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Hosai Ehsan was a Policy Analyst with the Asset Building Program at the New America Foundation until November 2009. Based in Sacramento, she leds and conducted policy research designed to help low- and moderate-income families build assets. She also wrote issue briefs, working papers, op-eds, and represented the program to media outlets and briefs members of the California Legislature, including legislative staff, administration officials, regulators and other policymakers.

Before joining New America, Ms. Ehsan worked for the Public Research Institute of San Francisco, Girls Incorporated, and the Afghan Ministry of Finance. For the past seven years, Ms. Ehsan has been successfully running a grassroots micro-grant project that promotes microenterprise and asset-building in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. As a migrant, her work has focused on expanding social, financial and political resources for members of the lower socioeconomic class.

Ms. Ehsan studied sociology and molecular biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and sociology at San Jose State University. She is a McNair Scholar, a participant of the ACE Honors Program, and a life-long member of Alpha Kappa Delta and Omicron Delta Kappa honors societies.