The Economic Policy Institute’s Board of Directors has named Liz Shuler—Acting President and Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO—as its interim Chair, following the sudden and tragic passing of AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. A lifelong champion for workers’ rights, Trumka served as Chair of EPI’s Board of Directors from 2012.

Shuler was elected as the AFL-CIO’s Secretary-Treasurer in 2009, becoming the first woman to serve in the position and the youngest woman ever on the federation’s Executive Council. Prior to joining the AFL-CIO, Shuler was a union organizer and activist for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 125 in Portland, Oregon. 

“EPI is at the forefront of creating policy solutions that help working people prosper,” said Shuler. “I am honored to serve as the interim Chair of this vitally important board that is tackling runaway income inequality head on, and is helping to make generational change to our economic systems.”

In her role, Shuler will lead EPI’s Board of Directors—which consists of 28 distinguished scholars, advocates, and labor movement leaders—to help carry out EPI’s mission of building an economy that works for everyone.

“Richard Trumka was an invaluable leader for the EPI Board of Directors, and his passing is a tremendous loss to EPI, the AFL-CIO, and workers everywhere,” said Gary Bass, Executive Director of the Bauman Foundation and Treasurer of the EPI Board. “Liz Shuler offered to carry on his work, and EPI is extremely fortunate to have her as our interim Chair, especially at this pivotal moment for workers.”

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The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that researches the impact of economic trends and policies on working people in the United States.