Maria Flynn is Vice President of JFF’s Building Economic Opportunities Group. The group explores ways that adults can develop the skills needed to advance to family-sustaining careers, while enabling employers to build and sustain a productive workforce. Ms. Flynn guides the activities of key JFF projects and partnerships, including the National Fund for Workforce Solutions, Jobs to Careers, and Breaking Through.
Ms. Flynn has over 16 years of experience in the workforce development field. Prior to coming to JFF, she served as the administrator of the Office of Policy Development and Research within the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration. She was responsible for overseeing the assessment and development of employment and training policies, managing the design of the agency's research and evaluation strategy, and providing direct support to agency budget and appropriations activities. Her responsibilities also included the coordination of the agency’s legislative, regulatory, and international affairs agendas and outreach to philanthropic organizations. As the agency’s policy director, Ms. Flynn played a key role in the development and implementation of the Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development Initiative—WIRED—and she served as the agency’s liaison to the Kansas City and West Alabama/East Mississippi WIRED regions.
Within the Employment and Training Administration, Ms. Flynn previously served as chief of the Division of One-Stop Operations, where she was responsible for developing the policy and technical assistance framework necessary to enable states and local communities to establish comprehensive One-Stop delivery systems designed to provide quality services to job seekers, workers, and employers. She also served as team leader for the interagency policy group charged with implementing the Workforce Investment Act of 1998.
In the 1990s, Ms. Flynn held key positions in the National School-to-Work Office and with the launch of the Secretaries Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) Initiative.
Ms. Flynn earned her Bachelor’s degree in international relations and economics at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia and a Master’s of Government Administration at the University of Pennsylvania.
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