, and our many inconsistencies. But isn’t that what makes life interesting? I sure think so. Economics helps me solve problems and understand how the world works, learnings from my time at ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ that I carry with me in everything I do.

Are there any classes, professors, or experiences that had a lasting impact on you?

Game Theory with Daniel Stone.

What have you been up to since graduating from ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ?

Shockingly (to me), I graduated from ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ twenty-two years ago in 2003. My goal was to use economics to do research that would lead to better government policies, which is ultimately where I ended up. After ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ, I started out working as a research assistant at the Urban Institute doing health policy research and then earned a PhD in economics from Cornell University. After graduating, I worked as an economist at the Census Bureau. While I initially wanted to continue publishing research, I was excited to move into a role where I could use my skills to directly advise White House policymakers on economics topics and perspectives. To that effect, I recently spent nine years at the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), ultimately leading the team of economists as the deputy associate director for economic policy.

OMB does many things across the executive branch, including working with White House policy councils and federal agencies to develop the President’s budget, developing executive orders, approving regulations across the government, developing government-wide management policies, and much more. If something happens in the government, OMB is almost certainly involved! My team worked across nearly all areas of the government to develop macroeconomic projections, provide governmentwide cost-benefit guidance, help review and develop new policies and government models, and broadly advise non-economist policymakers on economic issues, analysis, and statistics. It was exciting to present my conclusions and my team’s findings directly to the people making the decisions. It felt great to have a real impact!

Outside of work, I’ve been up to a number of things, including raising three children with my husband, serving on nonprofit boards, and pursuing hobbies like triathlons and art.

Why economics?

I started out my freshman year planning on majoring in neuroscience with the goal of eventually getting a neuroscience PhD to do research. However, one of the great things about a liberal arts education is the opportunity to explore new topics, and I tried out Econ 101 my freshman year. There I learned that rather than being only about maximizing profits as I assumed, economics was an exciting tool that could be used to understand and help solve the social issues I really cared about, such as environmental problems, health care, income inequality, and more.

Two things changed my path partway through my sophomore year. First, I decided I wasn’t as excited about neuroscience as I expected. The second was the 2000 presidential election. I was really excited about what I saw as the huge difference between the candidates and the implications of the election for our country on the issues I cared deeply about. My second semester sophomore year, I took two government classes and two economics classes with the goal of changing my path to a major where I could make a difference in the political landscape. I especially enjoyed the analytical methods in economics, and switched to an economics and environmental studies major with a minor in government and legal studies. I spent my junior year at the London School of Economics and then came back to ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ to take senior seminars and write an honors thesis. My goal was to use economics to do research that would inform policymaking, and I haven’t looked back since!

What advice would you give to current students or recent graduates interested in your field?

Economics is a fantastic field with so many opportunities, ranging from academic research, to think tank research, to corporate work, to public service.

What have you been up to since graduating from ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ?

I started out working at a bank in emerging markets trading before joining a small fintech startup that focuses on retail shareholder engagement and democracy in an operational role. The startup was acquired by a larger fintech company, and I'm continuing my role there, hoping to broaden our reach.

Why economics?

I declared a major in economics because I liked the intersection between the quantitative and qualitative components of economics and how easily I could connect the dots between what I was learning in the classroom to what I was hearing about and reading about in the rest of the world. From a career perspective, economics doesn't apply to just a select few industries or job titles. Microeconomic fundamentals impact every sector and business to some degree. Even though I no longer work in a traditional finance role, what I learned in those courses still informs how I make decisions that involve customers, clients, coworkers and other companies that I interact with. Macroeconomic principles can be useful for anyone who's interested in pursuing a career with a global aspect. Regardless of what career someone chooses, economics helps us understand the world better and makes us more informed global citizens. It gives us a conceptual framework for breaking down why geopolitical events on the other side of the world can affect grocery or gas prices we see in our day-to-day. It's also helpful in developing financial literacy, like how understanding a Federal Reserve policy decision's effect on the economy and markets can in turn influence how we manage our own finances. I truly believe economics can impact multiple facets of our lives.

Are there any classes, professors, or experiences that had a lasting impact on you?

Game Theory and Strategic Behavior with Daniel Stone.

What have you been up to since graduating from ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ?

After ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ, I worked briefly in economic consulting, and then I worked at a quantitative hedge fund doing data analytics and investor relations. Then I went to Harvard Business School, and I graduated in 2021. I have since transitioned into tech. I had a summer internship at Adobe doing go-to market strategy and operations, and I soon learned about my current company, which is called Clari. I've now been with Clari for over a year on the the externally-facing 'business development partnership' side of things. I think it's a perfect combination of sales strategy and thinking big-picture in terms of where there could be synergies.

Why economics?

I came into ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ thinking I was going to be a government and legal studies major, but couldn't get into a class because they were so popular, so I signed up for my first economics class. I was just amazed at how the things that were intuitive to how I lived my life actually had names and were derived from economic principles. Economics is also, in a way, almost a study of how people would rationally live their lives, so it's then interesting to study how real life deviates from the models. I really think having studied economics, for me, has been helpful in every aspect of life—from personal investing to better understanding the world.

Are there any classes, professors, or experiences that had a lasting impact on you?

Financial Crises was my most memorable class.