Nancy Cleeland and Lawrence Mishel

Nancy Cleeland is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist with extensive background in labor, immigration and international trade. She left the newspaper business in the summer of 2007, and now writes for the Washington D.C.-based Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank that researches the impact of economic trends and policies on working people in the United States and around the world. During a decade at the Los Angeles Times, Cleeland covered major labor disputes, including a port shutdown and several regional strikes, and exposed harsh conditions faced by immigrant workers. She was a lead writer on a 2004 series about Wal-Mart's labor policies and sourcing practices that won the Pulitzer and Polk awards. Prior to Los Angeles, she was based in Mexico City as bureau chief for Copley News Service. Cleeland can be reached at ncleeland@epi.org.

Lawrence Mishel came to the Economic Policy Institute in 1987. As EPI's first research director, then as vice president, and now president, he has played a significant role in building EPI's research capabilities and reputation. He has researched, written, and spoken widely on the economy and economic policy as it affects middle- and low-income families. He is principal author of a major research volume, The State of Working America (published every even-numbered year since 1988) which provides a comprehensive overview of the U.S. labor market and living standards.