Emily McGrath is a senior fellow and director of workforce policy at The Century Foundation. Emily is a workforce strategist with deep experience in coalition-building, innovative educational initiatives, and program scaling. She leads TCF’s effort to advance workforce policy focused on achieving equitable labor market outcomes for all communities.
Emily has a diverse background that includes experience across government, industry, and education. Prior to working at TCF, Emily was the director of workforce development at NextFlex, a Manufacturing USA Institute focused on emerging technologies. At NextFlex, Emily led workforce strategy and operations, scaling a range of initiatives to key manufacturing markets across the nation in partnership with manufacturing companies, institutes of higher education, nonprofit community-based organizations, and government agencies. Emily has also worked as a GIS analyst for the U.S. Department of Energy; coordinated policy campaigns for the Environmental Defense Fund; co-founded an ecotourism-based start up with a small community of civil war veterans in El Salvador; and taught English in Brazil.
Emily sits on the Workforce Investment Board in San Jose, California, where she helps inform strategic investment and policy around workforce development for the Silicon Valley region. She attended Colgate University and Portland State University, where she holds degrees in Geography and Geographic Information Systems (GIS).