J.D. Grom, Senior Advisor — Washington, D.C.
What excites you most about your current role? Working with an organization laser-focused on getting stuff done to make the U.S. more affordable and competitive in the 21st century.
What do you get up to outside of work? Spending time with my family, ideally outdoors.
What makes you optimistic about our abundant future? Momentum is building around an abundance agenda, adding to the already strong foundation of policy and advocacy organizations who have been leading on this work for many years.
What does abundance mean to you? Being outcomes-oriented in tackling the collective challenges we face.
What’s your low-stakes hot take? Leading with kindness prevails.
Emily Hsieh, Head of Finance — Austin, TX
What excites you most about your current role? Being part of an organization with a meaningful mission, as well as being exposed to a diverse set of ideas and people.
What do you get up to outside of work? As much as I love creating a spreadsheet for everything, I also enjoy cooking, learning about real estate, and not finishing DIY home projects. Recently, I started ceramics classes to help sharpen my right brain.
What makes you optimistic about our abundant future? Seeing people of all different histories, professional backgrounds, and perspectives unite together around a shared vision to create positive and meaningful opportunities.
What piqued your interest in policy? From a numbers standpoint, policy has arguably the highest ability to create scalable and lasting change. Once you realize that, it’s hard not to want to devote your energy towards ensuring good policy gets identified, adopted, and implemented.
Who's your ideal dinner guest? (Mister) Fred Rogers. He was truly a very special person and I bet my kids would be enamored with him as well.
What’s your low-stakes hot take? Flamin’ Hot Cheetos > Takis
Kevin Lo, Senior Advisor — San Francisco, CA
What excites you most about your current role? Being able to work towards a mission I deeply believe in with really good, smart, and driven people.
What do you get up to outside of work? Love cooking and restaurant culture, and was just recently certified as a yoga instructor.
What makes you optimistic about our abundant future? Though it’s hard work, we know people working together can make real positive progress.
What piqued your interest in policy? So many of our biggest challenges require policy change, so I’ve always felt pushed to try to do my part to help.
Who's your ideal dinner guest and why? Anthony Bourdain, because he epitomizes to me the power of food. I really admire how he was able to help people be more empathetic through food.
What’s your low-stakes hot take? Unless you have dietary restrictions, I think foodies should like anchovies.
Anna Marcus, Executive Assistant — New York, NY
What excites you most about your current role? I have worked at larger and less action-oriented organizations in the past. I am excited to be on a smaller team and step up wherever I can to support the mission.
What do you get up to outside of work? Outside of being physically active, I love spending time with friends, listening to music, and drawing.
What makes you optimistic about our abundant future? I have been frustrated and dismayed by the gridlock within American politics. Abundance is a dynamic approach that actually aims to effectively create change on issues that impact people. The fact that people across the board are excited about abundance shows that there is an appetite for change.
Who's your ideal dinner guest? Christoph Niemann is an artist, animator, and author. I first saw his work highlighted on the Netflix special, The Art of Design. He has an account called ‘Abstract Sundays’ where he takes everyday objects and uses their shape, outline, or shadow to create another image entirely. I think he’d be really fun to chat with over dinner about his creative process.
Which person who you don't know do you most admire? Angela Davis.
What’s your low-stakes hot take? You can’t be apolitical.
Joshua Seawell, Head of Policy — Los Angeles, CA
What excites you most about your current role? Getting to engage with ideas and learn from really smart people for a living.
What do you get up to outside of work? A great day is if I’m lifting weights, reading, seeing friends, and sitting on a sunny patio somewhere with a snack.
What does abundance mean to you? More sophisticated economic policy and stronger government capacity leading to historic standards of living for all, which in turn creates revitalized communities and empowered households.
What piqued your interest in policy? A fascination with basic moral philosophy and early exposure to The West Wing.
Which person who you don't know do you most admire? Hard to choose just one, but John Maynard Keynes is in the top tier.
What’s your low-stakes hot take? It should be harder to make substitutions at restaurants.
