Annelies Goger is the director of research for UpSkill America, an initiative of the Aspen Institute’s Economic Opportunities Program.
Prior to joining the Institute in February 2026, Dr. Goger was a Rubenstein Fellow at the Brookings Institution, where she collaborated with state leaders to scale apprenticeship programs, implement skills-based hiring and promotion practices, and transform labor and education data systems to better capture evolving market trends and analytics.
Before her time at Brookings, Dr. Goger served as a senior researcher for Social Policy Research Associates and IMPAQ International, evaluating a wide range of workforce, education, and human services programs. She was also a Fulbright Scholar in Europe and Sri Lanka, where her doctoral field research focused on management practices in global clothing supply chains.
Dr. Goger is dedicated to aligning education systems with economic development opportunities, particularly within the shifting landscapes of AI, automation, and geopolitical change. She is passionate about developing human-centered design in education and training ecosystems that provide individuals with diverse pathways to economic mobility, resilience, and wellbeing.
Dr. Goger holds a Ph.D. in economic geography from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a Master of City and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley, and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Brandeis University.
