Lael Brainard is an economic authority and a distinguished fellow at the Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy.

Brainard served as the 14th director of the National Economic Council from 2023 to 2025. She previously served as the 22nd vice chair of the Federal Reserve between May 2022 and February 2023. Prior to her term as vice chair, Brainard served as a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, taking office in 2014. Before her appointment to the Federal Reserve, she served as the undersecretary of the treasury for international affairs from 2010 to 2013.

Brainard was nominated by Barack Obama to serve as the Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs at the Department of the Treasury on March 23, 2009. She was confirmed to the position by a 78–19 vote in the U.S. Senate on April 20, 2010, and was sworn in on the same day. She resigned on November 8, 2013, in advance of her nomination by Obama to serve on the Fed board.

President Biden nominated Brainard to serve as Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve on November 22, 2021, succeeding Richard Clarida in the role. On April 26, 2022, her nomination as Federal Reserve Vice Chair was confirmed by the U.S. Senate. She was sworn in on May 23, 2022. In February 2023, Biden announced Brainard as Brian Deese's successor as Director of the National Economic Council (NEC). She resigned her position as Federal Reserve governor and Vice Chair on February 18, 2023.

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