Lili Allen is a senior advisor at Jobs for the Future.
In that role, she contributes to the development of strategy and the provision of technical assistance for the organization’s work with states, regions, and communities that are building pathways to postsecondary credentials and career-track employment for young adults from low-income backgrounds who have enormous potential but face significant barriers in the labor market.
Lili guides the work of a team that helps communities and states implement JFF’s Back on Track pathways. She also leads the Young Adult Talent Development Network, JFF’s partnership with the Aspen Institute Opportunity Youth Forum, JFF’s partnership with the Annie E. Casey Foundation for the Learn and Earn to Achieve Potential (LEAP) initiative, and Back on Track in Texas with the Greater Texas Foundation.
Her skills and areas of expertise include:
- Strategic planning with cross-system stakeholders to develop community strategies to improve outcomes for young adults
- Back on Track pathway design and implementation
- Translation of educational research, policies, and practices for high-level system leaders and on-the-ground practitioners
- Design and implementation of multi-community initiatives that drive reform agendas
- Writing of briefs, reports, and documentation of effective practices and policies
Lili came to JFF with more than 20 years of experience building school and community partnerships to improve outcomes for struggling students and out-of-school youth.
She speaks at national venues on strategies to improve outcomes for young adults who are locked out of the labor market.
Explaining why she was drawn to JFF, Lili says she welcomed the opportunity to work with “a talented, diverse team to improve outcomes for young adults who aspire to succeed in our economy but are locked out due to systemic barriers.”
Lili is an avid bicyclist, a political activist, and the mother of a young man who shares her commitment to social justice.
