Maria Flynn is president and CEO of JFF, a national nonprofit that drives transformation in the American workforce and education systems. Maria’s commitment to JFF’s vision of economic advancement for all and her leadership in workforce policy have made her a national authority on the future of work, the role of technology in the labor market, career pathways for underserved individuals, and employer engagement. In 2018, Maria launched JFFLabs within JFF to bridge the traditional education and workforce systems with innovative approaches and technology-enabled solutions.

Before becoming CEO in 2016, Maria was JFF’s senior vice president and led the Building Economic Opportunity Group, helping entry-level workers advance to family-supporting careers while enabling employers to build and sustain a productive workforce. She also led JFF’s federal policy and advocacy strategies, which focus on advancing the educational needs of underserved Americans and developing a skilled workforce.

Before joining JFF in 2007, Maria was a member of the federal government’s Senior Executive Service in the U.S. Department of Labor, where she held several high-level positions involving employment, training, and research. At the DOL’s Employment and Training Administration, she oversaw the development of policies for training programs serving both young people and adults, supervised the agency’s research and evaluation strategy, and managed its $12 billion annual budget. She was a key driver of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, the National School-to-Work initiative, and the Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills initiative.

A nationally recognized expert on workforce development, Maria speaks regularly at corporate and nonprofit events. These include the Council on Foreign Relations “Training for Twenty-First Century Jobs” panel, the SOCAP18 conference, the Fortune CEO Initiative, McKinsey & Company’s Consortium for Advancing Adult Learning & Development, the Poynter Institute, and the ASU GSV Summit. She was recognized by The Commonwealth Institute and The Boston Globe as CEO of one of the top 100 Women-Led Businesses in Massachusetts for 2018.

Maria has been a judge for the MIT Inclusive Innovation Challenge, MIT Solve, and the RSA’s Future Work Awards. She also served for several years on the board of the National Association of Workforce Boards. She is regularly interviewed in the media about the future of work and has been quoted in Bloomberg News, The Boston Globe, BuzzFeed, and Fast Company, among others.

She and her husband, Mike, are the proud parents of two daughters, Amelia and Caroline.

Joshua Johnson is a director at JFF. A member of the team in the JFF Center for Apprenticeship & Work Based Learning, he leads efforts to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in apprenticeship, with a specific focus on helping employers make commitments to building inclusive Registered Apprenticeship programs.

His skills and areas of expertise include:

• Apprenticeship programming
• Workforce development
• Business engagement
• Reentry education leadership

Before joining JFF, Joshua was the state director of apprenticeship in Wisconsin. In that role, he oversaw growth in all initiatives related to the creation of intentional career pathways for Wisconsin citizens. His passion for apprenticeship is rooted in its ability to eradicate poverty.

Earlier in his career, Joshua worked for the Wisconsin Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, where he helped employers connect to the untapped talent pool of individuals with disabilities.

While he was the Wisconsin state director of apprenticeship, Joshua was elected by his fellow state directors to serve as vice president of the National Association of State and Territorial Apprenticeship Directors.

Joshua spent nearly 10 years in prison and has shared his personal story of reentry to encourage justice-involved individuals to refocus and get connected prior to release. He also speaks at events about the importance of employers creating diverse and inclusive apprenticeships to ensure that they can compete locally, nationally, and globally.

In 2007, Joshua completed a Construction Craft Laborers apprenticeship and then spent three years as a construction craft laborer journeyworker building highways in Illinois and Wisconsin.

“I am the father of three boys and two girls,” Joshua says. “I enjoy spending time with them and my lovely wife out on the water on the family boat. If I’m not out on the water, I am relaxing and enjoying the four seasons in Wisconsin while cheering on our local sports teams.”

Jacob Maas is the Chief Executive Officer of West Michigan Works! (WMW), the workforce development agency for Allegan, Barry, Ionia, Kent, Montcalm, Muskegon and Ottawa counties. With over 18 years of experience in the public sector—six as CEO of the WMW—Maas is committed to creating systems that meet the needs of communities and to providing a demand and data-driven direction for region’s talent development efforts.

As CEO, Maas played an integral role in the 2015 merger of four Michigan Works! agencies to become WMW. The agency is focused on recognizing and valuing the unique needs of a region that serves both urban and rural communities; start-ups and major corporations; and a diverse job-seeker population.

West Michigan Works! is a trusted resource for the state when it is redesigning or launching programs and for like-minded organizations and partnerships; it regularly shares its innovative practices through local, state and federal conferences, podcasts and webinars. Maas credits this focus on leadership and innovation for the workforce board’s 2015 Board of Excellence Award from the Michigan Works! Association and the 2019 WIOA Trailblazer Award from the National Association of Workforce Boards.

Maas is a graduate of Hope College and resident of Grand Rapids. He continues to be active at the local, state, and federal level with workforce initiatives.

Tameshia Bridges Mansfield is vice president for workforce innovation at JFF. She oversees workforce development and future-of-work initiatives with an eye toward innovation and system transformation.

Her skills and areas of expertise include:

• Strategy development
• Fundraising
• Systems change
• Racial equity and justice analysis and practice
• Collaboration and community engagement

Before joining JFF, Tameshia was a program officer at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, where she led the workforce development and job access portfolio, addressing barriers that workers face in securing meaningful employment.

Earlier in her career, she spent 1O years at Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute, where she engaged with legislators, employers, workforce organizations, and other stakeholders while advocating for changes to raise the visibility and improve the job quality of direct care workers.

Tameshia is a co-chair of the board of the Clean Slate Initiative and a member of the boards of the Detroit Justice Center and the Chicago Jobs Council. She previously served as co-chair of Workforce Matters, where she was instrumental in the creation of the Racial Equity Framework for Workforce Funders.

“I was drawn to this role because I recognize that this moment calls for innovative solutions that are equity-centered and serve the interests and needs of workers, employers, and communities to address the disparities and challenges that COVID-19 and the past year of racial reckoning have exposed,” Tameshia says. “I can’t wait to work with and learn from current partners, engage new ones, and collaborate with the talented and committed team at JFF in the transformative work ahead of us.”

Outside of work, she says, “I mostly spend time with my family: my husband, Joe, our daughter, Elise—a curious and energetic toddler—and my mother. When I get time to myself, I love listening to podcasts, reading, gardening, and sharing a good meal and adult conversation with girlfriends.”

Andrea Messing-Mathie is a director at JFF’s Center for Apprenticeship & Work-Based Learning.

She focuses on building integrated strategies that help communities develop the capacity and will to execute on the promises of work-based learning, including youth apprenticeship. She helps communities and stakeholders design and implement systems that improve young people’s economic and educational outcomes.

Andrea’s areas of expertise include connections between education and industry, college and career readiness, secondary and postsecondary alignment, STEM education, community development, and global gender dynamics in schools and educational attainment. She is dedicated to understanding the importance of the connections between classroom instruction and the economic opportunities available to students.

Before joining JFF, Andrea was the deputy director of the Education Systems Center at Northern Illinois University, where she managed apprenticeship, career pathways, and operational initiatives. She oversaw the Illinois Advanced Apprenticeship Consortium and Standing Youth Committee bodies of work and led the center’s Illinois 60 by 25 Network and Great Lakes College and Career Pathways efforts. Andrea also worked with partners to develop the center’s efforts to support opportunity youth. In her work at the center, Andrea passionately supported partners’ efforts to open up new opportunities for women in nontraditional fields and to offer opportunity youth chances to connect with employers.

Earlier in her career, Andrea was a research fellow on a National Science Foundation project, spearheading research on gender equality campaigns in Western Europe.

Andrea says she was drawn to JFF because it offers her an opportunity to work with national and global audiences on initiatives that address the changing nature of work and the impact those changes have on teaching and living.

Andrea will talk freely about her husband, kids, and very cool dog, yoga and biking, traveling the world, and adventures involving food and all of those things.

Jonathan Payne, PhD, is a senior program manager in JFF’s Pathways to Prosperity group. He currently works on Possible Futures, a career awareness and exploration program for middle-grade (6–10) students to ensure that more young people complete high school and attain postsecondary credentials with value in the labor market.

Prior to joining JFF, Dr. Payne served as a public educator for over a decade. Most recently, he was a technology integrator at one of the largest high schools in Maine. In that role, he worked closely with classroom teachers—implementing technology into daily classroom instruction and assessments to increase student outcomes—and fellow technology staff—supporting the district’s grades 4–12 one-to-one Chromebook deployment. He also facilitated the creation of the district’s K–6 technology scope and sequence and coordinated teacher technology professional development.

Dr. Payne also served students as a science teacher for seven years, focusing mainly on chemistry and engineering, where he helped initiate a STEM Diploma endorsement. Additionally, he has been an enthusiastic educational activist, participating in local, state, and national educational policy discussions as a union president and elected union leader at the state and national levels.

Before entering education, he was also an apprentice preservation and restoration carpenter and a field biologist.

Dr. Payne has a PhD in public policy with a concentration in educational leadership from the University of Southern Maine. He also holds a master’s degree in teaching and learning—also from USM—and a bachelor's degree in marine and freshwater biology from the University of New Hampshire.

Eric M. Seleznow is a senior advisor and directs JFF's Center for Apprenticeship & Work-Based Learning. He works to further the organization’s goals of advancing innovative workforce policy and programs. Eric is contributing to the organization’s work on apprenticeship, reentry, and sector strategies.

Prior to JFF, Eric served as deputy assistant secretary for the US Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration, under Secretary Tom Perez. During his tenure at USDOL/ETA, he focused on implementing the Obama administration’s vision for workforce development, skills training, and registered apprenticeship.

Eric has over 30 years of experience managing a range of workforce development and correctional reentry programs at the federal, state, and local levels. Prior to his position at DOL, he served as the state policy director with the National Skills Coalition, as executive director of the Maryland Governor's Workforce Investment Board, and as the local workforce board director for the Montgomery County (MD.) Department of Economic Development. His experience also includes nearly 20 years in the corrections system operating jail-based training, employment, and pre-release programs—re-entry efforts for which he is still regarded as a national expert.

Eric is a graduate of Northeastern University and resides in Washington, DC.

Mary Ellen Sprenkel has been a long-time champion for youth. Mary Ellen came to The Corps Network in March of 2008 as Director of Government Relations. She was promoted to Vice President of External Affairs in 2011 and then appointed Interim CEO in May of 2012, prior to being selected as the CEO in October of 2012. During her tenure, Service and Conservation Corps have become better known programs to lawmakers and policymakers throughout the federal government. Legislation that would expand and bolster youth programs including Service and Conservation Corps has been routinely introduced in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. Under Mary Ellen’s leadership, in 2010 more than $63 million of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act projects were granted to Service and Conservation Corps throughout the country by 15 federal agencies. These projects provided youth with jobs and service opportunities while connecting them to public lands including national parks and forests. More recently, Mary Ellen has served as a member of the Federal Advisory Committee tasked with providing recommendations to federal land management agencies on how to implement a 21st Century Conservation Service Corps.

In addition to her productive time at The Corps Network, she has ten years of Capitol Hill experience, including two years on the House Committee on Education and Labor handling postsecondary education, training, and life-long learning programs. She also worked for Representatives Matthew G. Martinez (D-CA) and Nydia Velazquez (D-NY). Before joining The Corps Network, Mary Ellen was Vice President of Government Relations at the Education Finance Council, the national trade association for nonprofit and state based student loan providers. Prior to that, she spent two years as the Assistant to the President of the University of Montana.

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Myriam Sullivan is a director at JFF, helping low-skilled adults advance to family-supporting careers while enabling employers to build and sustain a productive workforce. Ms. Sullivan’s current portfolio includes New Skills at Work, a landmark JPMorgan Chase workforce readiness initiative aimed at closing the skills gap. Prior to this project, Ms. Sullivan led Credentials That Work, JFF’s emerging work in the development and application of labor market information (LMI) and workforce research.

Before joining JFF, Ms. Sullivan served as a presidential management fellow for two offices within the US Department of Labor. As program analyst in the financial management division, she managed LMI grants for 10 states and oversaw key convenings of state and federal LMI stakeholders. As a manpower development specialist in the Office of Workforce Investments, Ms. Sullivan also managed federal grants and provided technical assistance to state- and local-level entities that administer and provide workforce development programs and services to various adult and youth populations. Ms. Sullivan previously worked at the Massachusetts Executive Office for Administration and Finance, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, and JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Ms. Sullivan holds a master’s degree in public administration from Long Island University and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the State University of New York at Albany.

Andrés Tapia is a senior client partner at Korn Ferry and the consulting firm’s global diversity and inclusion strategist.

He has been one of the leading voices in shaping a contemporary, next-generation approach to diversity and inclusion. That approach is global, deeply integrated into talent systems, and focused on enabling marketplace success.

Throughout Europe, Asia, North America, and his native Latin America, Andrés has helped clients shape enterprise-wide diversity and inclusion business cases and strategies. He has done that work in a wide range of industries—including financial services, technology, health care, retail, manufacturing, government, education, and the nonprofit sector—with dozens of Global 500 organizations as well as non-U.S. multinationals in Brazil, South Korea, and India.

He has more than 25 years of experience as a C-suite management consultant, diversity executive, organizational development and training professional, and journalist. He is also the author of The Inclusion Paradox: The Obama Era and the Transformation of Global Diversity and the co-author of Auténtico: The Definitive Guide to Latino Career Success and of the recently released The 5 Disciplines of Inclusive Leadership: Unleashing the Power of All of Us.

A frequently sought-after speaker, Andrés has given presentations on the topic of diversity and inclusion to audiences globally. His writing has been published in major dailies throughout the United States and Latin America, including contributions to the New America Media wire service and the Huffington Post.

He has received numerous leadership and diversity awards and has served on a number of boards, including current roles on the boards of Leadership Greater Chicago and Ravinia Festival, where he chairs the diversity, equity, and inclusion committee and sits on the executive committee. He has also previously served on editorial board of Diversity Executive magazine, the corporate advisory board for the Bentley University Center for Women and Business, and the Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement (HACE).

He is married to Lori, a musician, and they have a grown daughter, Marisela, who is a professional flamenco dancer. He lives in the Chicago area.