Lael Brainard

Lael Brainard earned a PhD in economics from Harvard and served as a Treasury official during the Clinton administration. She was appointed to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in 2014 and served for nearly a decade, becoming one of its most influential members. At the Fed, she was generally associated with a dovish stance on monetary policy, prioritizing employment alongside inflation control. She also developed deep expertise in financial regulation, particularly regarding systemic risk and digital finance. In January 2023, she became Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve. She later left to serve as Director of the National Economic Council under the Biden administration, a major economic policy coordination role. Her career spanned both monetary and fiscal policy leadership, making her one of the more complete economic policymakers of her generation.