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“We want students to have a collaborative experience in which they ignite a transformation in education from across sectors.”

Dr. Noel S. Anderson currently holds the positions of Steinhardt Director of Leadership and Innovation and Clinical Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. He is responsible for leading and growing the Steinhardt EdD in Leadership and Innovation, Executive Education Leadership programs, and other innovation initiatives within NYU’s global network.

For over 25 years, Noel S. Anderson has served in a variety of leadership positions in the public and private sectors. He has led in large public school districts, higher education institutions, and national non-profit organizations. Prior to NYU, Noel was National Senior Program Director (Chief Program Officer) for Year Up, Inc, a national workforce and education organization that develops young people for internships and job placement in Fortune 500 companies, and was responsible for overseeing program development, innovation, and quality for a growing network of over 15 cities across the United States, serving over 3000 young adults yearly. He also served as interim Executive Director for Year Up, New York, Year Up’s largest market, directing corporate partnerships, fundraising, leading a staff of 40, and managing a budget of $8 million.

Before leading at Year Up, Noel was a tenured Associate Professor and interim Chairperson in the Department of Political Science at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York. His academic research focuses on career and post-secondary pathways for low-income youth and race and equity in education. Much of his research integrates the capabilities approach (a theory developed by Amartya Sen, Nobel Prize winner in welfare economics) to education and equity, one of only a handful of U.S. scholars applying this complex methodology to education.

Noel has taught and lectured around the world. He was Visiting Professor of Politics at Bogazici University in Istanbul, Turkey, and has shared his research widely in Europe and South Africa on “disconnected youth” (those not working or in school).

Noel has authored and edited numerous scholarly articles and books on urban education, youth development, and youth labor markets, emphasizing youth voice. His most recent co-authored book is Working to Learn: Disrupting the Divide between College and Career Pathways for Young People (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2020), which blends research, policy analysis, and assessments from professional practice to examine how young people navigate and integrate the worlds of work and school in Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States.

Noel has earned over a dozen awards and fellowships. Recently he was Presidio Institute Cross-Sector Leadership Fellow. He also received the prestigious Whitney M. Young, Jr. Education Leadership Award from the National Urban League for developing “Project Ready”, NUL’s signature college access program. He served on then presidential candidate Joseph Biden’s Education Policy Committee, lending his expertise to inform the campaign’s national platform on career readiness.

View Dr. Anderson’s full CV.

“We want students who are passionate about learning and want to apply a scholarly lens to their practice.”

Lisette Nieves is currently the President of the Fund for the City of New York (FCNY), an institution charged with developing and helping to implement innovations in policy, programs, practices and technology in order to advance the functioning of government and nonprofit organizations in New York City and beyond. Key FCNY programs include the Cash Flow Loan Program that has lent over a billion dollars in interest-free loans over the last twenty years and the Partnership Program which provides back-office support and capacity to 80 diverse nonprofit organizations. Also, FCNY hosts the Community Fellows Program and selects the annual Sloan Public Service Awards and Sloan Math and Science Teaching Awards.

Prior to the Fund Lisette was the Director of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies and a Full Clinical Professor at NYU Steinhardt where she co-led the design and implementation of a new doctoral program in Leadership and Innovation. Lisette is also a Distinguished Clinical Instructor with NYU, overseeing doctoral students and supporting research initiatives. Lisette holds a B.A. from Brooklyn College, a B.A./M.A. from the University of Oxford, an M.P.A. from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, and a doctorate with distinction in Higher Education Management at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a Truman Scholar, Rhodes Scholar, Aspen Pahara Fellow, and a Richard P. Nathan Public Policy Fellow.

For over 25 years, Lisette has served in a variety of cross-sector leadership positions. She is an experienced social entrepreneur, public sector leader, and scholar. Lisette founded Lingo Ventures, which is focused on growth, talent recruitment/retention, and change management. Lisette served as the Belle Zeller Distinguished Visiting Professor in Public Policy at the City University of New York at Brooklyn College. Lisette has also held senior leadership positions in the municipal and federal government. She also served as an Obama appointee on the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, where she co-chaired the higher education subcommittee and supported the production of two reports and convenings.

Lisette also served as the founding Executive Director of Year Up NY, an innovative workforce development program, wherein the span of five years she grew the organization from a $250,000 seed grant to a $6 million operation with over 20 corporate partnerships. Her interest in the workforce and education led to her dissertation on the relationship between student work and school roles, for which she received the 2016 Dissertation of the Year Award by the (NCSD – AACC). Her areas of interest include community colleges, college pathways, workforce and education partnerships which are all represented in her co-authored new book:

Working to Learn: Disrupting the Divide between College and Career Pathways for Young People

Her board affiliations include the Edwin Gould Foundation, The Education Trust, NewSchools Venture Fund, Jobs for the Future (JFF), Propel America, AmeriCorps Board (Presidential Appointee and Senate Confirmed) and Education for Seapower Advisory Board (Naval Secretary Appointee). NYC Mayor Adams appointed Lisette co-chair of the New York City Future of Worker(s) Taskforce.

View Dr. Nieves’ full CV.