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Nationally Recognized Expert on Labor and Wage Disparities Joins New York Based Public Policy Organization Focused on Poverty

Howard University’s Spriggs Named Senior Fellow at Community Service Society and Launches “Working for Change” National Policy Discussion

New York, NY, May 8, 2007 -- The Community Service Society of New York (CSS) has announced Dr. William E. Spriggs has joined them as Senior Fellow, focusing on labor market issues affecting traditionally disadvantaged groups and resulting wage disparities. Dr. Spriggs will be coordinating the "Working for Change" forum, a monthly briefing on Capitol Hill for congressional staff and advocates for the purpose of creating a nationwide agenda on low wage work and economic mobility in urban America.  The series commences on May 9th in the Rayburn House Office Building at noon.    

David R. Jones, president and CEO of the Community Service Society said, “Dr. Spriggs is one of the nation’s foremost experts on economics in the area of labor research, public policy, advocacy and legislation.  Someone of Dr. Spriggs caliber, expertise and experience will advance research and advocacy on issues of poverty and the working poor.”  Dr. Spriggs is Department Chair and a professor of Economics at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Spriggs joins CSS at a time when the anti-poverty agency is shifting its focus to creating pathways to economic mobility for low wage New Yorkers.  A 2005 CSS Report, “Out of School, Out of Work…Out of Luck?  New York City’s Disconnected Youth,” says there are more than 170,000 men and women, 16 – 24 years of age, mostly Black and Latino, who are neither employed nor in school.  The National League of Cities estimated there are 5.7 million disconnected youth nationally. 

Jones added, “Research conducted by Dr. Spriggs will be crucial to developing
national policies to address the growing number of disconnected youth, not just in New York, but in urban communities across the nation.” 

In addition to his current work, Dr. Spriggs, also serves as Chair of the Independent Health Care Trust for UAW Retirees of Ford Motor Company, and is on the board of the Retiree Health Administration Corporation, which administers the health care trusts for UAW retirees of Ford and General Motors. 

From 1988 to 2004, he was Executive Director of the National Urban League’s Institute for Opportunity and Equality, where among other duties he was editor of the State of Black America 1999, and led research on pay equity that won the NUL the 2001 Winn Newman Award from the National Committee on Pay Equity.  As a member of the National Academy of Social Insurance, Dr. Spriggs  was the co-chair of the 2003 NASI conference that produced the volume, Strengthening Community: Social Insurance in a Diverse America.  

In 2004, with several of his Washington-based civil rights advocate colleagues; Dr. Spriggs was awarded the Congressional Black Caucus Chairman’s Award by then CBC Chair Elijah Cummings.  On behalf of the NUL, Dr. Spriggs gave congressional testimony on how various policies would affect Black and low-income communities, and participated in the UN World Conference Against Racism, Xenophobia and Related Forms of Intolerance, where he contributed language adopted in the Programme of Action relating to documenting racial disparities and incorporating closing racial disparities within efforts to achieve the Copenhagen goals for World Social Development. 

Before working at the National Urban League, Dr. Spriggs held various positions in government service during the Clinton Administration. He led the staff of the National Commission for Employment Policy, and he worked at the Department of Commerce, where he worked on the federal response to the Adarand v. Pena decision, crafting the guidelines for the federal Small Disadvantage Business program that successfully addressed the Courts’ concerns in the Adarand case, and at the Small Business Administration.  He served as a senior economist for the Democratic staff of the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress, where, among other things, he worked on the passage of the increase in the minimum wage and to prevent legislative efforts to roll back affirmative action in federal procurement. 

He is a past board member and President of the National Economic Association—the professional organization of Black economists, currently serves on the policy board of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, and is a Board member of the National Academy of Social Insurance.  In 2006, Dr. Spriggs was elected to the National Academy of Public Administration.  He serves as Vice Chair of the Board of the Congressional Black

Caucus Political Education and Leadership Institute, and on the boards of the
National Employment Law Project and the National Advisory Council of Corporate Voices for Working Families.

Dr. Spriggs is a member of the Black Enterprise Magazine Board of Economists, and served on the 2002 Time Magazine Board of Economists.  He has taught at Norfolk State University in Virginia and at North Carolina A & T State University in Greensboro, North Carolina.

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