LELAINE BIGELOW

Lelaine Bigelow is the Executive Director of the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality at Georgetown Law, where she leads a people-focused think tank generating research-driven policy solutions to improve the lives of people experiencing poverty in the United States. Her work centers on economic security, women-centered policy design, and ensuring that public systems reflect the lived realities of families navigating housing, caregiving, work, income security, and the public benefits system. In 2025, Lelaine was named an Aspen Institute Ascend Fellow.

A seasoned policy strategist with experience in Congress and the executive branch, Lelaine brings a deep understanding of how ideas move—and stall—inside government. During the Obama Administration, she served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under Secretary Julián Castro, leading congressional outreach and bipartisan relationship-building. Her Capitol Hill experience includes roles with Rep. Judy Chu and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, Rep. Corrine Brown, and Rep. Jerrold Nadler.

Throughout her career, Lelaine advances an approach to economic policy that is both progressive and pragmatic. Drawing on her experience as a Filipina leader navigating the intersections of gender, race, and class in Washington, she brings an intersectional lens to policy design and leadership. She believes that advancing bold policy change requires both ambitious ideas and fluency in how power operates — and that who is at the table shapes the policies that emerge.

She regularly offers analysis and commentary to major national news outlets. Her insights have been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Marketplace, CNBC, Fast Company, Morning Consult, Ms. Magazine, The 19th, Newsy, and the New York Post.

She is a graduate of the George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management and the University of Florida.

She lives a quaint city life on Capitol Hill with her husband and son. A true Filipina, she loves to cook and eat — and proudly passed those same values to her energetic son.