Over many decades, our economy has experienced tremendous growth, yet not everyone has benefitted from these gains. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and accelerated systemic inequities in our labor market, in which workers’ wages have stagnated, their ability to advance has stalled, and their household economic security has eroded. We know we can’t rebuild ladders of opportunity without all the key stakeholders at the table: employers, worker advocates, practitioners, policymakers, philanthropy, and the research community. WorkRise convenes these often siloed groups to generate evidence-based solutions to drive policy and practice toward durable and meaningful change. As executive director, I am excited about leading my team to catalyze a diverse network to deliver WorkRise’s mission: to rebuild a more equitable and resilient labor market that expands opportunity and economic mobility for all workers.
Todd Greene is an Institute fellow and the executive director of WorkRise, a research-to-action network focused on jobs, workers, and mobility hosted by the Urban Institute. WorkRise funds research on promising practices, policies, and programs and undertakes foundational research on labor market trends to strengthen employers, inform policymaking and practices, and provide genuine economic mobility and security for workers.
Before joining Urban, Greene was executive director of the Atlanta University Center Consortium. There, Greene led a team focused on enhancing academic programs, forging interdisciplinary research, and catalyzing a broad economic development agenda.
For more than 10 years, Greene was a vice president in the research division of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, where he led research, policy, and outreach initiatives to promote inclusive economic growth. Greene founded and led the Federal Reserve System’s human capital/workforce development working group and created the Federal Reserve Center for Workforce and Economic Opportunity.
Greene has published numerous articles and coedited Transforming U.S. Workforce Development Policies for the 21st Century and Investing in America’s Workforce: Improving Outcomes for Workers and Employers. He is past board chair of the International Economic Development Council, chairs the national advisory board for the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, and serves on the board of the Corporation for a Skilled Workforce.
Greene, a certified economic developer, earned his undergraduate degree from Harvard University and master’s degrees from Washington University and Georgia State University. He has completed executive education programs at Stanford University and Universidad ESAN.
