Aisha Francis, Ph.D., was recently named the President and CEO of Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology after initially serving as Chief of Staff. She is pleased to advance the mission of this minority-serving, non-profit technical college based in Boston, MA. This role is an exciting return to higher education administration for Dr. Francis, who began her career as a college lecturer and adjunct professor after completing her terminal degree in English Literature from Vanderbilt University. The entirety of her professional career has centered on increasing access to higher education although she worked across various fields and populations over the past 20 years. Aisha is an educator at heart with broad-based experience in philanthropy, marketing, and communications. She believes in the collective ability of healthy organizations and well-supported individuals to transform underserved communities. Leadership roles in board relations and governance, strategic planning, and resource development have underscored her ability to develop trusted relationships and implement programs with significant impact.

Annelies Goger, Ph.D. is an economic geographer focused on developing innovative policy solutions to address rising inequality and increase access to economic opportunity. Dr. Goger’s recent work investigates how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the hospitality industry in the U.S., how to fix the unemployment insurance safety net, and how to increase access to quality jobs and investments in talent to foster ongoing learning and innovation. She is an expert in U.S. workforce development policy, global supply chains, and inclusive economic development. Dr. Goger’s work has been prominently featured in CNN, NPR, Washington Monthly, the Hill, and a number of local outlets and podcasts.

Dr. Goger’s work has challenged the dominant “skills gap” narrative, arguing that building stronger education and labor market institutions and making long-term investments in talent development are the key to unleashing regional innovation and addressing racial and gender inequities in the labor market. Her vision is to build an education and training ecosystem with multiple paths to a quality job that is designed around the needs of a diverse set of learners, workers, and employers. Dr. Goger has outlined state policy frameworks to scale earn-and-learn opportunities such as apprenticeship and other forms of employer-based training.

Dr. Goger’s current research focuses on digital transformation in labor and education data systems, the employer role in talent development, state credentialing policies that recognize diverse forms of learning, and closing the opportunity gap for displaced hospitality workers and returning citizens. She is a member of the Better Employment and Training Strategies task force, a coalition of more than 40 workforce experts and practitioners that focuses on modernizing America’s outdated and inequitable workforce policies.

Before coming to Brookings, Dr. Goger spent more than 10 years conducting field research to evaluate American workforce development and food security programs at Social Policy Research Associates and IMPAQ International. Her doctoral research focused on the links between global supply chains, ethical trade initiatives, production processes, and inclusive growth. Dr. Goger was a Fulbright scholar in Sri Lanka and Social Science Research Council Fellow. She has published in peer-reviewed journals and edited a book of case studies on values-based food procurement called Institutions as conscious food consumers: leveraging purchasing power for systems change with Dr. Sapna Thottathil (Elsevier, 2019).

Jennifer Jean Kropke served as the first Director of Workforce and Environmental Engagement for IBEW Local Union 11 and the National Electrical Contractors’ Association-Los Angeles’ Labor Management Cooperation Committee. She focused on creating clean energy, port electrification, and zero emission transportation opportunities for union members. She is a graduate of the UCLA School of Law.

Natalie Edwards has joined National Grid as its new Chief Diversity Officer. In this newly-created post, Natalie, based in New York, will partner with senior executives across the business and HR to build and deliver on National Grid’s internal and external Inclusion and Diversity strategy.

She was most recently Global Executive Director of Inclusion and Diversity at The Estee Lauder Companies, where since 2018 she has led all I&D strategy and operations for brands such as Aveda, MAC Cosmetics, Jo Malone London, Clinique, and Bobbi Brown, across 150 countries.

Natalie holds a degree in finance from Howard University and an MBA with a concentration in Business Analytics from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Her earlier career experience has involved being part of the Dean’s Diversity and Inclusion Taskforce at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania where Natalie orchestrated and executed the institution’s first ever diversity strategy. Prior to that she was a consultant, Human Capital at Deloitte where she advised government agencies under President Obama on I&D and planned Deloitte’s inaugural diversity conference.

Andy Doyle, Chief Human Resources Officer, said “I am delighted to announce that Natalie Edwards will join National Grid as Chief Diversity Officer. Natalie joins us after serving as Global Executive Director of Inclusion and Diversity at The Estée Lauder Companies Inc., where she led inclusion and diversity for 80,000 employees across more than 30 brands. I know she will make a real contribution to our own inclusion and diversity agenda going forward.” Outside of work, Natalie enjoys reading, cooking new dishes, and spending time at home with her husband, Austin, and her rescue greyhound puppy, Grace.

“There is no better time than the present to come together in society and learn from our differences.”

She said “I am so grateful to be joining the National Grid family, a company and community which I deeply respect. There is no better time than the present to come together in society and learn from our differences, and I am excited to partner with our fabulous leadership and continue what makes this company so great. I can’t wait to meet all of you, and thank you in advance for the warm welcome.”