Our People
LEADERSHIP
Mary Beth (MB) Maxwell
Is the Executive Director of Workshop. During the Obama Administration, MB served in numerous roles at the Labor Department; Senior Advisor to the Secretary, Acting Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division and Acting Assistant Secretary for Policy. She worked in the White House as a detailee to Vice-President Biden’s Middle Class Task Force. MB played leadership roles in the Homecare rule, Overtime rule, LGBT Executive Order, Minimum Wage and Paid Leave. During the Biden transition she served on the Personnel team recruiting and vetting new DOL staff. MB was National Field Director for Jobs with Justice and the founding director of the labor think-tank American Rights at Work. She most recently worked at the Open Society Foundations as Senior Advisor on Worker Power.
Julia Foster
Is the Chief of Staff of Workshop. Julia’s professional career has been dedicated to advancing social justice, and builds on over two decades of experience in fundraising, financial management, people operations and executive leadership. Prior to Workshop, Julia served in numerous roles at Community Change/Action, a national organization rooted in the civil rights, labor, and anti-poverty movements. In her most recent role as Chief of Staff, she played a pivotal role in advancing the organization's impact by strengthening organizational effectiveness and managing the Office of the Presidents and Senior Leadership.
FELLOWS
Workshop supports full and part-time Policy Fellows who formerly worked in the administration to develop projects advancing federal action for worker rights.
Pronita Gupta
Is a Senior Fellow at Workshop. Pronita served in the Biden White House from January 2021 through July 2022 as Special Assistant to the President for Labor and Workers on the Domestic Policy Council, developing and implementing policies on worker rights, job quality, workforce development, supply chain issues, and the care economy. Prior to joining the Biden-Harris Administration, she was the Director of Job Quality at the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), promoting policy solutions to create more responsive workplaces, improve job quality for workers, strengthen worker protections, and increase economic security for low-income working families. Pronita leads Workshop’s Implementation Project, ensuring that the implementation of federal investments promotes workers’ rights and equity.
In the Obama Administration, Pronita was the appointed Deputy Director of the Women’s Bureau in the U.S. Department of Labor. In that role, she worked to advance and improve standards, practices, and opportunities for women in the labor force. Pronita also has extensive experience in community and labor organizing. She brings expertise in the areas of paid family and medical leave, pay equity, and other workplace labor standards. She holds an M.P.A. from Columbia University and a B.A. in government from Clark University.
Shilpa Phadke
Is a Fellow at Workshop. Shilpa most recently served in the Biden White House as the Deputy Director of the Gender Policy Council, leading the domestic policy efforts on gender equity. Prior to joining the Biden-Harris Administration, she was Vice President for the Women’s Initiative at the Center for American Progress, where she led policy development and analysis, as well as advocacy and outreach, with a goal of ensuring that women are at the center of the progressive policy agenda.
Shilpa served in the Obama-Biden Administration from 2009-2015 where she held several positions including Special Assistant to the President for Cabinet Affairs. In that role, she managed the relationship between the White House and more than 12 economic, domestic, and international agencies in order to advance the administration’s policy, communications, regulatory, and program implementation priorities. Shilpa holds a master’s in public policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and a bachelor’s from Boston College. She is an adjunct professor at American University where she teaches a course on women, policy and politics.
Shilpa leads Workshop’s work around gender equity, with a focus on women and work, including the team’s efforts on the care economy.
Tanya Goldman
Is a Fellow at Workshop. Most recently Tanya served in the Biden-Harris Administration as Senior Counselor to the Secretary of Labor at the U.S. Department of Labor. She also served as Acting Assistant Secretary for Policy at the Department of Labor. Prior to joining the Biden-Harris Administration, Tanya was a senior policy attorney at the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), where she focused on policy solutions to improve job quality for workers, strengthen worker protections, and increase economic security for low-income working families. Before joining CLASP, she held several positions in the federal government focused on protecting and upholding labor and employment laws.
Tanya served in the Obama-Biden Administration in several capacities, including as an Administrative Appeals Judge at the U.S. Department of Labor. She also worked as Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Policy Advisor to the Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division. Before working at the U.S. Department of Labor, Tanya prosecuted violations of federal civil rights laws at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. She also clerked on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana and taught at Georgetown Law and Tulane University Law School. Tanya received her B.A. from Stanford University and her J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School.
Tanya’s fellowship focuses on building the bench of administrative advocates and developing a new labor framework for workers’ protections and benefits.
Elizabeth Wilkins
Is a Fellow at Workshop. Elizabeth most recently served as the Chief of Staff to the Chair and Director of the Office of Policy and Planning. Before joining the FTC, she served as Senior Advisor to the White House Chief of Staff. Prior to that, she worked in several senior leadership roles at the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia, including Senior Counsel for Policy and Chief of Staff. Elizabeth also previously served as a law clerk to Associate Justice Elena Kagan of the U.S. Supreme Court, and to then-Chief Judge Merrick Garland of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Before law school, she was a policy advisor in the White House Domestic Policy Council. Elizabeth began her career as a political organizer for SEIU 32BJ in New York City. She graduated magna cum laude from Yale University and holds a J.D. from Yale Law School.
Elizabeth’s fellowship focuses on developing policy frameworks and alliances to ensure that antimonopoly policy incorporates levers for building countervailing power.
ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Workshop is supported by an Advisory Committee of movement leaders and former appointees with deep expertise in policy making and executive action.
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Alex Hertel-Fernandez
Associate Professor and Vice Dean for Curriculum and Instruction, Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs
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Cecilia Muñoz
Former Director, White House Domestic Policy Council
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Cindy Mann
Partner, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP
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David Weil
Dean and Professor of the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University
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Heidi Shierholz
President, Economic Policy Institute (EPI)
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Janelle Jones
Vice President of Policy and Advocacy, Washington Center for Equitable Growth
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Jocelyn Frye
President, National Partnership for Women & Families
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Katherine Archuleta
Founder & Director, Latina Initiative of Colorado
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Sharon Block
Professor of Practice and Executive Director, Center for Labor and a Just Economy, Harvard Law School
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Shayna Strom
CEO, Washington Center for Equitable Growth
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Tyra Mariani
Founder & Principal, UP Advisors, LLC