Richard Kazis is a national expert on education and workforce development. He consults regularly with national organizations and foundations on policy, practice, research, and strategy. Recent partners include the Aspen College Excellence Program, the Aspen Economic Opportunities Program, the Boston Foundation, the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas-Austin, MDRC, and the American Federation of Teachers Innovation Fund. Kazis is also a nonresident senior fellow in the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program. He also chairs the Board of The Institute for College Access and Success.
Kazis was previously senior vice president of Jobs for the Future, where he led the organization’s policy initiatives, with a particular focus on federal and state policies related to community college improvement and success.
Kazis’ research expertise includes community college performance and outcomes, youth employment and training, low-wage worker advancement, and labor market intermediaries. Recent publications include “Reimagining Experiential Learning and Internships for Community College Students” in Teaching Students About the World of Work (Harvard Education Press); “Inequities in U.S. Higher Education Access and Success” in A Better Future: The Role of Higher Education for Displaced and Marginalised People (Cambridge University Press); and “Balancing Bold State Policy with Regional Flexibility: Pathways Tennessee” in Career Pathways in Action: Case Studies from the Field (Harvard Education Press).
Early in his career, Kazis taught at an alternative high school, helped organize fast-food workers, worked with labor-environmental jobs coalitions, and supervised a Neighborhood Youth Corps program. He is a graduate of Harvard College and MIT.