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Advisory Board

Gayatri Agnew
Senior Director and Head of Accessibility Center of Excellence, Walmart
Ernest Baynard​
Founder, Meridian Hill Strategies​
John Hope Bryant
Founder & CEO, Operation Hope
Dr. Jill Buban
Vice President and General Manager, EdAssist by Bright Horizons
Bridget Burns
Founding CEO, University Innovation Alliance (UIA)
Brandon Busteed
President, Kaplan University Partners
Gerald Chertavian
Founder and CEO, Year Up
Josh Christianson
Senior Specialist, The Cadmus Group
Carol Eggert
SVP of Military and Veterans Affairs, Comcast NBCUniversal
Marc Freedman
Founder, President & CEO, CoGenerate
Joseph B. Fuller
Professor, Harvard Business School
John Gomperts
President & CEO, America’s Promise Alliance
Matt Horton
Director, Milken Institute Center for Regional Economics & California Center
Ellen Hughes-Cromwick
Senior Resident Fellow, Third Way
Paul Irving
Senior Fellow, Milken Institute
Michael H. Kelly
Executive Director, Los Angeles Coalition for the Economy & Jobs
Gretchen Koch
Executive Director, CompTIA Workforce Development
Steve Korn
Private Investor in Atlanta
Mona Mourshed
Executive Director, Generation
Marie Trzupek Lynch
Chief Talent and Culture Officer, Morningstar
Hector Mujica
Economic Opportunity Lead, Americas, at Google.org
Melissa Peak
Global Lead, Workforce Strategy, Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Gary A. Officer
President & CEO, Center for Workforce Inclusion
William J. Raduchel
Strategic Advisor, DMGT PLC 
Les Range
Independent Consultant, Workforce Development
Martin Reeves
Senior Partner, Boston Consulting Group
Shirley Sagawa
Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress
Martin Scaglione
Chief Mission Officer, Goodwill Industries, International
Eric Schwarz
Co-Founder & CEO, College for Social Innovation
Aly Tamboura
Director of Strategic Partnerships, Anti-Recidivism Coalition
Jason Tyszko
Vice President, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation
Philip Weinberg
President & CEO, STRIVE
Maurice Wilson
President, REBOOT Workshop
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Gayatri Agnew

Senior Director and Head of Accessibility Center of Excellence, Walmart

Gayatri Agnew, Advisory Board, is the Senior Director and Head of Accessibility Center of Excellence at Walmart. Prior to assuming her current role she served for four years as the Senior Director-Opportunity for Walmart.org.

Agnew is a leader in corporate and social impact strategy looking at human capital trends and the future of work. She serves on the leadership team of Walmart’s Global Responsibility division where she leads strategy and partnerships for Walmart’s efforts on economic mobility, specifically a shared value approach to human capital, partnerships and philanthropy focused on key issues such as employer practices change, improving work-based learning and strengthening inclusion in communities.

Agnew is a lifelong advocate for women both in civic and corporate life. She is the founder and co-lead for the Walmart Career Moms group, an informal affinity group formed to create more community for mothers in the corporate America. Agnew is also the Founder of Mother’s Monday. She currently serves on the Board for the Vote Mama Foundation and Path Forward and is a former trustee of the Seattle Community Colleges and a former board member of the Center for Women and Democracy.

Gayatri Agnew is a proud community college alum, having attended Foothill-De Anza Community College before transferring to Seattle University. She holds both a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Master of Business Administration from Seattle University.

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Ernest Baynard

Founder, Meridian Hill Strategies

Ernest C. Baynard IV, Advisory Board, has spent more than 20 years successfully building and managing a wide array of public affairs campaigns for a diverse group of clients. Prior to founding Meridian Hill Strategies in 2002, he served in the Clinton Administration as Special Assistant to the HUD Secretary and on the National Advance Staff of Vice President Al Gore. Baynard has also served as Communications Director for U.S. Representatives Mike Forbes (D-NY) and Mike Honda (D-CA). Additionally, he served as a guest lecturer on media and politics at the United States Military Academy, Georgetown University and Johns Hopkins University.

With a strong focus on innovation and technology, Baynard and Meridian Hill Strategies work with some of the nation’s top companies, universities and organizations to create a powerful voice for them inside the Beltway. Over the past 21 years, Baynard has built an industry-leading public affairs firm that optimizes a diverse suite of professional services that enables its clients to win on critical federal issues and achieve success and rapid growth.  

As a lawyer and communications expert with a strong background in technology and coalition building, Baynard brings a diversified and innovative approach to his work. Baynard and his firm currently represent a number of innovative companies providing solutions to the U.S. government in the areas of defense, homeland security, transportation, trade, communications, clean energy, and health care. The firm also has a strong focus on leveraging a bipartisan, technology-driven approach to level the playing field and creating greater opportunity for underserved communities and persons. These efforts include a wide range of successful efforts to empower military spouses, veteran- and minority-owned companies, and many others. He and the firm have also built and managed some of the most impactful and successful grassroots and media campaigns in the nation in the past ten years.

An avid supporter of the music and the arts, Baynard has produced a number of live music events in association with progressive issues, candidates and events including the Democratic National Convention. His work to bring progressive ideals and musicians together includes collaboration with acts such as Jason Isbell, The Rebirth Brass Band, The Drive-By Truckers, Justin Jones and others. Mr. Baynard is also proud to serve as a strategic advisor to the Bruce Lee Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the legacy of legendary martial artist Bruce Lee. The firm is currently engaged in a nationwide effort to promote the innovative use of the Internet to better enable artists, technologists, and difference makers in their missions to tackle some of society’s most challenging problems.

Mr. Baynard earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Tulane University and was awarded a Juris Doctor with Honors from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. He was admitted to the practice of law in California. He lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his wife and their four children.  

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John Hope Bryant, founder, chair, & CEO, Operation HOPE and member of WorkingNation Advisory Board

John Hope Bryant

Founder, Chairman, & CEO, Operation HOPE

John Hope Bryant, WorkingNation Advisory Board, is an American entrepreneur, author, philanthropist, and prominent thought leader on economic empowerment and financial dignity that has been recognized as one of Time magazine’s “50 Leaders for the Future.”

John is the founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Operation HOPE, Inc., the largest not-for-profit and best-in-class provider of financial literacy, financial inclusion and economic empowerment tools and services in the United States for youth and adults; chairman and chief executive officer of Bryant Group Ventures and The Promise Homes Company, the largest for-profit minority-controlled owners of institutional-quality, single-family residential rental homes in the U.S., and co-founder of Global Dignity. He currently serves on the U.S. President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability for Young Americans.

A member of the founding class of The Forum of Young Global Leaders, and founding member of Clinton Global Initiative, John is a LinkedIn Influencer and Huffington Post, THRIVE Global and Black Enterprise, and a member of the World Economic Forum and OECD Expert Networks.

He has received hundreds of awards and citations for his work, including, Oprah Winfrey’s Use Your Life Award, and the John Sherman Award for Excellence in Financial Education from the U.S. Treasury. John recently received an honorable mention in Inc. magazine’s “The World’s 10 Top CEOs” article that spotlights global servant leaders as the visionaries behind some of the most successful organizations. Additionally, Operation HOPE and John are a permanent part of the Smithsonian AFRICAN-American Museum in DC.

John is the author of bestsellers; The Memo: Five Rules for Your Economic Liberation (Berrett-Koehler, September 2017), How the Poor Can Save Capitalism: Rebuilding the Path to the Middle Class (BerrettKoehler, 2014), and LOVE LEADERSHIP: The New Way to Lead in a Fear-Based World (Jossey-Bass, 2009). He is one of the only bestselling authors on economics and business leadership in the world today who happens to also be African-American.

John founded, created and now leads more than 35 companies and organizations, for-profit, nonprofit and public benefit in North America, and in some cases active around the world.

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Bridget Burns

Dr. Bridget Burns

CEO, University Innovation Alliance

Dr. Bridget Burns, WorkingNation Advisory Board, was named one of the “Most Innovative People in Higher Education” by Washington Monthly magazine, Dr. Burns is the founding CEO of the University Innovation Alliance (UIA), a multi-campus laboratory for student success innovation that helps university leaders dramatically accelerate the implementation of scalable solutions to increase the number and diversity of college graduates across the country.

She has helped UIA campuses make significant progress on behalf of their students, including increasing their low-income graduates by 50%, and increasing graduates of color by 93%.

Her work has been highlighted in national outlets like The New York Times, Fast Company, 60 Minutes, and she was featured in the documentary “Unlikely”.

Dr. Burns received her Doctorate of Education in Higher Education, Leadership & Policy from Vanderbilt University. 

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Brandon Busteed

CEO, BrandEd

Brandon Busteed, Advisory Board, is the CEO of BrandEd and an education and workforce development expert. His mission is to help U.S. higher education adapt, grow, and thrive. 

He most recently served as president of Kaplan University Partners, leading Kaplan’s work serving U.S. colleges and universities, leveraging the organization’s highly-diversified, global educational offerings and insights. 

Prior to Kaplan, Brandon was Global Head of Public Sector at Gallup — serving higher education, government and foundations. In that role, Brandon led dozens of ground-breaking studies and consulted with hundreds of higher ed leaders. 

Brandon was the founder and CEO of Outside The Classroom, one of the country’s first successful Ed Tech companies which was acquired by EverFi in 2011. Its flagship online courses on alcohol abuse and sexual assault prevention have been taken by more than 10 million college students.

An internationally known speaker and author on education and workforce development, Brandon has published more than 100 articles and keynoted more than 200 conferences.  He was named a LinkedIn “Top Voice” in education for 2018, and is a frequent contributor for Forbes.com.  

Brandon received his bachelor’s degree in public policy from Duke University where he was also a two-sport Division 1 athlete. He received an honorary doctorate from Augustana College. He is a trustee emeritus of Duke and has served on the Board of Visitors of the Sanford School of Public Policy. Brandon is a current member of the Business-Higher Education Forum — the nation’s oldest membership organization of Fortune 500 CEOs, college and university presidents, and other leaders dedicated to the creation of a highly skilled future workforce. 

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Gerald Chertavian

Founder and Senior Advisor, Year Up

Gerald Chertavian, Advisory Board, is the founder, former CEO, and senior advisor of Year Up, a national program that empowers underserved young adults to enter the economic mainstream.

With an annual operating budget of $200 million, Year Up is one of the fastest growing nonprofits in the nation and has been recognized by Fast Company and The Monitor Group as one of the top 25 organizations using business excellence to engineer social change.

In 2013, Gerald was appointed by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick to serve as Chairman of the Roxbury Community College Board of Trustees and reappointed in 2016 to that role by Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker.

Gerald earned a B.A. in Economics, Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude from Bowdoin College and in 2016 received the Distinguished Alumni Award. He also serves on the Board of Advisors for the Harvard Business School’s Social Enterprise initiative, and is a former member of the World Economic Forum’s Youth Unemployment Council. He is also an Emeritus Trustee of Bowdoin College and The Boston Foundation. His 2012 book, A Year Up, is a New York Times bestseller.

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Josh Christianson

Senior Specialist, The Cadmus Group

Josh Christianson, Advisory Board, is a passionate advocate for workplace diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA). He has a 20+ year track record leading successful public programs by building partnerships, momentum, and teams to support big goals.

Christianson is the inclusion and accessibility practice lead at The Cadmus Group where he directs contracts to support key federal DEIA goals.

In this capacity, he serves as the project director for the Partnership on Inclusive Apprenticeship (PIA), after several successful years directing the Partnership on Employment and Accessible Technology (PEAT). In both roles he works to increase the employment of underserved communities, including people with disabilities.

He does this by bringing together stakeholders including CEOs, advocates, tech developers, government leaders, and academia (among others) to build the workplace of the future. This work is funded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP).

Prior to Wheelhouse Group, Christianson worked at Deloitte Consulting, leading change management, technology, and human capital initiatives. He was a lead author of the report “Opening the Federal Talent Economy.”

Christianson also served as a career program manager for The Posse Foundation, a college access program focused on diversity and inclusion. The Posse Foundation continues to hire him to help design and facilitate their national discussions regarding issues of equity in the United States.

Christianson graduated cum laude with a BA in sociology from University of Colorado, Boulder. He graduated magna cum laude with a MS in conflict analysis and resolution from George Mason University. His MS comes in handy living in harmony with his wife, 3 kids, 1 dog, and 1 visiting cat in Washington, D.C.

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Carol Eggert

Former SVP of Military and Veterans Affairs, Comcast NBCUniversal

Carol Eggert, Advisory Board, is the former Senior Vice President of Military and Veteran Affairs at Comcast NBCUniversal and currently serves as a civilian advisor to the Secretary of the U.S. Army.

In her role at Comcast, she lead a team that worked collaboratively across Comcast NBCUniversal to provide strategic leadership to all aspects of programs and outreach engaging the military and veteran community, including recruiting, hiring and building talent at all levels of the organization.

Eggert brings more than 30 years of military and civilian experience to her distinguished career. In her civilian roles, she’s assisted various organizations in the private, government and non-profit sectors with their initiatives in knowledge management, strategic planning and project management.

During her military career, she served in a variety of command and staff positions and completed numerous overseas deployments, including a 15-month combat tour in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom as Chief of the Women’s Initiatives Division and Senior Liaison to the U.S. Embassy, Baghdad, where she conducted a full-scale analysis of women’s initiatives and developed a strategic plan for the economic and political empowerment of Iraqi women under the U.S. Secretary of State.

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Marc Freedman

Founder, President & CEO, CoGenerate

Marc Freedman, Advisory Board, is the Founder, President, and CEO of CoGenerate, one of the nation’s leading experts on the longevity revolution.

He is a member of the Wall Street Journal’s “Experts” panel, a frequent commentator in the media and the author of four books. The New York Timesdescribed his most recent book, The Big Shift: Navigating the New Stage Beyond Midlife, as “an imaginative work with the potential to affect our individual lives and our collective future.” His new book, How to Live Forever, was published by Hachette Book Group in Fall 2018.

Originator of the encore career idea linking second acts to the greater good, Freedman co-founded Experience Corps to mobilize people over 50 to improve the school performance and prospects of low-income elementary school students in 22 U.S. cities. He also spearheaded the creation of the Encore Fellowships program, a one-year fellowship helping individuals translate their midlife skills into second acts focused on social impact, and the Purpose Prize, an annual $100,000 prize for social entrepreneurs in the second half of life. (AARP now runs both Experience Corps and the Purpose Prize.)

Marc was named Social Entrepreneur of the Year by the World Economic Forum, was recognized as one of the nation’s leading social entrepreneurs by Fast Company magazine three years in a row, and has been honored with the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship. He has been a visiting scholar at Stanford University, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and King’s College, University of London. Marc serves on the boards and advisory councils of numerous groups, including The George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis, the Stanford University Distinguished Careers Institute, the Milken Institute’s Center for the Future of Aging, and the EnCorps STEM Teachers Program.

A high honors graduate of Swarthmore College, Marc holds an M.B.A. from the Yale School of Management. He resides in the San Francisco Bay area with his wife, Leslie Gray, and their three sons.

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Joseph Fuller, professor, Harvard Business School

Joseph B. Fuller

Professor, Harvard Business School

Joseph B. Fuller, WorkingNation Advisory Board, is a Professor of Management Practice in General Management and Entrepreneurship at Harvard Business School. He founded and co-leads the school’s project, Managing the Future of Work, as well as the Harvard Project on the Workforce.

He teaches courses on general management decision making and managing the future of work in Harvard’s MBA and executive education programs. 

Fuller’s research probes the major forces shaping the future of work. He has written extensively on the “skills gap” and investigates the paradox that many employers have chronic difficulty filling jobs while millions of Americans remain unemployed, underemployed, or have left the workforce.

In 2021, Fuller co-founded the Harvard Project on Workforce with colleagues from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Graduate School of Education. The project focuses on issues related to upward mobility and takes a multi-disciplinary approach to understanding issues ranging from career navigation to skills acquisition. The project also sponsors a study group for students from across Harvard’s graduate schools.

A 1981 graduate of the school, Fuller was a founder and first employee of the global consulting firm, Monitor Group, now Monitor-Deloitte. He served as the CEO of its consulting operations until 2006 and remained a Senior Advisor to the firm until its acquisition by Deloitte in 2012. During his three decades in consulting, Fuller worked with senior executives and policymakers on a wide variety of issues related to corporate strategy and national competitiveness.

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John Gomperts

President & CEO, America’s Promise Alliance

John Gomperts, Advisory Board, is the former president and CEO of America’s Promise Alliance, stepping down in 2020 after serving more than eight years in the role. Gomperts has a track record of success in both government and the nonprofit sectors where his accomplishments include design and implementation of strategic initiatives, developing innovative policies and programs, and forging partnerships and coalitions.

Prior to joining America’s Promise, Gomperts served as Director of AmeriCorps, starting in June 2010, with a responsibility for implementing the bipartisan Kennedy Serve America Act. His work at AmeriCorps focused on demonstrating and increasing community impact and strengthening the AmeriCorps member experience.

From 2006-2010, Gomperts served as president of Civic Ventures (now Encore.org), an organization devoted to promoting the engagement of millions of baby boomers in encore careers for the greater good. As CEO of Experience Corps (now AARP Experience Corps) Gomperts led a national service program that engages people over 55 to be tutors and mentors in urban public schools. He led Experience Corps through dramatic growth and expansion, as well as a highly successful independent evaluation of Experience Corps’ impact.

Prior to joining Civic Ventures and Experience Corps, Gomperts served in a variety of positions including COO at Public Education Network, chief of staff for the Corporation for National and Community Service, legislative director for Senator Harris Wofford of Pennsylvania, and deputy director of the Senate Democratic Leadership Committee, working for Senators Tom Daschle of South Dakota and John Kerry of Massachusetts. Earlier in his career, Gomperts practiced law and clerked for a federal judge.

Gomperts has also served on numerous boards and advisory groups, including Points of Light, VolunteerMatch, The News Literacy Project and Politics & Prose Bookstore.

Gomperts earned his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and graduated magna cum laude from University of California, Berkeley with an A.B. in history. Gomperts is married to Katherine J. Klein, a professor of management at The Wharton School, and they have two daughters, Nora and Lily.

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Matt Horton

Director, State Policy and Initiatives, Accelerator for America

Matt Horton, Advisory Board, is the director of state policy and initiatives at Accelerator for America.

Prior to that, he was at the Milken Institute where he interacted with government officials, business leaders, and other key stakeholders in directing statewide programming and policy initiatives while implementing the Center’s strategic plan.

He also analyzed policy developments at the local, state and federal levels while monitoring national and global trends for potential impacts throughout the regional economic landscape.  

 

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Ellen Hughes-Cromwick

Senior Visiting Fellow, Third Way

Ellen Hughes-Cromwick, WorkingNation Advisory Board, is Senior Visiting Fellow for the Climate and Energy Program at Third Way, a boutique think tank. She is an economist who has worked across the global landscape in the private sector and in public service. 

Ellen just completed an appointment as Associate Director at the University of Michigan Energy Institute. Prior to that, Ellen served as Chief Economist of the U.S. Department of Commerce where she worked on several Administration initiatives to improve data quality, measure the digital economy, expand workforce development and manufacturing, trade and investment. Ellen also supported the development of the Administration’s economic forecast.

Prior to joining the U.S. Department of Commerce, Ellen was chief global economist at Ford Motor Company. Ellen managed the global corporate economics group with major responsibility for the Company’s global economic and automotive industry forecasts used to support business strategy, finance, and planning.

Ellen is passionate about economic education and our clean energy future. She served as President of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE), worked to establish NABE’s education initiative and currently coaches students from diverse backgrounds who want a career using economics. She hosted several high profile events on America’s energy future at Michigan, bringing together experts from many different disciplines. Ellen loves family and sports, with her husband Paul and adult children who embrace each other’s dreams and aspirations.

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Paul Irving Milken Institute WorkingNation Advisory Board

Paul Irving

Senior Advisor, Milken Institute

Paul Irving, WorkingNation Advisory Board, is a senior advisor at the Milken Institute, a national advisor at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, a law and consulting firm, and a distinguished scholar-in-residence at the University of Southern California Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. He previously served as the Milken Institute’s president and founding chair of its Center for the Future of Aging, an advanced leadership fellow at Harvard University, and chair and CEO of the Manatt firm.

Author/editor of “The Upside of Aging: How Long Life Is Changing the World of Health, Work, Innovation, Policy, and Purpose,” a Wall Street Journal expert panelist and contributor to the Harvard Business Review, PBS NextAvenue, and Forbes, Irving speaks and writes about population aging, public health, finance, and investment and innovation in the longevity economy. 

Irving is a director and chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of East West Bancorp, Inc. and a member of the International Strategic Committee of the Quadrivio Group Silver Economy Fund. Chair emeritus and a member of the board of CoGenerate, Irving also serves as a senior advisor at CWI Labs and serves on the Board of Councilors of the USC Davis School, the Advisory Board of WorkingNation, and the National Academy of Medicine Global Commission on Healthy Longevity. Irving previously served on the Global Advisory Council of Stanford University’s Distinguished Careers Institute, the Bipartisan Policy Center Senior Health and Housing Task Force and as a participant in the 2015 White House Conference on Aging.  

Named an “Influencer” by PBS NextAvenue, Irving was recognized with the Affordable Living for the Aging Janet L. Witkin Humanitarian Award, the Stanford University Distinguished Careers Institute Life Journey Inspiration Award, the Center for Workforce Inclusion Lifetime Achievement Award, the Retirement Coaches Association Pioneer Award, and the Loyola Law School Board of Governors Award. 

In three decades as a corporate lawyer, Irving represented public and private companies and prominent investors in complex merger, acquisition, and capital markets transactions, and in a wide range of business, governance, and regulatory matters. Throughout his career, Irving has been actively involved in charitable leadership in organizations including Operation Hope, Human Rights First, Bet Tzedek Legal Services, Center Theater Group, and New Roads School.  

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Michael H. Kelly

Executive Director, Drucker Institute at Claremont Graduate University

Michael H. Kelly, Advisory Board, is the Executive Director of the Drucker Institute at Claremont Graduate University. The Institute’s mission is to strengthen organizations and society through outreach, executive education, and leadership and management training that helps people manage with courage.

Before joining the Drucker Institute, he served as the Executive Director of the Los Angeles Coalition for the Economy & Jobs, a non-profit organization comprised of leaders in the business, labor, academia and non-profit sectors dedicated to ensuring a path for economic growth and the creation and retention of quality jobs in the greater Los Angeles region.

Prior to working with the Los Angeles Coalition, Michael has worked in a number of high-level positions, both in the private sector with the Boeing Company and with California State government. He had the distinction of being appointed by both Governors Gray Davis and Arnold Schwarzenegger to the California Film Commission and served in a variety of capacities for Governor Davis, first as an aide to then Lt. Governor Davis, a Special Assistant for Internal and External Affairs with the 1998 gubernatorial campaign and the Governor’s office and as a Deputy Cabinet Secretary.

He currently serves on the board of directors of the Center for Sustainable Energy, chair of the FUSE Corps L.A. Advisory Committee, the chair of the Philanthropic Foundation for California State University, Dominguez Hills, and a member of the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator’s Diversity in Entrepreneurship Committee, partner at Saving The West, advisory board member for WorkingNation, well as an adviser to Transmosis. He was also the recipient of the EnCorps Teachers Program 2010 “Torchbearer of the Year” Award.

Michael received an Economics Degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Southern California. He was a Dean’s Merit Scholar at USC.

Michael is married to Mia Kelly and is the proud father of three daughters, Morgan, Milana and Makena.

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Gretchen Koch

Consultant, Workforce Development

Before retiring in 2018, Gretchen Koch, Advisory Board, was responsible for CompTIA’s Creating IT Futures Foundation’s IT workforce development and education initiatives. She joined the foundation in 2014, after 11 years of developing national workforce initiatives for CompTIA, where she parlayed her knowledge of the industry and educational systems to become a nationally known change agent for IT workforce development.

Gretchen worked closely with the U.S. Department of Education on its Certification Data Exchange Project and led efforts with the State of Illinois and the Chicagoland Workforce Funder Alliance to develop and promote IT career pipelines in the state. She has also been the National IT Career Cluster Leader for the States’ Career Clusters Initiative and the Lead Entity for the IT Learning Exchange for Illinois’ Race to the Top Pathways Initiative.

When she was not working from the Foundation’s headquarters in Downers Grove, IL, she spent a great amount of time in Los Angeles, working with local leaders in education and workforce development. She currently sits on the Board of the National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity (NAPE) Education Foundation, serving as its Secretary and member of the Executive Committee.

Before joining CompTIA and its foundation, Gretchen had more than 20 years of experience in IT management at Digital Equipment, Compaq, and Hewlett-Packard corporations. Her most recent position in the IT Industry was as national education manager, Global Services Division at Compaq & Hewlett-Packard Corporation.

Gretchen is a graduate of the University of Michigan, with honors, and holds a MAT from Harvard Graduate School of Education and an MBA from Simmons Graduate School of Business.

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Steve Korn, WorkingNation Advisory Board

Steve Korn

Private Investor in Atlanta

Steven W. Korn, Advisory Board, has business experience in a variety of fields; among them, news, media, entertainment, law, mergers and acquisitions and board membership.

Most recently, Steve was President and Chief Executive Officer of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. RFE/RL is a U.S. government-funded nonprofit corporation headquartered in Prague, Czech Republic. The company operates in 19 countries providing news in 21 languages.

Previously, Steve served as Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of CNN. In that capacity, he oversaw the business and operations of CNN Worldwide. Before CNN, Steve was Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of CNN’s corporate parent, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.

Later, he was Publisher of the Fulton County Daily Report, a small Atlanta newspaper. Steve has served on a variety of boards, including for-profit and nonprofit companies. Currently, he serves on the board of Caleres, Inc., which manufactures, distributes and sells shoes in both the retail and wholesale markets.

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Mona Mourshed Founding Global CEO Generation

Mona Mourshed

Founding Global CEO and Executive Director, Generation

Mona Mourshed, Advisory Board, leads Generation, a global youth employment program and the flagship effort of McKinsey Social Initiative where she serves as the Board of Directors’ Vice President.

Mona is also a senior partner with McKinsey & Company’s Washington, DC office and leads the Global Education Practice. She was selected as one of Fortune Magazine’s ’40 under 40’ (2011), serves on the boards of Junior Achievement Worldwide and the International Baccalaureate Organization, and is a member of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Education.

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Marie Trzupek Lynch

Chief Talent and Culture Officer, Morningstar

Marie Trzupek Lynch, Advisory Board, a passionate leader for advancing economic mobility for Chicagoland residents, is the chief talent and culture officer at Morningstar.

Lynch leads Morningstar’s global talent and culture team responsible for scaling its talent strategy and operations, building an inclusive culture, overseeing the DEI strategy, and driving a world class employee experience for all Morningstar employees.

Prior to joining Morningstar, she was the founding president and CEO of Skills for Chicagoland’s Future. Skills, a nonprofit, creates demand-driven solutions for employers to get unemployed and underemployed Chicagoland residents back to work.

She also launched and served as founding president of Chicago Career Tech, a career retraining initiative for unemployed emerging- and middle-income Chicagoans. She also spent eight years working for the YMCA in the roles of Executive Vice President of Human Services and Housing for the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago, as well as the Director of Operations for Y-USA. Prior to this, Lynch worked at Deloitte in the consulting practice, and in the City of Chicago Mayor’s Office.

She also served on the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NACIE) for the U.S. Commerce Department. 

Lynch was named a 2019 Woman of Influence by the Chicago Business Journal.  She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois, where she was awarded the 2018 LAS Alumni Humanitarian Award, and a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Chicago.

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Hector Mujica

Advisory Board

Hector Mujica, Advisory Board, leads the economic opportunity portfolio at Google.org—Google’s philanthropy—across the Americas. Within his role, he looks after a grantmaking portfolio that supports interventions which aim to provide pathways to digital economy jobs for individuals with multiple barriers to employment. Hector also serves on Google’s Latino Leadership Council, where he helps to steward Google’s social impact endeavors with the Latino community.

Hector has spent the last decade advancing social justice through philanthropy and public policy. Prior to Google, Hector’s experience ranged from investment banking at Oppenheimer & Co, constituent casework at the Office of Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and bilateral relations at the Economic Section of the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo.

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Melissa Peak

Head of Enterprise Skill Transformation, AWS Americas Region

Melissa Peak, Advisory Board, is currently head of Enterprise Skill Transformation, AWS Americas Region

Melissa Peak is a seasoned management executive with 20+ years of experience leading organizations to growth and customer success all while building an engaged workforce.

Melissa, leveraging her transformational leadership style, has consistently built thriving teams that deliver unprecedented market penetration, customer satisfaction and revenue results. Currently, she is the Global Lead, Workforce Strategy for Amazon Web Services, Public Sector, Professional Services.

Prior to AWS, career highlights include delivering double-digit, top-line revenue growth; placing a Fortune 500 company on the Federal GSA Schedule; ensuring 40 percent of direct reports promoted into expanded roles; creating and executing a strategic digital marketing campaign resulting in a 400 percent increase in social media engagement after one year. Over her career, Melissa has engaged with hundreds of employers as a trusted advisor on key talent strategies. By delivering powerful results for these employers, Melissa has built strong relationships with a large network across North America, with International impact.

As a first-generation college student, Melissa is a determined advocate for those who are taking a “road less traveled.” Whether it is hosting a conference, roundtable, one on one coaching or serving as a connector for the determined, yet un-equipped, Melissa has opened doors of opportunity for thousands of individuals.

Melissa is proud to have been named a “2020 Top Woman to Watch” by Diversity Journal Magazine. She serves on the Board of the Women Business Collaborative and as an Advisory Board member for Working Nation.

Melissa resides in Goshen, Kentucky with her husband Michael and their five children. She has earned her Executive Certificate in Strategy and Innovation from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan’s School of Business, an MBA from the John Sperling School of Business at University of Phoenix, and a Bachelor of Science in Literature from Indiana Wesleyan University.

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Gary A. Officer CWI Labs

Gary A. Officer

Founder & CEO, CWI Labs

Gary A. Officer, Advisory Board, is a seasoned social entrepreneur and chief executive. He is known for innovative, value-driven public-private partnerships that remove barriers to community development. Gary is the Founder and CEO of CWI Labs and the President & CEO of Center for Workforce Inclusion, the largest and most experienced nonprofit dedicated exclusively to workplace inclusion and economic opportunity for low-income, older job seekers.

Gary previously served in senior executive positions at the Newseum and the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars in Washington DC. From 2006-2013, he served as the President and Chief Executive Officer at Rebuilding Together, Inc., the nation’s largest volunteer-based homeownership preservation non-profit, and fourth largest remodeler. Under his leadership, Rebuilding Together grew operating income seven-fold and created award-winning partnerships with blue-chip corporate brands in support of the organization’s mission.

Gary has served as President of the National Credit Union Foundation (NCUF), the national foundation supporting credit union development in the United States. As an affiliate of the Credit Union National Association, NCUF promotes and manages credit union development and consumer savings programs on behalf of CUNA and the US credit union movement. The Foundation also manages the National Development Education Volunteer Program.

During his three-year tenure, NCUF grew to a $370 million community investment fund that providing grants, loans and, secondary capital, to credit unions and related organizations throughout the United States.

Gary earned a Bachelor of Arts (Hon) Political Science from the Manchester Metropolitan University and a Master of Science MSc (Econ) International Relations from the London School of Economics. In 2012, he completed the Advanced Management and Leadership Program (OAMLP) at the Said Business School at Oxford University.

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William J Raduchel

William J. Raduchel

Strategic Advisor

William J. Raduchel, WorkingNation Advisory Board, is a strategic advisor, board member, and author. He currently is working with several startup companies as well as an investment fund.

Among the companies he has worked with in the past are Opera Software ASA and LiquidSky, where he was chairman, as well as multiple other private and public companies where he was a board member or advisor.

For more than a decade he taught corporate strategy at Georgetown University. He has served for more than 20 years on the National Advisory Board of the Salvation Army and nine years on the Board on Science, Technology and Economic Policy of the National Academy of Sciences, where he chaired the committee on Copyright and Innovation in the Digital Era.

He was the CEO of Ruckus Network after being executive vice president and chief technology officer of AOL Time Warner, Inc., William joined AOL in September 1999 from Sun Microsystems, Inc., where he was chief strategy officer. Prior to that, he held senior executive roles at Xerox Corporation and McGraw-Hill, Inc. He has over 60 issued and pending patents.

After attending Michigan Technological University, which gave him an honorary doctorate in business in 2002, William received his B.A. in economics from Michigan State University in 1966, and earned his A.M. (1968) and Ph.D. (1972) degrees in economics at Harvard.

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Les Range

Independent Consultant, Workforce Development

Les Range, Advisory Board, is an independent workforce and economic development consultant. He served as the Regional Administrator for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration in Atlanta for five years.

Prior to this position he was the Cabinet level State Workforce Administrator in Mississippi. In these roles he specialized in working with local, state, regional and national leaders to develop workforce solutions to meet the needs of employers, workers and communities. As the ETA Regional Administrator, he assisted with efforts to transform workforce boards in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and Kentucky. He was actively involved at the national level in developing the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Network (WIOA) regulations. He also served as the Senior Executive Champion for the Innovation and Opportunity Network, (ION) which has become a major source of training and technical assistance tools for successful WIOA implementation. 

He is an experienced trainer and executive having been a business owner working with local and regional economic and community development organizations and colleges and universities.

Les has served as an adviser to The Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta, the National Governors Association Policy Academy on State Sector Strategies, the Southern Growth Policies Board Council for a New Economy Workforce and the National Association of State Workforce Agencies.

He attended Northeastern University in Boston, Mass. where he earned a B.A. in English/Journalism. He later earned an M.B.A. From Delta State University in Cleveland, Miss. He also completed the Senior Managers in Government Program at the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government.

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Martin Reeves

Senior Partner, Boston Consulting Group

Martin Reeves, Advisory Board, is a Senior Partner and Managing Director in the New York office of The Boston Consulting Group.

Martin’s latest book, Your Strategy Needs a Strategy, co-written with Knut Haanæs and Janmejaya Sinha, was published by Harvard Business Press in June 2015 and is available in 10 languages.

Martin is also the Director of The BCG Henderson Institute, BCG’s vehicle for exploring the latest thinking in business and inspiring business’ next game. Current themes include growth and resilience, strategy and artificial intelligence, self tuning organizations, strategy and sustainability, new bases of competitive advantage, corporate longevity, organizational ingenuity and economic complexity.

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Shirley Sagawa WorkingNation Advisory Board

Shirley Sagawa

Author and National Service Expert 

Shirley Sagawa, WorkingNation Advisory Board, is an author and a member of the board of AmeriCorps. She is best known for her leadership role in the creation of AmeriCorps, for her service to four American presidents, and as First Lady Hillary Clinton’s Deputy Chief of Staff.

She was the founding President & CEO of Service Year Alliance, founding Executive Director of Learning First Alliance, and the first Managing Director of the Corporation for National & Community Service (now AmeriCorps). As Chief Counsel for Youth Policy for the Senate Labor Committee, she was lead drafter of the National and Community Service Act of 1990.

Through her firm, Sagawa/Jospin, she helped to develop America Forward (New Profit’s innovation “action tank”), Cities of Service, and the technology platform, serviceyear.org, and advised numerous nonprofits and foundations.

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Martin Scaglione

Chief Mission Officer, Goodwill Industries International

Martin Scaglione, Advisory Board, is the Chief Mission Officer of Goodwill Industries International. He is the former President & CEO of Hope Street Group, in addition to being the Co-Founder & CEO of Viridis Learning, and President & COO of ACT’s Workforce Development Division.

While with ACT, Martin launched the National Career Readiness system and helped drive President Obama’s Job Council program Right Skills Now. Previously, Martin served as COO of Bosch-Siemens Household, VP of Corporate Strategy at Hon Industries, and VP of Marketing at Maytag.

While with ACT, Martin launched the National Career Readiness system and helped drive President Obama’s Job Council program Right Skills Now. Previously, Martin served as COO of Bosch-Siemens Household, VP of Corporate Strategy at Hon Industries, and VP of Marketing at Maytag.

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Eric Schwarz

Co-Founder & CEO, College for Social Innovation

Eric Schwarz, Advisory Board, is the Co-Founder and CEO of the College for Social Innovation (CfSI), which brings together colleges and social sector organizations to create fully-credited, semester-long experiential learning opportunities that are meaningful, accessible, and life-changing.

CfSI’s mission is to educate and inspire the next generation of social problem solvers. Eric is also the Co-Founder and former CEO of Citizen Schools, a successful social enterprise that scaled to a $30 million annual budget and has impacted the after-school and extended learning time fields across the U.S.

Eric also served as one of the first two vice presidents at City Year and previously served as a journalist for the Oakland Tribune and The Patriot Ledger, where he was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Eric also worked as national student director for Senator Gary Hart’s 1984 presidential campaign.

He is a graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the University of Vermont and has served on a number of boards, including Beyond12, First Night, the FAO Schwarz Family Foundation, which he chaired for 10 years, and Citizen Schools, where he was elected chair in July 2018. Eric lives in Brookline, MA with his wife and two children.

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Aly Tamboura

Director of Strategic Partnerships, Anti-Recidivism Coalition

Aly Tamboura, Advisory Board, is the Director of Strategic Partnerships for the Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC).

Prior to joining ARC, Aly was a manager in the Criminal Justice Reform program at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. He joined the organization in 2017, after working as a software engineer. Having spent over a decade of his life incarcerated, Aly brought both his firsthand experience with the criminal justice system and his strong technical skills to CZI to help advance critical reforms in the space.

Much of Aly’s work focuses on partnering with a rapidly growing national coalition of formerly incarcerated leaders that are expanding and accelerating the reform movement. Aly supports their efforts to build national and state-based coalitions that are challenging the harsh laws that contribute to mass incarceration, passing critical legislation, and giving those who are closest to the problems a voice in reimagining a justice system that does a better job at helping people and keeping communities safe.

Aly has spoken extensively — including to leaders at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — about his story, the systemic barriers that keep so many people from achieving their full potential, and the urgent need to expand opportunities to formerly incarcerated people.

Prior to his role at CZI, Aly spent twenty years working in the underground utility industry, including 12 years as the founder and CEO of a Bay Area geotechnical company, where he managed and completed large and complex underground utility analytics for government and private entities.

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WorkingNation Advisory Board Jason Tyszko

Jason Tyszko

SVP, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation

Jason Tyszko, WorkingNation Advisory Board, is senior vice president at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation where he advances policies and programs that preserve America’s competitiveness and enhance the career readiness of youth and adult learners. This includes the Talent Pipeline Management initiative, the Foundation’s signature workforce development strategy.

Jason’s prior experience focused on coordinating interagency education, workforce, and economic development initiatives. In 2009, he served as a policy adviser to Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn’s administration. In addition, Jason was deputy chief of staff and senior policy adviser to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

Jason received his Master of Arts from the University of Chicago and his Bachelor of Arts from DePaul University. He is a certified teacher in the state of Illinois

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Philip Weinberg

Advisory Board

Philip Weinberg, Advisory Board, is the president & CEO of STRIVE, one of the nation’s leading nonprofit workforce development organizations, based in East Harlem, New York, and with operations in 12 U.S. cities.

An accomplished social sector leader, Weinberg’s career has spanned the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, focusing on building pipelines of economic opportunity and mobility in underserved communities across the country.

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Maurice Wilson

Executive Director, National Veterans Transition Services (REBOOT)

Maurice Wilson, Advisory Board, retired Navy Master Chief Petty Officer with 25 years of service, Maurice is the President/Executive Director of the National Veterans Transition Services, Inc. (NVTSI). A non-profit organization he co-founded with retired Rear Admiral Ronne Froman after serving as an advisory member for the Call of Duty Endowment (CODE) where he got his inspiration to design REBOOT.

Troubled with the high unemployment, homelessness, suicide and other issues associated with military-to-civilian reintegration, Maurice designed the REBOOT WorkshopTM, a three-week behavior-based transition program designed to help returning service members/veterans successfully reintegrate back into civilian life after years of military service.

Since its inception, REBOOT has achieved a significantly high success rate resulting in Maurice being recognized by the White House as a “Champion of Change” for the innovative design and impact REBOOT has on service members, veterans and spouses. To date, REBOOT has helped over 1,600 military and veterans successfully transition to civilian careers and is recognized as the only transition service of its kind in the country that takes a holistic approach to veterans reintegration.

REBOOT maintains a 97 percent success rate and has been independently validated by the University of San Diego, and four doctoral students from Pepperdine University. Maurice is listed in the San Diego Business Journal’s 2016 Book of 500 Influential Business Leaders and is the 2017 California 39th Senate District Veteran of the Year.

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Dana Beth Ardi

Executive Committee

Dana Beth Ardi, PhD, Executive Committee, is a thought leader and expert in the fields of executive search, talent management, organizational design, assessment, leadership and coaching. As an innovator in the human capital movement, Ardi creates enhanced value in companies by matching the most sought after talent with the best opportunities. Ardi coaches boards and investors on the art and science of building high caliber management teams. She provides them with the necessary skills to seek out and attract top-level management, to design the ideal organizational architectures and to deploy people against strategy. Ardi unearths the way a business works and the most effective way for people to work in them.

Ardi is an experienced business executive and senior consultant who leverages business organizational transformation through talent strategies. She uses her knowledge and experience to develop talent strategies to enhance revenue and profit contributions. She has a deep expertise in change management and organizational effectiveness and has designed and built high performance cultures. Ardi has significant experience in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, IPO’s and turnarounds.

Ardi is an expert on the multi-generational workforce. She understands the four intersecting generations of workers coming together in contemporary companies, each with their own mindsets, leadership and communications styles, values and motivations. Ardi is sought after to assist companies manage and thrive by bringing the generations together. Her book, Fall of the Alphas: How Beta Leaders Win Through Connection, Collaboration and Influence, will be published by St. Martin’s Press. The book reflects Ardi’s deep expertise in understanding organizations and our changing society. It focuses on building a winning culture, how companies must grow and evolve, and how talent influences and shapes communities of work. This is what she has coined “Corporate Anthropology.” It is a playbook on how modern companies must meet challenges – culturally, globally, digitally, across genders and generations.

Ardi is currently the Managing Director and Founder of Corporate Anthropology Advisors, LLC, a consulting company that provides human capital advisory and innovative solutions to companies building value through people. Corporate Anthropology works with organizations, their cultures, the way they grow and develop, and the people who are responsible for forming their communities of work.

Prior to her position at Corporate Anthropology Advisors, Ardi served as a Partner/Managing Director at the private equity firms CCMP Capital and JPMorgan Partners. She was a partner at Flatiron Partners, a venture capital firm working with early state companies where she pioneered the human capital role within an investment portfolio.

Ardi holds a BS from the State University of New York at Buffalo as well as a Masters degree and PhD from Boston College. She started her career as professor at the Graduate Center at Fordham University in New York.

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