Rasheed
Malik

In Memoriam

he/him

Rasheed Malik passed away May 31, 2024, after a battle with an illness. He was a beloved member of American Progress, serving most recently as the senior director of Early Childhood Policy, contributing his skills and talents over eight years.

Rasheed’s work focused on child care infrastructure and supply, the economic benefits of child care, and bias and discrimination in early childhood policy. His research has been featured in or cited by The New York Times, Vox, The Washington Post, NPR, Slate, CNNBusiness, and CNBC, among others. A pioneering researcher; tireless advocate for children; and caring colleague, mentor, and friend, Rasheed embodied the best of American Progress. His groundbreaking research exposed the dire state of America’s early childhood landscape—finding that a majority of Americans live in child care deserts—and continues to be widely cited by academics, policymakers, early childhood advocates, and the media. His indispensable work was also a predicate for landmark progressive legislation to build an equitable and affordable early learning ecosystem in the United States and played a crucial role in helping early educators and the American people navigate a once-in-a-century pandemic.

Prior to joining American Progress, Rasheed was a government affairs and communications associate for the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, an organization with the goal of making the New York Harbor a shared, resilient, and accessible resource for all New Yorkers.

Rasheed held a master’s degree in public policy from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan and a bachelor’s degree in public affairs from Baruch College. He is survived by his wife and two young children.

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The Build Back Better Act Substantially Expands Child Care Assistance Article
A man and his three children on porch

The Build Back Better Act Substantially Expands Child Care Assistance

The Build Back Better Act ensures child care assistance for 16 times as many young children as under current law, and in some states, it would help state child care agencies reach more than 25 times as many children and their families.

Rasheed Malik

Growing the Economy Through Affordable Child Care Report
A mother holds her young child as she runs the faucet before a meeting with family over Zoom on November 26, 2020, in Los Angeles. (Getty/Brandon Bell)

Growing the Economy Through Affordable Child Care

The Child Care for Working Families Act would invest in the United States’ care infrastructure, growing the economy while lowering child care costs for the middle class.

Rasheed Malik

Building Back Better: Investing in Improving Schools, Creating Jobs, and Strengthening Families and Our Economy Testimony

Building Back Better: Investing in Improving Schools, Creating Jobs, and Strengthening Families and Our Economy

Rasheed Malik, senior policy analyst for Early Childhood Policy at the Center for American Progress, testified before a hearing on the importance of investing in schools and child care to strengthen families and the economy at the U.S. House of Representatives on April 28, 2021.

Rasheed Malik

How Religion and LGBTQ Rights Intersect in Media Coverage Report
Then-Democratic presidential candidate and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg addresses a congregation while attending Sunday service at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, February 2020. (Getty/Win McNamee)

How Religion and LGBTQ Rights Intersect in Media Coverage

A study of recent news articles across national and local media outlets reveals that media coverage of LGBTQ rights more often cites religiously identified sources who oppose LGBTQ equality than those who support it.

Rucha Modi, Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons, Maggie Siddiqi, 1 More Rasheed Malik

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