Workforce Leadership Academies

Here, we offer four strategies workforce professionals can use to cobble together shoes so that they can walk the talk.

About the Workforce Leadership Academies

Workforce Leadership Academies bring together leaders across the many siloed fields of practice, organization types, and government policies that make up the field.

The Academies strengthen Fellows’ capacity to develop and sustain effective workforce strategies, collaborate more deeply with employers, and expand the number and quality of leaders who advance opportunities for low-wage workers and job seekers as they meet employers’ talent development needs.

The Academies are part of the Economic Opportunity Fellows Network, a network of leadership and fellowship programs run by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program. Within this Network, EOP connects national and local leaders from across sectors — nonprofit, government, business, philanthropy, academia, and more — to advance policies and practices with the potential to help low- and moderate-income Americans thrive in today’s economy.

To learn more about the Academies, click here.

Blog Posts

Local Leaders Advancing Workforce Development

Meet the over 100 Fellows — from six regions across the country — who are working toward systems change.

Blog Posts

Announcing the 2025 Workforce Leadership Academies

The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program (EOP) is thrilled to announce the launch of six new Workforce Leadership Academies in 2025.

Blog Posts

Shoes To Walk the Talk: Four Steps for Workforce Systems to Advance Our Own Workforce

Here, we offer four strategies workforce professionals can use to cobble together shoes so that they can walk the talk.

Blog Posts

The Cobbler’s Children Have No Shoes: Why Workforce Professionals Need Their Own Good Jobs Strategy

Despite their focus on job quality, workforce staff often endure bad jobs themselves. In other words, “The cobbler’s children have no shoes.”

What’s New

Blog Posts

Local Leaders Advancing Workforce Development

Meet the over 100 Fellows — from six regions across the country — who are working toward systems change.

Blog Posts

Announcing the 2025 Workforce Leadership Academies

The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program (EOP) is thrilled to announce the launch of six new Workforce Leadership Academies in 2025.

Blog Posts

Shoes To Walk the Talk: Four Steps for Workforce Systems to Advance Our Own Workforce

Here, we offer four strategies workforce professionals can use to cobble together shoes so that they can walk the talk.

Blog Posts

Five Questions with a Workforce Leader: Holly Kurtz, Center for the Future of Arizona

“My passion has always been leadership development. My experience tells me that changes in a system start with leadership, and the workforce development ecosystem is ripe for innovative changes at all levels.”

Blog Posts Videos

Workforce Leadership Academy RFA Informational Webinar Recording and FAQ

View the webinar recording and see FAQs to help you respond to the RFA.

Blog Posts

EOP Seeks Partners for New Workforce Leadership Academies

“By leveraging the principles of the Academy, we’re actively building a landscape that aims to shift the paradigm for low-income individuals and their families.” – Academy Fellow

Blog Posts

Workforce Leadership Profile: Advancing Equity Through Workforce Development with Clair Minson

Minson shares insights on systemic change, racial equity, and the evolution of leadership within the workforce development field.

Blog Posts

Workforce Leadership Profile: Strengthening Communities Through Workforce Development with Stephen Tucker

Strengthening Communities Through Workforce Development

Blog Posts Of Interest
Blog Posts

The Cobbler’s Children Have No Shoes: Why Workforce Professionals Need Their Own Good Jobs Strategy

Despite their focus on job quality, workforce staff often endure bad jobs themselves. In other words, “The cobbler’s children have no shoes.”

Introducing Our Team


Dee Wallace

Senior Fellow

Maureen Conway

Vice President; Executive Director

Haley Glover

Senior Director

Chelsea Miller

Associate Director

Frances Almodovar

Communications Associate

Colleen Cunningham

Director of Grants Management and Publications

Nora Heffernan

Digital Communications Associate

Tony Mastria

Associate Director of Communications

Sinin Young

Grants Management Associate

About the Workforce Leadership Academies

The Aspen Institute’s Workforce Leadership Academies, part of the Economic Opportunities Program, bring together leaders across the many siloed fields of practice, organization types, and government policies that make up the field. The Academies strengthen Fellows’ capacity to develop and sustain effective workforce strategies, collaborate more deeply with employers, and expand the number and quality of leaders who advance opportunities for low-wage workers and job seekers as they meet employers’ talent development needs.

About the Economic Opportunities Program

The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program advances strategies, policies, and ideas to help low- and moderate-income people thrive in a changing economy.

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