Ashley Putnam is the director of the Economic Growth & Mobility Project (EGMP) for the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.

Putnam says disparities in the U.S. across income and housing have been brought into focus by COVID-19 and the recent civil unrest. According to Putnam, employers need to acknowledge the skills of those workers who do not have a college degree.

She says, “This is a time of self-reflection to really question our institutions, our work, the role we’re playing in the conversations we’re having, even the language we’re using when we talk about people. How do we re-frame this conversation and start with humanity.”

WorkingNation interviewed Putnam for #WorkingNationOverheard as a media partner with the JFF Horizons 2020 conference. You can watch all the interviews on our YouTube channel.

Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia: https://www.philadelphiafed.org/
Learn more about Jobs For the Future: https://www.jff.org/