Rebecca Vallas is a 2002 alum who embodies Woodward’s commitment to service. After she was named a Forbes “30 under 30” in law and policy in 2011 and 2014 respectively, Rebecca joined The Center for American Progress in 2014 as the Managing Director of their Poverty to Prosperity program. Little did she know her beloved theater classes at Woodward were also preparing her for a job in which she speaks to the media, represents her organization, and interviews politicians and other thought leaders almost every day. She also could not have foreseen that her Woodward education was setting her up for a lifetime of intellectually-rigorous advocacy work. Today, Rebecca leads a fast-paced life in D.C. where she’s on the front lines of the biggest issues in our country.

Can you tell us about the Poverty to Prosperity program at the Center for American Progress and describe your role?

The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan think-action tank that seeks to advance progressive policies and ideas. The Poverty to Prosperity Program focuses on developing, analyzing, and advancing policies to cut poverty and expand opportunity, like raising the minimum wage, ensuring paid family and medical leave, second chance policies to ensure that a minor criminal record isn’t a life sentence to poverty, policies to give workers with disabilities a fair shot at employment, and more. We also analyze and seek to stop proposals that would worsen poverty and inequality and make it harder for struggling families to get ahead—which is the lion’s share of what we’re doing right now, with healthcare, housing, nutrition assistance, and more facing unprecedented threats. I serve as the team’s managing director.

In addition to policy development and advocacy, a big part of the team’s work is pushing back on myths about poverty, poor people, and antipoverty programs, and improving media coverage of poverty.

How did you get interested in helping low-income Americans?

Before I came to DC, I spent several years as a civil legal aid attorney in Philadelphia. I miss my clients, and I miss being on the ground. But the organization I worked for, Community Legal Services, is very much where I grew up professionally, and the experience of working directly with low-income individuals and communities—and learning from some of the best poverty lawyers in the country—continues to underpin my work and how I see the world.

One of the central lessons I took with me from my legal aid days was how misunderstood poverty and poor people are in this country. Media coverage of poverty is a big part of this. Most of the time, poverty is cast in terms of “us and them,” as though “the poor” are some stagnant class of 13-14 percent of the population living below the poverty line year in and year out—and who struggle financially because of laziness or bad decisions. Rather, economic hardship is a widespread experience, with fully 1 in 3 Americans struggling to make ends meet, living paycheck to paycheck—or worse. Meanwhile, half of Americans will experience at least a year of poverty or teetering on the financial brink at some point during their working years. Add in unemployment or needing to turn to the safety net, and that number rises to 4 in 5 Americans. Staggering a number as this is, it comes as less of a shock when you consider that the three leading causes of poverty in the U.S. are job loss or cutback in hours, disability/illness, and birth of a child—all commonplace experiences that could happen to anyone.

How one views the cause of a problem inevitably shapes what they'll see as the solution. That’s why pushing back on myths and stereotypes about poverty—and elevating the voices of people struggling to provide for their families to help put a face on the reality of their circumstances—is a big part of what my team seeks to do.

"Academically, Woodward prepared me better for college, and ultimately for law school, than I ever could have anticipated at the time."

What's a typical workday like for you?

These days, amid a dramatically changed political landscape, we’re in nearly full-time rapid response mode, pushing back on policies that would dramatically increase poverty and inequality. As a result, most days are a crush of analyzing proposed cuts to critical programs and educating the public, media, and policymakers on the devastating consequences they would have for struggling workers and families; talking to reporters and doing TV/radio interviews; working with and briefing Hill staff and members of Congress; conducting message research; coalition-building; producing and taping a podcast; fundraising and liaising with donors; and managing an amazing team of 14 super-smart and dedicated people. I’ve always thrived in a fast-paced workplace—but this moment in time will be one to remember, with nearly every program that helps families make ends meet on the chopping block.

What do you like about your job? Is there something exciting that you're working on?

To be honest, most days I feel like I won the job lottery. I feel incredibly lucky to work with many of the nation’s leading experts and advocates on issues ranging from economic policy, to criminal justice, immigration, democracy, LGBT rights, climate/environmental policy, and more. Plus I’m part of a team of talented communications and political strategists. My coworkers and staff are equal parts talented and passionate—and I count several among my closest friends. When people find out I work on poverty, many assume it must be dark, depressing work. But the truth is, my colleagues and I may work on heavy issues, but we really enjoy each other, which makes even the longest days feel more like fun than work. And particularly right now with so much under threat, I feel incredibly fortunate that this is my day job.

One particularly fun experiment has been launching TalkPoverty.org, a progressive hub for poverty news and discussion, which has since grown into the most widely read site on poverty in the U.S., with a popular blog that elevates the voices of advocates, experts, policymakers, and people struggling to make ends meet, who tell the real stories of poverty in America. Soon thereafter we also launched TalkPoverty Radio, a weekly radio show/podcast which I host. The podcast has been an incredible experience, bringing together many of my heroes including journalists such as Melissa Harris Perry (formerly of MSNBC); policymakers like Sen. Sherrod Brown; bestselling authors like Rebecca Traister (All the Single Ladies); comics such as Lizz Winstead (co-creator of The Daily Show); and, most importantly, people struggling to make ends meet who are fighting for policies that would enable them to get ahead. In recognition of the unique political moment, the show relaunched in February as Off-Kilter, with wider syndication and a greater focus on the resistance movement sweeping the country.

What's the most challenging aspect of your job?

Defense can be exhausting in any political climate. But right now every day brings a new threat to our work. It can be a challenge to stay positive when so many programs and policies that protect marginalized populations and help level the playing field are under threat—including many that I and my colleagues fought to see enacted over the past few years.

That being said, it’s been incredibly energizing to watch the momentum growing every day to fight back against dangerous and divisive policies. Physically and emotionally challenging though it may be at times, I feel particularly lucky to get to do this work right now. Keeping the Affordable Care Act in place and preventing 24 million Americans from losing health insurance was a huge win earlier this year, and a powerful reminder of how deeply worth it this all is.

How has your time at Woodward informed your current role?

Academically, Woodward prepared me better for college, and ultimately for law school, than I ever could have anticipated at the time. But in many ways my time in WA’s theater program was the best preparation for what I would eventually go on to do, helping me develop a strong comfort level with public speaking and media. Music was another big part of my time at WA, from choir to Camerata to the school’s first all-women’s barbershop quartet. I miss singing classically—but singing remains an outlet for getting me out of the office, thanks to Center for American Progress’ competitive karaoke team, which proudly won 2nd place citywide last year.