Valerie Rawlston Wilson is an American labor economist who directs the Economic Policy Institute’s Program on Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy.

She researches and writes about economic inequality in the United States in employment and training, income and wealth disparities, access to higher education, and social insurance.

[1][2][3][4] She was previously vice president of research at the National Urban League Washington Bureau.

In June 2022, she testified before the United States Congressional Committee on Education and Labor on how COVID-19 widened racial inequities in education, health, and the workforce.

[6] Wilson attended Hampton University and earned a PhD in economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.