Angela Fontes is the Director of the Behavioral and Economic Analysis and Decision-making (BEAD) program area at NORC at the University of Chicago. At NORC, Fontes oversees academic, foundation and commercial research focused on economic decision-making and consumer behavior. She is the Principal Investigator on several projects, including a five-year contract with the Securities and Exchange Commission to conduct investor protection research.

Fontes' personal research centers on retirement preparedness and methodologies for the collection of household finance data. In addition to utilizing a number large national/federal data sets including the Survey of Consumer Finances, the Survey of Income and Program Participation, and the Consumer Expenditure Survey, Fontes works extensively with the Financial Well-being and Literacy data collected using NORC’s AmeriSpeak Panel®. Fontes' research can be found in journals such as the Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, Health Affairs, the Journal of Family and Economic Issues, the Journal of Women, Politics and Policy, Financial Counseling and Planning, and the International Journal of Transportation Research.

Prior to NORC, Fontes worked in business and market research consulting with Chamberlain Research Consultants and Leo Burnett, including extensive qualitative interviewing and focus group moderation. In addition, she is adjunct faculty at Northwestern University. At Northwestern, Fontes teaches graduate courses in behavioral economics and public policy, policy analysis, and predictive analytics. Fontes is on the Board of Directors of the American Council on Consumer Interests, and the Northwest Side Housing Center. She holds a Ph.D. in Consumer Behavior and Family Economics with a minor in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP®).