Elizabeth Pancotti

Director, Special Initiatives

As the director of special initiatives, Liz works across the program areas of the think tank to strategically drive Roosevelt’s research and policy agenda.


Elizabeth Pancotti is the director of special initiatives at Roosevelt, where she works across think tank program areas to drive the organization’s research and policy agenda. Liz provides weekly commentary on Substack about the intersection of progressive politics, policy, and economics.

Prior to Roosevelt, Liz was an advisor to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), serving as the labor policy director of the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and as a senior budget analyst on the Senate Budget Committee. She played a key role in the industrial policy and labor provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act.

Before the Senate, she was the policy director at Employ America where she focused on unemployment insurance benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and The Guardian. 

Liz holds a BS in economics from American University. Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, she now lives in Washington, DC, with her three dogs.