Casey Foundation Names Allison Gerber Vice President for the Center for Economic Opportunity

The Annie E. Casey Foun­da­tion has appoint­ed Alli­son Ger­ber as vice pres­i­dent of the Cen­ter for Eco­nom­ic Oppor­tu­ni­ty, a role in which she will lead efforts to cre­ate path­ways to finan­cial sta­bil­i­ty and eco­nom­ic suc­cess for chil­dren, youth and fam­i­lies across the Unit­ed States. Ger­ber, who has spent more than 20 years dri­ving eco­nom­ic and work­force devel­op­ment ini­tia­tives, brings a proven ded­i­ca­tion to advanc­ing access to oppor­tu­ni­ty for all young peo­ple. Her appoint­ment will take effect Jan. 6, 2025.

Ger­ber has been a leader at the Foun­da­tion since 2013, shap­ing its strate­gies on work­force train­ing, appren­tice­ships and part­ner­ships with pub­lic and pri­vate sec­tor stake­hold­ers. As a senior asso­ciate, she focused on pro­vid­ing in-demand employ­ment skills and cre­den­tials for low-income young peo­ple through the Gen­er­a­tion Work ini­tia­tive that now oper­ates in eight cities. Named direc­tor of Employ­ment, Edu­ca­tion and Train­ing in 2021, Ger­ber has played a piv­otal role in expand­ing pro­grams that make edu­ca­tion and work­force devel­op­ment more acces­si­ble for young peo­ple, espe­cial­ly those who have faced bar­ri­ers to success.

“Allison’s exper­tise in eco­nom­ic mobil­i­ty and her com­mit­ment to inclu­sive work­force devel­op­ment make her an excep­tion­al leader for the Cen­ter for Eco­nom­ic Oppor­tu­ni­ty,” said Lisa Hamil­ton, pres­i­dent and CEO of the Casey Foun­da­tion. ​“Her vision for inte­grat­ing edu­ca­tion, sup­port and com­mu­ni­ty col­lab­o­ra­tion will dri­ve our efforts to help all fam­i­lies reach last­ing finan­cial secu­ri­ty and to help young peo­ple devel­op the skills and careers they need to thrive as adults.”

Ger­ber steps into the role pre­vi­ous­ly held by Patrice Cromwell, who passed away in August 2024 after two decades at the Foun­da­tion advanc­ing eco­nom­ic oppor­tu­ni­ty for youth and families.

“I am deeply hon­ored to uphold the lega­cy of this vital work, build­ing on past suc­cess­es while con­tin­u­ing to evolve our approach­es to meet the chang­ing demands of today’s jobs and employ­ers,” Ger­ber said. ​“Togeth­er, we must ensure that young peo­ple in the U.S. are equipped to thrive in this shift­ing land­scape, so they — and our econ­o­my as a whole — can reach their full potential.”

Pri­or to join­ing the Foun­da­tion, Ger­ber was exec­u­tive direc­tor of the Dis­trict of Columbia’s Work­force Invest­ment Coun­cil and a senior asso­ciate with the Aspen Institute’s Work­force Strate­gies Ini­tia­tive. Ger­ber earned a bachelor’s degree in Amer­i­can stud­ies and pub­lic admin­is­tra­tion from Sweet Bri­ar Col­lege and a law degree from Tulane Uni­ver­si­ty.