Erica Simon is Deputy Director of the Partnership to Advance Youth Apprenticeship (PAYA) within New America’s Center on Education & Labor. Her work builds on successful cohorts of national partners that elevate youth apprenticeship as a model for students to explore and enter in-demand industries with economically viable and available jobs. Simon has over a decade of experience in higher education strategy and workforce development spaces, where she has worked to foster career-connected learning and partnerships with communities and employers across Texas and the Southwest. Through her work as Deputy Director at Educate Texas, the education arm of the Communities Foundation of Texas, Simon launched and led a statewide cohort of community college and workforce leaders in building capacity for and equitable access to work-based learning models to advance learners toward family-sustaining wage careers. The uptake of youth apprenticeships and registered apprenticeships in Texas continues to gain momentum across high-growth sectors and is a national exemplar of ways students can earn and learn while reaching their career goals. Simon is a subject matter expert on youth apprenticeship and speaks regularly on panels. Simon sits on the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Steering Committee for Advance Together, an initiative that supports the work of community partnerships to address education and employment challenges that connect Texans and residents of the 11th District with quality jobs.
A native of North Texas, Simon now resides in Washington, DC. She holds a Master’s Degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of Texas at Arlington, as well as a Bachelor’s Degree in Art History and Spanish from the University of California, Berkeley.