Andreen Soley is director of the Public Interest Technology (PIT) program at New America. In 2018, Soley joined New America after twenty years of experience working within higher education and the nonprofit sector. From 2001 to 2005, she served as the director of educational programs at the City University of New York’s JFK, Jr. Institute for Worker Education Program (IWE), overseeing its workforce development and career advancement initiatives to make higher education accessible to low-income workers. This mutually beneficial model saw human service agencies such as United Cerebral Palsy of New York City and Young Adult Institute agree to provide employees completing IWE’s credited certificate programs with financial incentives such as a one-time bonus or salary increase, promotions, and/or release time. After relocating to Los Angeles, Soley accepted a position as a researcher with Worker Education Resource Center, an organization established by the Service Employees International Union Local 721 to provide career path programs for over 22,000 Los Angeles County Department of Health Services workers in public hospitals, health centers, and community clinics. Soley assisted in the development of the plan to identify and provide workforce development and career path programs to meet Los Angeles County’s labor needs. Prior to joining New America, she had been working with Mount Saint Mary’s University to develop a university-wide process, which tracks monitors, and reports on the employment outcomes of its graduate alumni.
She has a master’s in media ecology from New York University and wants to help technologists transform the world for the better.