High Road Strategies

Who We Are

High Road Strategies operates as a network, comprised of its principal, Joel S. Yudken, Ph.D. and a high road collaborative that includes independent specialists providing business services on an ongoing basis, and consultants and organizations with complementary skills, expertise, and experience, which are available to collaborate with High Road Strategies on specific projects. For example, High Road Strategies has been collaborating with the Millennium Institute on a number of projects evaluating and modeling the impacts (and options) of climate and energy policies on energy-intensive manufacturing, at both the national and state levels (see Projects).

Joel S. Yudken, Ph.D, Principal and Founder of High Road Strategies, LLC is a nationally known expert on industrial, energy, economic development, and technology policy issues. In a career spanning four decades, he has held a wide range of professional positions in labor, government, academia, industrial, and public interest organizations. His broad background and training in engineering, political, and socio-economic systems enables him to apply a range of qualitative and quantitative research and analytical tools to his work. In addition, his federal government experience—in Congress and in the Department of Commerce's Manufacturing Extension Partnership—instilled in him a keen understanding of how the legislative process and government institutions work, critical to developing pragmatic policy solutions.

He currently is a member of the Coalition for a Prosperous America, the Public Policy Advisory Committee of the International Economic Development Council, the Manufacturing and Transportation Manufacturing Working Groups of the Apollo Alliance, and the International Advisory Board of Global Urban Development. He also has served on the Advisory Panel of the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Green Economy Scorecard Project, was a member of the National Research Council’s Board on Manufacturing and Engineering Design, and chaired the Committee on Productivity, Technology and Growth, Labor Research Advisory Council, of the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Joel has a strong ability to communicate and work across a spectrum of stakeholders with different interests and goals, to seek areas of common ground in addressing complex policy problems.
— Robert Baugh, Executive Director, AFL-CIO Industrial Union Council

Dr. Yudken has written and spoken extensively on a wide range of policy issues, including manufacturing competitiveness, energy and electricity regulation, economic conversion, information technology and the Internet, workforce development, and science and technology R&D. He has authored or coauthored several books, major reports and studies, and numerous published articles. He also has been an invited speaker at conferences, forums and workshops throughout the United States and internationally, including India, South Africa, Europe and Canada.

He holds a Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and a Master of Science in Engineering-Economic Systems (Dept. of Management Science &Engineering) and Ph.D. in Technology and Society from Stanford University.

Full résumé (pdf)

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Professional Experience

Prior Professional Positions

Sectoral Economist and Technology Policy Analyst, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), Washington, DC, 1998-2005.
Senior Advisor on Modernization and Workforce Development, National Institute of Standards &Technology, Manufacturing Extension Partnership (Gaithersburg, MD), 1997.
Senior Fellow, Work &Technology Institute, Washington, DC, 1995-1997.
Professional Staff, U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Development, Washington, DC, 1994.
Congressional Science and Engineering Fellow, Office of U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), competitively selected and supported by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Washington, DC, 1993.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Project on Regional &Industrial Economics, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, 1990-1992.
National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellow, sponsored by the NSF Program on Science, Technology and Society, Tremont Research Institute, San Francisco, CA , 1989-1990.
Director/Principal Investigator, Project on Funding Policy in Computer Science, sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery, Menlo Park, CA, 1986-1990.
Director for Programs, Center for Economic Conversion, Mountain View, CA, 1979-1986.
Electronics Engineer, Lockheed Missiles &Space Co., Sunnyvale, CA.

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Professional Activities

= As High Road Strategies

Advisory Board, Coalition for a Prosperous America, 2009-Present.
Public Policy Advisory Committee (chair, Workforce Development Working Group; member, Energy Working Group), International Economic Development Council, 2009-present.
Manufacturing and Transportation Manufacturing Working Groups, Apollo Alliance, 2008-present.
International Advisory Board, Global Urban Development, 2008-present.
Advisory Panel, Pew Charitable Trusts Green Economy Scorecard Project, October 2008-May 2009.
Labor and Employment Relations Association (LERA), 2001-present.
Reviewer, “Potential for Energy Efficiency Gains in the Appalachian Region: Policy Scenarios.” Report by Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy et al, for the Appalachian Regional Commission, 2008.
Chair, Committee on Productivity, Technology and Growth, Labor Research Advisory Council, U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1999-2005.
Board on Manufacturing and Engineering Design (BMED), National Academy of Sciences (NAS)/National Research Council (NRC), 1999-2004.
NAS/NRC Committee on Future Directions in Manufacturing (2002) and Materials Forum planning committee (2001-2002).
Reviewer, numerous NAS/NRC studies and reports, 1999-2005.
Ad-Hoc Selection Committee, AAAS Congressional Science & Engineering Fellowship, Washington, DC. 1997.
Benchmarking Steering Committee, National Council for Urban Economic Development, Washington, DC 1995.
Reviewer, National Science Foundation Program on Science, Technology and Society, Washington, DC. 1994-1996.
National Advisory Board, Campaign for Responsible Technology. 1992-1996, and National Steering Committee, 21st Century Project. 1990-1992.
Industrial Competitiveness Task Force, California State Senate’s Select Committee on Long Range Policy Planning. 1985.

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Legislative and Government Affairs

= As High Road Strategies

Wrote comments for Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on media ownership consolidation (2006, 2007).
Made presentation and represented AFL-CIO on Senate Manufacturing Caucus panel headed by U.S. Senators Hilary Clinton (D-NY) and Lindsay Graham (R-SC), July 27, 2005.
Represented AFL-CIO on U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Small Business Roundtable, “Productivity: Are We Making As Much Progress As We Think We Are?” chaired by U.S. Representative Donald Manzullo (R-OH), February 4, 2004.
Drafted legislative proposal for AFL-CIO on electricity deregulation; analyzed legislation; drafted letters from AFL-CIO officers to Congress; met with Congressional members and staff; and made presentations on the Hill on electricity provisions of energy bills debated in Congress since 1999.
Wrote comments for AFL-CIO to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership (2001, 2002) and media consolidation (2003).
Organized legislative hearings and helped draft the Economic Development Reauthorization Act of 1994 (H.R. 2442) to reauthorize the Economic Development Administration, reported by House Banking Committee, passed by U.S. House of Representatives.
Organized legislative hearings and helped draft the Economic Development Reauthorization Act of 1994 (H.R. 2442) to reauthorize the Economic Development Administration, reported by House Banking Committee, passed by U.S. House of Representatives.
Drafted Economic Conversion Clearinghouse Act of 1993 (S. 850), to create the Office of Economic Conversion Information (OECI) in the Department of Commerce, subsequently implemented by the Clinton Administration. OECI won a 1996 Arthur D. Little Award for Excellence in Economic Development, by the American Economic Development Council.
As principal staff representing U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer on California Delegation Task Force on Defense Reinvestment and Senate Democratic Task Force on Defense Reinvestment, developed policy recommendations incorporated into major legislation.

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Projects, Reports and Publications

= As High Road Strategies

Lead on study and principal author, Climate Change and Energy-Intensive Manufacturing: Alternative Policies and Effectiveness of Cost Mitigation Provisions in the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (with Andrea Bassi, Millennium Institute). Report for the National Commission on Energy Policy and AFL-CIO Working for America Institute, Washington, DC (September 7, 2010).
Author, Manufacturing Insecurity, America’s Manufacturing Crisis and the Erosion of the U.S. Defense Industrial Base. Prepared for the Industrial Union Council, AFL-CIO and U.S. Business Industry Council, Washington, DC (April 14, 2010, Executive Summary; Full report forthcoming)
Lead on study and principal author, Climate Change and Energy-Intensive Manufacturing: The Competitiveness Impacts of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (with Andrea Bassi, Millennium Institute). Report for the Environmental Defense Fund, New York, NY and Washington, DC (February 26, 2010).
Co-author (with Andrea Bassi), “Climate Change and U.S. Competitiveness,” Issues in Science and Technology, Volume XXVI, Number 1, National Academies (Fall 2009).
Co-author (with Andrea Bassi), “Potential Challenges Faced by the U.S. Chemicals Industry Under a Carbon Policy,” Special Issue “Energy Policy and Sustainability,” Sustainability 2009 1, 592-611.
Co-author (with Andrea Bassi, Matthias Ruth). “Climate policy impacts on the competitiveness of energy-intensive manufacturing sectors.” Energy Policy 37 (2009) 3052-3060.
Lead on study and principal author, Climate Change and Energy-Intensive Manufacturing: Impacts and Options (with Andrea Bassi, Millennium Institute). Report for the National Commission on Energy Policy (NCEP)/Bipartisan Policy Center (June 2009).
Author, The NCEP-Labor Cap & Trade Project: Limiting the Burden of Climate Policy on Unions and Working Families. Report for National Commission on Energy Policy (NCEP)/Bipartisan Policy Center, March 19, 2007.
Author, Assessing the Potential of Information Technology Applications To Enable Economy-Wide Energy Efficiency Gains (August 17, 2007). Report for American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy study assessing the potential for the high-tech sector to address the challenge of climate change through energy efficiency improvements in the European Union, for AeA Europe, July-August 2007.
Author, “Funding An Energy Alternative,” (January 18, 2007) and “Investing in America” (November 13, 2006), TomPaine.com.
Co-author (with Bob Baugh), "Is Deindustrialization Inevitable?" New Labor Forum 15(2): 55-64, Summer 2006.
Principal author, AFL-CIO Industrial Union Council white papers: Revitalizing American Manufacturing, A State and Local Agenda (2004) and Revitalizing American Manufacturing (2003, rev. 2004).
Lead on AFL-CIO IUC Industrial Union Council Job Export Database Project and principal author of “Ohio Job Exports,” “Washington State Job Exports, An Analysis of the Role Trade Plays in Manufacturing Job Loss,” and similar reports for Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Minnesota, (Washington, DC, September-October 2004).
Co-author, (with David Jacobs), The Internet, Organizational Change and Labor, The Challenge of Virtualization (Routledge, 2003).
Provided extensive direction on model development, managed, wrote and edited case studies for Manufacturing Extension Partnership report MEP Successes: Case Study Series, Workforce Development Case Studies (NIST, Gaithersburg, MD, September 1998).
Co-author (with Kenan Patrick Jarboe) “A Time to Get Serious About Workplace Change,” Issues in Science and Technology (Summer, 1997): 65-71 and Smart Workers, Smart Machines: A Technology Policy for the 21st Century (Work & Technology Institute (WTI), 1996).
Co-author (with Michelle Kaminski, Domenick Bertelli, Melisssa Moye) Making Change Happen: Six Case Studies of Unions and Companies Transforming Their Workplaces (WTI, 1996).
Co-author (with Ann Markusen), Dismantling the Cold War Economy (Basic Books, 1992).
Co-author (with Gary Chapman), The 21st Century Project: Setting a New Course for Science and Technology Policy, Report of the 21st Century Project (CPSR, 1993).
Author of eight book chapters on science, technology and industrial policy, economic conversion, R&D policy and related issues.
Author of numerous other published articles in TomPaine.com, WorkingAmerica, Technology Review, Forum for Applied Research and Public Policy, World Policy Journal, The New Economy, Abacus, and Business & Society Review, among others.

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Conferences, Panels and Public Speaking

= As High Road Strategies

Plenary panelist, “Building a (Green) Regional Jobs Strategy,” The Building Workforce Partnership Conference 2010, “Building the Jobs Recovery.” June 2-3, 2010, San Diego, CA. Sponsored by the Workforce and Economic Development Program of the California Labor Federation, Oakland, CA.
Presentation, Climate Policy and Energy-Intensive Manufacturing, Impacts and Options, to the Department of Commerce’s Office of Competition and Economic Analysis, April 28, 2010, Washington, DC.
Panelist, “What is Climate Change?” International Economic Development Council (IEDC) Federal Economic Development Forum, April 8, 2010, Alexandria, VA (download presentation).
Speaker and presenter, Trade and Climate Change in Emerging Economies: The Competitiveness, Technology, and Intellectual Property Rights, March 30-31, 2010, New Delhi, India. An “Informal Dialogue” sponsored by the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD), Geneva, Switzerland, and the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), New Delhi, India (download presentation).
Featured speaker, “The New Energy Climate for Ohio Manufacturers II,” a workshop sponsored by Ohio University’s Voinovich School and the Ohio Manufacturers’ Association (OMA), January 13, 2010, Columbus, OH (download presentation).
Speaker and presenter, Labor and the New Energy Economy Conference, Cleveland, OH, May 18, 2009, sponsored by Policy Matters Ohio/Apollo Alliance, The Center on Wisconsin Strategies, and state and local labor organizations.
Speaker and presenter, Making Climate Change Policy Work in Difficult Economic Times: A Conference Focusing on the Job and Equity Impacts of Carbon Pricing Policies, University of California Berkeley International House, Berkeley, CA, May 5, 2009, sponsored by the U.C. Berkeley Labor Center, Apollo Alliance, California Labor Federation’s Workforce and Economic Development Program, California State Building and Construction Trades, and others.
Organizer and lead presenter on panels on competitiveness and climate policy for the Good Jobs Green Jobs conferences in 2008 (Pittsburgh, PA) and 2009 (Washington, DC), sponsored by the Blue-Green Alliance and others.
International Keynote Speaker, and Instructor, Climate Prosperity Master Class, City Development World Africa Conference, Johannesburg, South Africa, October 20-24, 2008.
Leader, panel on “Analysis and Modeling of Industrial Energy Use,” and roundtable participant, “Bringing Energy Efficiency to Scale: Implications for International Energy Markets and Competitiveness,” American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Industry, White Plains, NY, July 24-27, 2007.
Roundtable speaker, A North American Labor Assembly on Climate Crisis: Building a Global Movement for Clean Energy, Cornell University Global Labor Institute, ILR School, New York City, May 7-8, 2007.
Workshop presenter, “Job Creation and Clean Energy,” Blue-Green Conference, Building Common Ground between Maine’s Labor & Environmental Movements, Winthrop, ME, May 26, 2004.Organized, developed background documents and handouts for and participated in AFL-CIO Western States Conference Electricity Restructuring Crisis, Oakland, CA, October 17-18, 2001, for state labor federation presidents and other labor officers.
Represented AFL-CIO and the Trade Union Advisory Council and presented papers at Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Ministerial Conferences on electronic commerce, in Ottawa, Canada (1998) and Paris, France (1999).
As staff for the AFL-CIO-backed “Blue-Green” dialogue on climate change, helped organize and led working groups on increasing energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions in building and industrial sectors, and policies to reduce the adverse impacts of climate policies on communities and workers.
Participated in AFL-CIO/International Confederation of Free Trade Unions delegation to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 6), The Hague, Netherlands, November 2000.
Principal planner and organizer of several hands-on projects, conferences, and workshops on manufacturing policy, internet policy, technology and industrial policy and economic conversion.
Presented numerous papers at professional meetings, conferences and workshops, and speaker, panelist and workshop leader at numerous events in U.S. and Europe, including several radio and TV appearances.

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