Olivia Golden, an institute fellow at the Urban Institute, has led federal, state, and local child and family agencies and has written extensively on policies and programs affecting low-income families.
From 2001 to 2004, she was director of the Child and Family Services Agency of the District of Columbia, leading the agency out of federal court receivership. From 1993 to 2001, she served in two presidentially appointed positions within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, first as commissioner for children, youth, and families and then as assistant secretary for children and families. In these roles, she was responsible for more than 60 programs, including Head Start, Early Head Start, child care, the implementation of welfare reform, and child abuse and neglect.
In her most recent public-sector position, Dr. Golden served in 2007 as director of state operations for New York State, overseeing the management of all state government agencies and serving as the founding chair of the children’s cabinet. Before her New York state position, she served as a senior fellow at the Urban Institute from 2004 to early 2007, leading the multimillion dollar Assessing the New Federalism project and overseeing its transition to a research focus on low-income working families.
Golden was also director of programs and policy at the Children’s Defense Fund (1991–93), a lecturer in public policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government (1987–91), and budget director of Massachusetts’s Executive Office of Human Services (1983–85). Her book Poor Children and Welfare Reform (1992) draws lessons from welfare programs around the country that tried to make a difference to families by serving two generations, both parent and child.
Golden holds a doctorate and a master’s degree in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, where she earned a B.A. in philosophy and government. She lives in Washington, D.C.
