Rebecca Vallas

Board Member | She/Her

Rebecca Vallas is a longtime champion for building an economy and society grounded in common humanity, interconnectedness, and shared abundance. She is currently a Distinguished Fellow and Senior Adviser at the National Academy of Social Insurance, where she leads the Academy's policy work. Most recently, she was a senior fellow at The Century Foundation, where she founded the Disability Economic Justice Collaborative to bring a disability lens across economic policymaking. Prior to that, she spent several years helping to build and lead the Center for American Progress’s anti-poverty work, co-founded CAP’s Disability Justice Initiative, and originated its criminal justice reform work. Vallas is also the co-founder of the Clean Slate Initiative, which advances the automation of criminal record-clearing in the states to help justice-involved individuals access jobs and housing. 

Vallas began her career as a public benefits lawyer in the Aging and Disability Unit at Community Legal Services in Philadelphia, where she launched her work as a Skadden Fellow. She earned her law degree in 2009 from the University of Virginia and her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Emory University in 2006. She is also the creator and host of the podcast and radio show Off-Kilter. She is a proud member of the Project on Integrating Spirituality, Law, and Politics and a board member of Tzedek DC and the National Disabled Law Students Association, and she spent eight years on the Board of the National Academy of Social Insurance. She lives with multiple invisible disabilities and chronic illnesses. In her spare time, she works as a practicing astrologer and energy healer. She lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, with her husband and four rescue kitties.