Alexandra Thornton

Alexandra Thornton is the senior director of Tax Policy for Economic Policy at American Progress.

Before joining American Progress, Thornton was the executive vice president for policy, planning, and business affairs at the Jane Goodall Institute, where she advised the founder on international conservation issues and functioned as the institute’s general counsel. Previously, she was the executive director of a tax and economic policy nonprofit that focused on environmental taxation issues.

Thornton moved to the nonprofit world after spending nearly a decade as tax policy adviser to a U.S. senator who served on the Senate Finance Committee. In that position, she successfully shepherded the senator’s legislative initiatives through nine major tax and budget bills and also provided counsel on trade, banking, and securities issues.

Thornton began her career as a litigator practicing in Washington, D.C. She earned a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the College of William and Mary.