At a time of decreasing federal funding, states are increasingly interested in using artificial intelligence (AI) to assist in processing unemployment insurance applications and communicating with the public. At the same time, there are risks with AI, and some decision points in the unemployment system will always need to be made directly. 

Join The Century Foundation on Tuesday, June 10 at 1:00 PM ET as we discuss the use of AI technologies in unemployment insurance and explore how states are forging unique approaches to combine people and technology to better deliver services to the public.

Live CART and ASL interpretation will be provided.

Introduction:

  • Andrew Stettner, director of economy and jobs, The Century Foundation

Featuring:

  • Moderator: Michele Evermore, senior fellow, National Academy of Social Insurance
  • Michael Burke, unemployment compensation bureau director, New Hampshire Department of Employment Security
  • Julia Dale, Chief Executive Officer, Civilla
  • Amy Perez, policy fellow, Stanford University RegLab
  • Nikki Zeichner, former technology modernization advisor, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Presented by The Century Foundation, this event is part of an unemployment insurance technology series sponsored by JP Morgan Chase.

Speaker Bios

Andrew Stettner is a director of economy and jobs at The Century Foundation. Andrew is a catalyst for change, working inside and outside government, to win historic policy achievements for working families and to improve technology and delivery of benefits. Andrew leads TCF’s team working on unemployment insurance, workforce development, labor rights, disability and the economy. Andrew most recently served as a Biden administration appointee and director of unemployment insurance modernization at the U.S. Department of Labor. 

Michele Evermore is a senior fellow at the National Academy of Social Insurance, where she focuses on innovating and improving our nation’s fractured unemployment insurance system. One of the nation’s leading authorities on unemployment insurance (UI), Michele comes to NASI as a recent senior fellow at The Century Foundation, a visiting non-resident fellow at the Heldrich Center at Rutgers University, and a visiting faculty at the University of Massachusetts Labor Center. Michele also served in the Biden administration as deputy director for policy in the newly formed Office of Unemployment Insurance Modernization in the U.S. Department of Labor.

Michael Burke has been with the New Hampshire Department of Employment Security (NHES) for over twenty years and in his current role as Unemployment Compensation Bureau (UCB) Director since March of 2018.  Prior State services include Child Protection and Juvenile Probation and Parole.  With NHES, Michael has served as project manager for all projects related to unemployment systems modernization in New Hampshire since 2015.  He is excited to now have the opportunity to develop applications utilizing AI technology and sees this as transformative both in business operations and in customer experience.

Julia Dale is Civilla’s CEO and leads the organization’s long-term strategy to create a more beautiful civil society for all. Before joining Civilla, Julia spent 23 years in public service at state agencies in Michigan including the Department of Civil Rights, the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, the Department of Attorney General, the Department of Technology Management and Budget, and most recently as the director of the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency. She graduated from James Madison College at Michigan State University and earned her law degree from Wayne State University Law School. 

Amy Perez is a policy fellow at Stanford RegLab, where she partners with government agencies to modernize public services using cutting-edge tools in machine learning and AI. Previously, Amy was Timeliness Supervisor at the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Unemployment Insurance, where she led automation and AI initiatives. She spent over a decade in leadership roles at the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment and was named CDLE’s 2021 Employee of the Year for her work during the pandemic. Amy holds a BA from the University of Colorado and certifications in Project Management and Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.