Speaker

Kathryn Jo Mannes is vice president, impact partnerships, at JFF. She helps catalyze partnerships and programs that further JFF’s mission and impact in the field.

Kathy identifies educational and employment needs and crafts solutions to address those needs. She builds and promotes public and private partnerships to reimagine and scale opportunities that benefit companies, communities, and individuals. She is a dot-connector, with a wide range of corporate, education, government, and community contacts.

Before joining JFF, Kathy worked at the U.S. Department of Labor, where she launched the Center for Workforce and Industry Partnerships. Previously, she served as senior vice president for workforce and economic development at the American Association of Community Colleges and as the managing director of workforce development at the National Retail Federation Foundation. She has also worked at Dusco Community Services, the Council for Adult Education and Learning, and American University.

Kathy is a member of the board of the Center for Employment Opportunities and of the SkillsUSA Foundation council. She previously served on the Workforce Investment Board of Montgomery County, Maryland, and on the board of the National Center for Children and Families. She speaks on the opportunities and challenges in a changing economy and world of work.

Kathy says she looks for new ways to push systems, investors, and other stakeholders to combine efforts and resources. Her goal is to change the paradigm of how we prepare for and think about work by taking risks and putting ideas into action.