JFF Announces New VP for Workforce Innovation

JFF is thrilled to announce the appointment of Tameshia Bridges Mansfield to the position of vice president for workforce innovation, effective April 5. In this role, she will focus on advancing the organization’s leadership, strategy, and initiatives in equitable workforce development, including worker economic advancement, employer mobilization, inclusive partnerships, and innovative systems-building.

“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. 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.”

Tameshia joins JFF from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, where, as program officer, she successfully transitioned the foundation’s workforce portfolio from a focus on direct-service programming to one that addresses systemic factors that prevent people of color and individuals from under-resourced communities from having full access to meaningful, high-quality employment opportunities. Under her leadership, the foundation has concentrated on areas such as occupational segregation, the expansion of community-centered economic development, and the interplay between the criminal justice system and the workforce.

Previously, Tameshia served as a program officer at the Polk Bros. Foundation, where she focused on advancing health equity, improving access to health services, and promoting youth development and youth leadership in Chicago. Before that, she spent 10 years in various roles of increasing scope and responsibility at the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute. As the organization’s Midwest director, she represented the region’s direct-care workforce with legislators, funders, leaders of workforce organizations, and other stakeholders.

Tameshia co-chairs the steering committee of Workforce Matters, a national network of funders working to strengthen workforce development philanthropy and advance equitable access to quality education and employment for young people and adults. In this role, she led the development of A Racial Equity Framework for Workforce Development Funders. She also serves on a variety of other boards, including the Chicago Jobs Council, the Clean Slate Initiative, and the Detroit Justice Center.

“Tameshia has a strong understanding of the workforce system, deep coalition-building experience, and a drive to create innovative change,” said JFF CEO Maria Flynn. “We are excited to be strengthening our team by adding a leader who is driven by a deep commitment to racial and gender justice and has devoted her career to economic security, issues facing frontline workers, and criminal justice reform.”

Tameshia said she is excited to join JFF at a time when our nation’s workforce development system “is called to respond boldly in shaping the economic recovery ahead of us.” She added: “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. 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.”