Michael Bernick is a research fellow at the Milken Institute’s Center for Regional Economics, focusing on job creation and workforce development projects. In addition, Bernick currently serves as counsel in the area of employment and labor law for the international law firm Duane Morris. He previously served for nearly five years as director of the California Employment Development Department (EDD), the 10,000-person state department of labor. As EDD director, he oversaw the administration of the state’s employer tax collection system, unemployment insurance system, and disability insurance system. Bernick is a graduate of Harvard College, Oxford University (Balliol College), and the University of California, Berkeley School of Law.