I am Dr. Vicky Lovell, Director of Employment and Work/Life Programs at the Institute for Women’s Policy
Research (IWPR). I hold a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration from Portland State University and have
been employed at the Institute for eight years. In that time, I have written or co-authored several research
reports on Unemployment Insurance (UI), including comprehensive analyses of UI systems in Georgia and
Florida and historical reviews of women’s experiences of the UI system. Other IWPR staff have completed
research projects on UI that have fundamentally altered our understanding of the importance of this program for
women, and especially low-wage women, and highlighted inequities in the program that leave working women
at a disadvantage.