Victor Pickard Named 2026 Roosevelt Institute Think Tank Fellow
The prestigious fellowship honors scholars, policymakers, and public intellectuals whose work advances a democratic vision for the American economy.
Victor Pickard, C. Edwin Baker Professor of Media Policy and Political Economy and Media at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania and co-director of the Media, Inequality & Change Center, has been named a Roosevelt Institute Think Tank Fellow.
Selected alongside eight others recognized for advancing a democratic vision for the American economy, Pickard will use his fellowship to explore policy approaches for rebuilding the public media system and examine how media and communications reform connects to the larger effort to renew American democracy.
“As millions of Americans face rising costs for housing, health care, and basic necessities, we need economic thinking that confronts how power is concentrated in our markets and governing institutions,” said Hannah Groch-Begley, managing director of Roosevelt’s think tank, in an announcement. “These additional think tank fellows bring the rigor and imagination needed to advance policies that make the economy work for working people.”
This class of fellows will build on more than 20 years of rigorous, people-centered Roosevelt Institute policy research, surfacing bold ideas to ensure all Americans lead good lives.
About the Roosevelt Institute:
The Roosevelt Institute is a think tank and student network working to rebalance power in the economy and democracy. As the nonprofit partner to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, we carry forward the legacy of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt by producing ideas that shape public debate and investing in the next generation of leaders. In 2026, through our good life agenda, the think tank will develop research and policy solutions on corporate and public power, labor and wages, and the economics of race and gender inequality. The Roosevelt Society (TRS) advances this work by bringing together the people behind these ideas—researchers, organizers, policymakers, and practitioners—to learn from one another and put them into action. TRS is an intergenerational community of more than 2,000 members, including Roosevelt Institute think tank fellows, working across sectors to drive change.
