Shelly Steward

Shelly Steward is an economic sociologist and applied scholar who studies the changing nature of work. She is the Director of Aspen Institute Future of Work Initiative, where she leads work identifying the challenges faced by workers today and developing policy-based solutions to address those challenges and build a more equitable economy. She is also a research associate with the Fairwork Project based at the Oxford Internet Institute and teaches courses on technology and tech policy for the University of California’s Washington Program. She is an expert on nonstandard work arrangements and the gig economy, and is lead author of the Gig Economy Data Hub in collaboration with Cornell University’s ILR School. Shelly received her PhD in sociology from the University of California, Berkeley, where she was a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow. She holds an AB with highest honors in sociology from Harvard. Prior to graduate school, she was a middle school science teacher in South Dakota through Teach for America. Outside of work, she volunteers at the National Zoo and enjoys swimming, sewing, and cookies.