Bridgette Gray is a strategist, operator, and organization builder. She exemplifies leading-edge best practices in inclusive talent development and onramps to opportunity, and currently leads the Customer Success & Delivery team as Opportunity@Work scales the hiring of workers who are Skilled Through Alternative Routes (STARs) nationwide.
Gray joins Opportunity@Work after seven-and-a-half years at Per Scholas, where she was their first Chief Impact Officer, responsible for managing all training operations, and organizational impact for Per Scholas’ 17 campuses. Bridgette joined Per Scholas in 2014 as the startup Managing Director for the National Capital Region where she was instrumental in leading Per Scholas’ cybersecurity training efforts, including a regional cybersecurity task force, which led to sizable investments from Symantec and Capital One. In 2015, Bridgette joined the Executive Leadership team as the Executive Vice President of national program operations, managing all training locations.
In 2019, Bridgette became the Chief Impact Officer responsible for managing org-wide training operations & delivery, impact, and strategic programmatic growth. Under Bridgette’s leadership, Per Scholas expanded its gold-standard evidenced-based model from five to 17 campuses, from 800 to 3,000 learners trained with a strategic plan to expand to 25 campuses and 10,000 learners trained by 2025; and built a national team to support the growing campuses. Additionally, and in response to COVID-19, under Bridgette’s leadership, Per Scholas expanded its traditional training model to not only in-person but also remote offerings.
Prior to Per Scholas, Bridgette held several senior and executive leadership roles at Year Up, the Points of Light Foundation, and the Corporation for National and Community Service. Bridgette has spent the last 20+ years helping diverse talent access and benefit from training and employment opportunities, and helping businesses to acquire this talent, and influencing DEI as central to their bottom line.
Bridgette can often be found adding her thought partnership and leadership to collective impact work with the Markle Foundation’s Rework America Alliance, JFF’s Thrive @Work Innovation Council, Racial Equity Learning Community @PolicyLink, America Forward WFD & Economic Justice Task Force, as a LEAP Ambassador, and as a Founding Member of Chief DC. Bridgette served on the Montgomery County Maryland Workforce Board from (2014-2019).
When Bridgette’s not innovating, you can find her on her yoga mat.
