Roosevelt Institute

Four Freedoms Wall in the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial, Washington, D.C.

The Roosevelt Institute was created in 1987 through the merger of the Eleanor Roosevelt Institute and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Foundation.[5] In 2007, the Roosevelt Institute merged with the Roosevelt Institution, now known as the Roosevelt Institute Campus Network.[6] It remains the non-profit partner to the government-run Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, the nation's first presidential library. In 2009, it expanded its mission with the launch of the Four Freedoms Center, a progressive policy think tank, and an economic policy blog.

Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, November 1935.

Felicia Wong, formerly of the Democracy Alliance, became the organization's President and CEO in March 2012.[7] In 2015, the Roosevelt Institute was added to the Democracy Alliance's list of recommended funding targets.[8] Other donors to the Roosevelt Institute include the Ford Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, and the Bauman Foundation.[9]

The Board of Directors of the Roosevelt Institute includes:[Board 1]

• Karen Adler
• Benjamin Barnes, American real estate magnate, politician, and lobbyist[Board 2]
• Kate Brandt[Board 3]
• Wole Coaxum, Founder and CEO of Mobility Capital Finance, Inc.[Board 4]
• Lisa D. Cook, Professor of economics and international relations at the Michigan State University[Board 5]
• Christie George, Director of New Media Ventures[Board 6]
• William Griffith
• Fay Hartog-Levin, American lawyer, consultant, and diplomat[Board 7]
• James P. Hoffa, General President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters[Board 8]
• Jas Johl, Writer[Board 9]
• George Knox
• Keith Mestrich, President and Chief Executive Officer of Amalgamated Bank[Board 10]
• Sally Minard
• Muckenfuss III, Partner in the D.C. office of Gibson Dunn[Board 11]
• Nancy Roosevelt Ireland[Board 12]
• Nicholas W. Roosevelt, Associate at J. Abrams Law, P.C.[Board 13]
• Phoebe Roosevelt[Board 14]
• Anna Eleanor Roosevelt[Board 15]
• Paul R. Rudd (deceased April 28, 2020)
• Bernard L. Schwartz, Chairman and CEO of BLS Investments[Board 16]
• Amish Shah
• Paul M. Sparrow, Director of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum[Board 17]
• Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers[Board 18]
• Brian Wolff
• William vanden Heuvel, Chair Emeritus and Founder of the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute, and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park, LLC.[Board 19]
• Katrina vanden Heuvel, Editor and publisher of The Nation[Board 20]

Joseph Stiglitz is the Roosevelt Institute's chief economist. In 2015, a report authored by Stiglitz offered an indictment of 35 years of U.S. economic policies.[2][10] Elizabeth Warren and Bill de Blasio joined Stiglitz at the press conference to announce the report.[11][12] The 37 policy recommendations in the Stiglitz report include progressive taxation and an expansion of government programs.[13]

Time called the Stiglitz report "a roadmap for what many progressives would like to see happen policy wise over the next four years."[14] According to The Washington Post, the Institute's plan is "firmly rooted in the conviction that more government can solve most of America's economic challenges. It is a plan seemingly designed to rally liberals, enrage free-market economists and push a certain presumptive presidential nominee to the left."[12]

In 2017, they published a report in favor of universal basic income.[15]

• Official website