Ricky Chima

Rickinder (Ricky) Chima has been in DC since August 2021 covering the US economy and fiscal policy at the British Embassy, having previously worked in various roles as an economist in the UK Civil Service. He studied Economics at the University of Bristol and, later, at Master’s level at University College London.

Troy Wittek

Troy Wittek is an economist at the Maryland Department of Commerce. Previously, he was a Senior Economist at Inforum. Troy received an MBA at the University of Baltimore in 2020 and a masters degree in Applied Information Technology from Towson University in 2012. He joined Inforum in 2006 and became a full-time Research Assistant in 2009. Troy’s responsibilities include collecting and analyzing detailed industry data for use in policy analysis, business planning, and academic research. He helps produce reports for a variety of audiences in the academic, government, and private sector. Troy has been a long-serving member of the National Economists Club having previously served as the VP for Public Affairs and VP for Programming.

Desiree Maruca

Desiree Maruca is the Associate Director at the Group of Thirty, an independent global body comprised of economic and financial leaders from the public and private sectors and academia. In this position, she heads the organization’s program development, event planning, and fundraising, as well as coordinates the study groups and publications of the members. Desiree earned her Master of Arts in International Relations with a concentration in Global Business and Transatlantic Trade from The School of International Service at The American University in Washington, DC. She has served as President of the National Economists Club since 2022 following her role as Vice-President for Programming in 2021.

Aparna Mathur

Board of Governors

Aparna Mathur is a Senior Research Manager in Economics at Amazon and a Senior Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government. At Amazon, she tracks and conducts research to help identify labor and employment related challenges faced by Amazon’s domestic and global workforce, with a view to informing best policy. At the Kennedy School she is focusing on the COVID-19 safety net response. Prior to Amazon, she spent a year as a Senior Economist at the Council of Economic Advisers. She joined the Council as part of the COVID-19 response task force at the peak of the crisis in April 2020 and worked with epidemiologists on the health aspects of the crisis, while also tracking the economic downturn that came with the lockdowns. Prior to joining CEA, she was a resident scholar in economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute. At AEI, she directed the AEI-Brookings Project on Paid Family and Medical Leave, building bipartisan momentum on paid leave, for which she was recognized in the Politico 50 list for 2017. Her academic research has focused on income inequality and mobility, tax policy, labor markets and small businesses. She has published in several top scholarly journals including the Journal of Public Economics, the National Tax Journal and the Journal of Health Economics, testified several times before Congress and published numerous articles in the popular press on issues of policy relevance, including on her own blog at Forbes. Her work has been cited in leading news magazines such as the Economist, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post. She has regularly provided commentary on prominent radio and television shows such as NPR’s Marketplace and the Diane Rehm Show, as well as CNBC and C-SPAN. She has been an adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy. She received her Ph.D. in economics from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2005, and is currently serving on the University of Maryland Economics Leadership Council. She is also on the Board of the National Academy of Social Insurance, Simply Green as well as the National Economists Club.

Cliff Waldman

Chairman, Board of Governors

Cliff Waldman, 2019 National Economists Club President, is the CEO of New World Economics, a consulting firm that offers a range of forecasting and data creation services to manufacturing companies, trade groups and governments. He is also the host of “Cliff Notes on the Global Manufacturing Picture”, a podcast show on Manufacturing Talk Radio. Cliff is an active and in-demand public speaker on topics ranging from the U.S. and global economic outlooks to productivity and automation.

Cliff served as Chief Economist of the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation (MAPI) research foundation. His primary responsibility during his 15-year tenure at MAPI was to write and speak on the global economic outlook. Cliff’s career has also included positions with a state government policy research unit as well as with a small business research team in Washington, D.C. He has won three national research awards for his published work on the Chinese economy, productivity, innovation, and demographics.

Cliff served as co-chair of the NABE Manufacturing Roundtable in 2019. In 2018 he was awarded the Certified Business Economist (CBE) designation by NABE.

Emily Sanchez

President

Emily Sanchez is an Economist and Director of Data Analytics at the American Chemistry Council where she uses data analytics and economic analysis to make sense of the chemical industry, end-use industries, global trade, and distribution and logistics issues. Her formal training is in statistics and economics. Emily also has extensive experience in developing and managing surveys, metrics programs and benchmarking studies. A Virginia native, she holds a B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Statistics from James Madison University and an M.S. in Applied Statistics and an M.A. in Economics from George Mason University. Emily has previously served as the National Economists Club President and as Vice President of Programs.