Dr. Nela Richardson is ADP’s Chief Economist and the co-head of the ADP Research Institute (ADPRI), where she leads economic research and provides reliable and timely analysis for the public, global and local businesses, and policymakers. Her background and expertise cross many industries, including finance, technology, housing and labor.

In response to the accelerated pace of economic change, Dr. Richardson led the launch of a high-frequency revamp of the renowned ADP® National Employment Report in collaboration with Stanford Digital Economy Lab. Together with her team of researchers, data scientists and financial markets experts, Dr. Richardson drives the Institute’smission to generate data-driven discoveries about the world of work through research initiatives, such as Pay Insights, Global Workforce View and Women at Work, among others.

In addition to ongoing labor market analysis, Dr. Richardson providesinsights on the dynamic shifts of the economy. She is a highly sought speaker and has delivered remarks at global thought leadership events, including the World Economic Forum Annual Conference in Davos. Dr. Richardson is also a regular contributor to top-tier media outlets, including Marketplace from American Public Media. She frequentlyappears on CNBC, Bloomberg, Fox Business CNN, Yahoo! Finance, The Wall Street Journal, FORTUNE magazine, The New York Times, among others. Dr. Richardson’s MainStreet Macro blog offers insights on how economic conditions affect small businesses, workers and households.

Prior to her work at ADP, Dr. Richardson was Principal and InvestmentStrategist at Edward Jones, a financial services firm, where she analyzed and interpreted economic trends and financial market conditions and recommended investment strategies. Dr. Richardson previously served as chief economist at Redfin Corp., a national real estate brokerage and technology company, where she led a team of data scientists,economists and writers to track trends in the housing market. She also worked as a senior economist for Bloomberg, L.P., covering housing and financial markets.

Dr. Richardson has held research positions at the Commodity FuturesTrading Commission (CFTC), Harvard University’s Joint Center forHousing Studies and Freddie Mac. She also worked as an adjunct finance professor at the Carey School of Business at John Hopkins University. She earned a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Maryland, College Park with concentrations in financial economics, international finance and economic development. Dr. Richardson also attained a master’s degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University in Bloomington, where she was a triple major in mathematics, economics and philosophy.

Dr. Richardson serves on the foundation boards for the U.S. Chamber ofCommerce and the National Association of Business Economists. She is a member of the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) Advisory Committee and the Conference of Business Economists. She also serves on the National Academies, Sciences, Engineering and Medicine Committee on National Statistics and the Committee on Automation and the U.S. Workforce.