Michael Linden

Associate Director for Tax and Budget Policy

Michael Linden is the Associate Director for Tax and Budget Policy at American Progress. Prior to joining CAP, he worked at First Focus, a national children's advocacy organization, serving as director and then senior director of Tax and Budget Policy. While at First Focus, Michael authored both the inaugural and the second book in the Children's Budget series. The Children's Budget books offer a comprehensive, program-by-program look at federal spending on children over a five-year window. Michael also authored several reports on recession-induced child poverty, the most recent of which spurred the state legislature of Connecticut to establish a special task force on children in the recession.

Michael earned his master's degree in public policy from the University of California at Berkeley. While in the Bay Area, he consulted for a variety of clients including the Oakland Police Department, the Contra Costa Unified School District, and for then-mayor of Oakland Jerry Brown's successful campaign for State Attorney General.

Michael was born and grew up in Pittsburgh, PA, before attending college at Brown University. In addition to his hometown, Michael has lived in Munich, Providence, Chicago, Oakland, and now resides in Washington, D.C.