Rebecca Kusner

Rebecca Kusner

Job Quality Fellow, Class of 2018-19, and Sector Skills Academy, Class of 2006, Economic Opportunities Program

Chief Strategist, R4 Workforce, Cleveland, OH

Rebecca Kusner is the chief strategist at her newly launched venture, R4Workforce. She brings over 20 years of relationships and experience working on a variety of projects with business, philanthropy, education/training and community organizations and specializes in innovative projects at the intersection of program delivery and system change. She has extensive experience developing and launching regional workforce projects, and in prior roles she consulted in the workforce sector, implemented WorkAdvance (a multi-site, sector specific career pathway program), authored several workforce development reports, and ran workforce programs for WIRE-Net, a regional manufacturing association. Her experience with Sector Skills Academy built her focus on programs and systems. In 2013 Rebecca was recognized in Crain’s Cleveland Business “Who to Watch in Non-Profits” feature, and her projects have been recognized as well: WorkAdvance won the 2012 Ohio Economic Development Association’s Award for Excellence in Workforce Innovation and the 2014 TeamNEO Plus Award in Workforce. She currently manages the Ohio Workforce Coalition and is an active member of the National Skills Coalition, where she serves on the Welfare to Career and Higher Education Advisory Panels. This year she joined the Board of the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals and the Strategic Functions Committee of her local workforce board. She was recently accepted to the 2018 Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Employment and Training Learning Academy offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service.

Rebecca has a Master of Public Administration and Graduate Certificate in Urban Economic Development from Cleveland State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Government and Sociology from Ohio Wesleyan University.

Rebecca Kusner is a member of the Job Quality Fellowship Class of 2018-19. To learn more about the Job Quality Fellows, visit as.pn/jobquality.

Rebecca Kusner is also a member of the Sector Skills Academy Class of 2006. To learn more, visit sectorskillsacademy.org.

The Job Quality Fellowship and Sector Skills Academy are part of the Economic Opportunity Fellows Network, a network of leadership and fellowship programs run by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program. Within this Network, EOP connects national and local leaders from across sectors — nonprofit, government, business, philanthropy, academia, and more — to advance policies and practices with the potential to help low- and moderate-income Americans thrive in today’s economy. Learn more at as.pn/eofn.

Bio updated September 2018.