Amy Hanauer
Executive Director
Areas of Expertise
Federal Taxes State Taxes Budget Policy Taxes and Climate Justice Workers and WagesAmy Hanauer joined ITEP in 2020, bringing nearly 30 years of experience working to create economic policy that advances social justice. As executive director of both ITEP and Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ), Amy provides vision and leadership to promote fair and equitable state and national tax policy.
Prior to joining ITEP/CTJ, Amy founded and developed Policy Matters Ohio from a one-person start-up in 2000 to a 14-person operation with offices in Cleveland and Columbus. Under her guidance, the organization provided research that helped boost Ohio’s minimum wage, establish a state Earned Income Tax Credit, restore collective bargaining rights for public sector workers and expose how tax cuts for the wealthy have not improved Ohio’s job climate.
Prior to founding Policy Matters, Amy opened a Milwaukee office for the think tank COWS, helping place women in unionized manufacturing jobs. In the early 1990s, she worked for Wisconsin State Senator (now U.S. Rep) Gwendolynne Moore’s office, defending the safety net for Wisconsin families.
Amy holds multiple leadership posts at the national level, including as a board member for both The American Prospect and Demos Action. She previously served as Vice President of the board at the think tank Demos from 2010-2018. A graduate of Rockwood Leadership Institute, Amy is the author of several publications on worker justice, green jobs and racial and economic equity. She received her Master of Public Administration from the Lafollette Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and holds a bachelor’s degree in government from Cornell University.
amy at itep.orgRecent Publications and Posts view more
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Washington Is Finally Having the Right Conversation about Taxes
Presidential candidates and some elected officials are finally talking about bold tax policy ideas that would increase taxes and raise revenue. This is a dramatic shift from when a radical, right-wing narrative dominated the public debate. Republicans redefined “fiscal responsibility” as fewer taxes and less government, peddled supply-side economic theories, and denied the clear evidence that tax cuts were adding to our nation’s deficits.
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Why I've Joined the Fight for Tax Justice: Amy Hanauer
After years of watching tax policy increasingly leave communities behind, at ITEP I’ll have the chance to work with local, state and national partners on policy solutions. I’m prepared to push for a tax system that can better deliver economic, climate and racial justice; for a public sector that can prepare our kids and our grid for 2020 and beyond; and for an America that works for all of us, whether we were born in Nebraska or Hawaii, Detroit or Miami.