Maria Flynn

VP, Building Economic Opportunity

Contact Maria Flynn

As vice president of JFF's Building Economic Opportunity Group, Maria Flynn leads JFF’s work to help low-skilled adults advance to family-sustaining careers, while enabling employers to build and sustain a productive workforce. Ms. Flynn guides the activities of several key JFF projects and partnerships, including the National Fund for Workforce Solutions, Jobs to Careers, and Breaking Through.

Ms. Flynn has nearly 20 years of experience in the workforce development field. As the administrator of the Office of Policy Development and Research in the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration, she oversaw the assessment and development of employment and training policies, managed the design of the agency's research and evaluation strategy, and provided direct support to agency budget and appropriations activities.

Ms. Flynn’s responsibilities at the Labor Department included coordinating 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).

Within the Employment and Training Administration, Ms. Flynn previously led the Division of One-Stop Operations, where she developed 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 played key roles in the National School-to-Work initiative and in the launch of the Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) Initiative.

Ms. Flynn earned her Bachelor’s in international relations and economics at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia and a Master’s of Government Administration at the University of Pennsylvania.