Elizabeth Garlow is a fellow in New America's New Practice Lab, where she works at the intersection of impact investing, public policy, and systems change to support more just and life-affirming economies. Prior to joining New America, she led impact investing for Lumina Foundation, investing in early-stage ventures focused on designing equitable education and work pathways. She also served as a policy advisor with the Obama Administration's Community Solutions Task Force, where she managed the President’s Promise Zones initiative.

Originally from Detroit, Elizabeth co-founded and led Michigan Corps, launching the nation’s first statewide Social Entrepreneurship Challenge. She has served as a nonresident fellow with the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, where she helped launch a major research initiative focused on place-based strategies for human capital and economic development in small- and mid-sized U.S. cities. In 2019, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology for her contributions to the Economy of Communion and Economy of Francesco initiatives to build a new moral economy.

Elizabeth is deeply interested in the intersection of emerging schools of economic thought, complexity, theology, spirituality, and contemplative studies. She co-designed the “Livable Future Investing” workshop, which now has several hundred alumni, and built a network of faith-based investors supporting Pope Francis’ Economy of Francesco movement. She draws inspiration from her roles as mother, caregiver, and community member, seeing care and belonging as central to shaping new ways of being and knowing for these times.

She is a graduate of Kalamazoo College and holds an MPA from Princeton University.