What AI means for work and democracy

Jessica K. Looman is Virginia's secretary of labor, serving in Governor Abigail Spanberger's cabinet. From 2021 to 2025, she led the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division as its Senate-confirmed administrator under President Joe Biden, enforcing federal labor standards for 165 million workers. She also served as commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Commerce, deputy commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, and executive director of the Minnesota State Building and Construction Trades Council. She was most recently a senior fellow with the NYU Wagner Labor Initiative. A 30-year member of the Laborers' International Union of North America, she holds a BA from George Washington University and a JD from the University of Minnesota Law School.

Astri Kimball Van Dyke, a Miller Center senior practitioner fellow, is an expert in tech and public policy and the former director of Google's global competition policy team. She has worked on public policy for more than 25 years, serving as a political appointee for President Barack Obama in the White House and as deputy counsel to Vice President Joe Biden. She also served as senior advisor to the president and CEO for policy and operations at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the U.S. government’s development finance agency, and was an associate at O'Melveny and Myers LLP and at Goldman Sachs. She holds an AB from Princeton University and a JD from New York University School of Law.

Chris Lu is a James R. Schlesinger Distinguished Professor at the University of Virginia's Miller Center. During a public service career that has spanned all three branches of the federal government, Lu’s experience includes both domestic and foreign policy, as well as the management of complex organizations. During the Biden administration, he served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations for management and reform. During the second term of the Obama administration, Lu served as the U.S. deputy secretary of labor. From 2009 to 2013, Lu served as the White House Cabinet secretary and assistant to the president, where he was the primary liaison between the White House and the federal agencies. Lu is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School and holds an honorary doctorate from MacMurray College.