Natalie Foster

Natalie Foster is an expert on the future of work and the gig economy. She is currently an advisor to the the Aspen Institute Future of Work Initiative and the Open Society Foundations and a fellow at the Institute for the Future and New America California. Natalie also cofounded and launched Peers.org to support people who work in the sharing and on-demand economy. Prior to Peers, she was the CEO and cofounder of Rebuild the Dream, a platform for people–driven economic change, with Van Jones. Previously, Natalie served as digital director for President Obama’s Organizing for America (OFA) and the Democratic National Committee, where she built and directed the team responsible for the president's message and fundraising through social, mobile, and email communication with the president's millions of supporters. Natalie also built the first digital department at the Sierra Club and served as the deputy organizing director for MoveOn.org. Named one of the Top Fifty Women to Watch in Tech, Natalie often speaks and leads trainings at convergences like SXSW, Social Media Week, SOCAP, OuiShare Fest, and Personal Democracy Forum. She advises startups such as the new campaign to win paid family leave, PL+US; Our City, an urban prototyping nonprofit; and Landed, a Y Combinator-backed startup to crowdsource home equity. A daughter of a preacher from Kansas, she is a graduate of Pepperdine University, Green Corps, and the Rockwood Leadership Institute fellowship. Natalie lives in Oakland, CA, with her husband, Matt Ewing, and 3-year-old son, Huxley.