The Economic Policy Innovation Center (EPIC) is a right-of-center nonprofit organization that advocates economic policies intended to advance a free and prosperous America. To this end, EPIC conducts in-depth research, develops commonsense policy solutions, and provides expert testimony on Capitol Hill. EPIC’s primary areas of focus are the U.S. economy, the federal budget, social programs, education policy, workforce policy, and retirement security. 1
Activities
The Economic Policy Innovation Center (EPIC) promotes practical economic policy solutions to advance freedom and prosperity in the U.S. Through its research and analysis, EPIC develops and provides in-depth policy information and educational resources to federal policymakers. 1
EPIC provides regularly updated resources that include a compilation of the upcoming fiscal policy deadlines and inflection points facing Congress and the President and a one-page fiscal snapshot. EPIC’s fiscal snapshot projects line items like the U.S. deficit, Social Security, debt held by the public, and revenues through fiscal years 2035 and 2055, and includes each item’s percentage of the GDP. 2 EPIC’s upcoming inflection points include items as far in the future as the year 2036, projecting the depletion of Medicare’s Hospital Insurance Trust Fund. EPIC also projects that the Social Security Trust Fund will be depleted in 2033. 3
Funding
The Economic Policy Innovation Center is funded by donations from individuals, foundations, and businesses. While EPIC does not disclose its donors, tax filings confirm donations from the Searle Freedom Trust ($250,000 in 2023) 4 and the Beth and Ravenel Curry Foundation ($50,000 in 2023). 5
People
Zoe Jackman is chief of staff of EPIC. Jackman formerly worked as special advisor for government affairs at the American Petroleum Institute. During the first Trump administration, Jackman worked as senior advisor to the Chief of Protocol at the U.S. Department of State, special assistant to the President, and director of Student Leadership Initiatives and Volunteer Engagement. 1
William W. Beach is the senior fellow in economics at EPIC, the Coffin Fellow at the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation, and a member of the advisory board of the UKG Workforce Institute. Beach formerly worked as Commissioner of Labor Statistics at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, vice president for policy research at the Mercatus Center, and the chief economist for the Senate Budget Committee Republican Staff. Beach is a former Lazof Family Fellow in Economics at the Heritage Foundation, founder and director of the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis, and president of the Institute for Humane Studies. 1
Anthony P. Campau is a fellow in regulatory modernization and alignment at EPIC. Campau formerly worked as chief of staff for the U.S. Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, as a member of the Regulatory Reform Team on the 2016 Presidential Transition Team, and as a regulatory policy fellow at the Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation. 1
Matthew D. Dickerson is director of budget policy at EPIC. Dickerson formerly worked as senior policy advisor for the House Budget Committee, senior staffer for the Republican Study Committee, director of the Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget at the Heritage Foundation, and policy manager at Americans for Prosperity. 1
David A. Ditch is senior analyst in fiscal policy at EPIC. Ditch formerly worked as a senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation and an analyst for the Senate Budget Committee. 1
Rachel Greszler is a visiting fellow in workforce at EPIC and a senior research fellow in workforce and public finance at the Heritage Foundation. Greszler formerly worked as a senior economist on the staff of the Joint Economic Committee of the Congress. 1
Amelia Kuntzman is a research assistant at EPIC. Kuntzman is a former intern at the DeVos Center for Life, Religion, and Family at the Heritage Foundation; a former intake coordinator at the Joseph Project; and former intern with the Republican Party of Michigan. 1
Alyssa Villa is a press assistant at EPIC. Villa formerly worked as a digital strategist at the Strategy Group Company. 1
Sarah Wagoner is a research assistant at EPIC. Wagoner is a former master’s research fellow at the Mercatus Center and a former intern at the Center for Energy, Climate, and Environment at the Heritage Foundation. 1
Joey Webb is operations manager at the EPIC. Webb is a former state affairs associate intern at Americans for Tax Reform. 1
Board of Directors
Paul Winfree is the founder, president, and CEO of EPIC. Winfree formerly worked at the Heritage Foundation as director of Economic Policy Studies, acting director of the Center for Data Analysis, and distinguished fellow in Economic Policy and Public Leadership; at the White House Office as deputy assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, deputy director of the Domestic Policy Council, and director of Budget Policy; and head of the team responsible for the Office of Management and Budget during the 2016 presidential transition. 1
Brittany A. Madni is the executive vice president of EPIC. Madni formerly worked as deputy chief of staff and legislative director for Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA), senior policy advisor at the U.S. House Budget Committee under Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR) and then-Rep. Diane Black (R-TN), and legislative director for Congressman Troy Balderson (R-OH). 1
Brian Hooks is the chair and CEO of Stand Together and the president of both the Charles Koch Foundation and the Charles Koch Institute. Hooks is a former executive director and COO of the Mercatus Center. 6
Art Pope is the chair of the John William Pope Foundation and Variety Wholesalers. Pope sits on the boards of the Institute for Humane Studies, the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, Advancing American Freedom, NCInnovation, and The New Republic. Pope formerly sat on the boards of Americans for Prosperity, the John Locke Foundation, Atlas Economic Research Foundation, the Jesse Helms Center, the North Carolina Institute of Political Leadership, the North Carolina FreeEnterprise Foundation, the North Carolina Institute for Constitutional Law, and the Golden LEAF Foundation. 7
References
- “About.” Economic Policy Innovation Center. Accessed March 31, 2025. https://epicforamerica.org/about/.
- “Fiscal Snapshot One Pager.” Economic Policy Innovation Center. Accessed March 31, 2025. https://epicforamerica.org/federal-budget/fiscal-snapshot-one-pager/.
- “Upcoming Fiscal Policy Inflection Points.” Economic Policy Innovation Center. Accessed March 31, 2025. https://epicforamerica.org/federal-budget/upcoming-fiscal-policy-inflection-points/.
- Searle Freedom Trust, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2023, Part XV, Line 3.
- Beth and Ravenel Curry Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2023, Part XV, Line 3.
- “Brian Hooks.” LinkedIn. Accessed March 31, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-hooks/.
- “James Arthur ‘Art’ Pope.” John William Pope Foundation. Accessed March 31, 2025. https://jwpf.org/team/james-arthur-art-pope/.