Rajesh Nayak

Rajesh D. Nayak is a fellow at the Center for Labor and a Just Economy at Harvard Law School and a consultant on labor policy and organizational transitions. Most recently, Raj served as the Assistant Secretary for Policy at the United States Department of Labor, overseeing the Department’s regulatory agenda, forward-looking policy development, and evaluation offices. Raj previously served in a range of senior roles at the Department during Obama-Biden Administration, including as the Secretary’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, and Senior Counsel to the Solicitor.

Outside of government, Raj has worked in nonprofit organizations both as an attorney and a senior leader. He was the Deputy Executive Director of the National Employment Law Project, where he helped to lead the organization’s restructuring and managed its senior leadership. He previously worked as an attorney at NELP, the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, and the Shriver Center in Chicago.

Raj earned an undergraduate degree in public policy from the University of Chicago and a law degree from Yale. He grew up in Central Illinois and now lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, with his family.