Workingnation

Advisory Board

GAYATRI AGNEW

Senior Director of Opportunity, Walmart.org

John Hope Bryant

Founder & CEO, Operation Hope

Bridget Burns

Founding Executive Director, University Innovation Alliance (UIA)

Brandon Busteed

President, Kaplan University Partners

Gerald Chertavian

Founder and CEO, Year Up

Carol Eggert

SVP of Military and Veterans Affairs, Comcast NBCUniversal

Marc Freedman

President & CEO, Encore.org

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

Paul Irving

Chairman, Milken Institute Center for the Future of Aging

Ellen Hughes-Cromwick

Senior Resident Fellow, Third Way

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

Marie Trzupek Lynch

CEO, Skills for Chicagoland's Future

Melissa Peak

Global Lead, Workforce Strategy, Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Mona Mourshed

Executive Director, Generation

Hector Mujica

Economic Opportunity Lead, Americas, at Google.org

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

President and CEO, Hope Street Group

Aly Tamboura

Program Manager, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

Eric Schwarz

Co-Founder & CEO, College for Social Innovation

Jason Tyszko

Vice President, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation

Philip Weinberg

President & CEO, STRIVE

Maurice Wilson

President, REBOOT Workshop

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John Hope Bryant

Advisory Board

John Hope Bryant, 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.

Brandon Busteed

President, Kaplan University Partners

Brandon Busteed, Advisory Board, leads Kaplan’s work serving U.S. colleges and universities, leveraging the organization’s highly-diversified, global educational offerings and insights. His mission is to help U.S. higher education adapt, grow and thrive.

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.

Marc Freedman

President & CEO, Encore.org

Marc Freedman, Advisory Board, is the CEO and President of Encore.org, 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.

Joseph B. Fuller

Professor, Harvard Business School

Joseph B. Fuller, Advisory Board, is a Professor of Management Practice in General Management at the Harvard Business School and a founder and former CEO of Monitor Group, the global management consultancy, now Monitor-Deloitte. He teaches courses on general management decision making and managing the future of work in Harvard’s MBA and executive education programs.

Joe is the co-director of the school’s long-term project, Managing the Future of Work, a Visiting Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a Distinguished Fellow at the Strada Institute for the Future of Work, a member of the Markle Foundation’s Rework America Task Force, and a Commissioner on Massachusetts’ Governor Charles Baker’s Commission on Digital Innovation and Lifelong Learning.

He studies issues related to employment and income polarization. Specifically, he has focused on the ‘skills gap’ — the phenomenon that employers find it hard to fill open positions at the same time the nation suffers from high levels of underemployment and falling workforce participation. That work has focused on mechanisms for creating effective systems for linking employers and skills providers.

His recently published paper, The Caring Company, focuses on the impact that episodic and predictable care giving obligations have on workers, their career paths and the implications for employers. His ongoing research focuses on the future of work more broadly, specifically the growth of non-traditional employment relationships, the attitudes of workers and employers about the changing nature of work and forces that inhibit workforce participation.

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.

Ellen Hughes-Cromwick

Senior Resident Fellow, Third Way

Ellen Hughes-Cromwick, Advisory Board, is Senior Resident 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.

Michael H. Kelly

Executive Director, Los Angeles Coalition for the Economy & Jobs

Michael H. Kelly, Advisory Board, currently serves 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.

Gretchen Koch

Executive Director, CompTIA 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.

Marie Trzupek Lynch

CEO, Skills for Chicagoland’s Future

Marie Trzupek Lynch, Advisory Board, a passionate leader for advancing economic mobility for Chicagoland residents, is 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.

Currently, Marie is aggressively working with her leadership team on scaling Skills’ work and impact locally, and has a continued focus on the national replication of Skills including the successful launch of Skills for Rhode Island’s Future in the fall of 2016. Marie is a member of Mayor-Elect Lightfoot’s Business, Economic, and Neighborhood Development Transition Committee, and also supported Gov. Pritzker’s transition into office as a member of the Job Creation and Economic Opportunity Transition Committee.

Previously, Marie 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, Marie worked at Deloitte in the consulting practice, and in the City of Chicago Mayor’s Office.

Marie also served on the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NACIE) for the U.S. Commerce Department. Marie was a co-chair for NACIE 2.0, and an active member of NACIE 3.0 through June 2017. Marie was named a 2019 Woman of Influence by the Chicago Business Journal. Marie is also a mentor for the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy, a board member of Chicago Run, and a middle school cross country coach. 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.

Melissa Peak

Global Lead, Workforce Strategy, Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Melissa Peak, Advisory Board, is currently the Global Lead, Workforce Strategy for Amazon Web Services (AWS).

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.

Gary A. Officer

President & CEO, Center for Workforce Inclusion

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 currently 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.

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.

Aly Tamboura

Program Manager, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

Aly Tamboura, Advisory Board, is the Strategic Advisor for the newly-formed The Just Trust, a grantmaking organization dedicated to dramatically shrinking the overall footprint of America’s criminal legal system—from the number of people incarcerated, to the more invisible and harmful ways it holds individuals, families, communities, and entire generations back from opportunity.

Prior to joining The Just Trust, 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.

Maurice Wilson

President, REBOOT Workshop

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.

Workingnation

Advisory Board

Gayatri Agnew

John Hope Bryant

Bridget Burns

Brandon Busteed

Gerald Chertavian

Carol Eggert

Marc Freedman

Joseph B. Fuller

John Gomperts

Matt Horton

Paul Irving

Ellen Hughes-Cromwick

Michael H. Kelly

Gretchen Koch

Executive Director, CompTIA Workforce Development

Steve Korn

Marie Trzupek Lynch

Melissa Peak

Mona Mourshed

Hector Mujica

Gary A. Officer

William J. Raduchel

Les Range

Martin Reeves

Shirley Sagawa

Martin Scaglione

Aly Tamboura

Eric Schwarz

Jason Tyszko

Philip Weinberg

Maurice Wilson