Areas of expertise: Workforce policy development and implementation. Future of work. Labor market. Industry engagement.
Andy Van Kleunen is the Chief Executive Officer of National Skills Coalition, which he founded in 2000 in collaboration with leaders from the workforce development and philanthropic communities. As a nationally recognized expert on workforce and education policy issues for more than two decades, Andy serves as a trusted, nonpartisan resource to state governors, members of Congress, White House officials, and state and federal agencies – helping policymakers develop and implement workforce policy solutions that expand economic opportunity for every worker, every business, and every industry.
Andy has testified before Congress, spoken at White House policy forums, and his policy expertise, insight, and commentary have also been cited and published in national media outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, NBC News, CNN, CNBC, The Atlantic, Axios, The Hill, US News & World Report, and many other outlets.
Andy has led the National Skills Coalition to become a nationally recognized voice on behalf of a variety of stakeholders—including business leaders, labor leaders, community colleges, community-based organizations, and leaders from the public workforce system—who have come together to advocate for an America that grows its economy by investing in people.
Prior to founding the Coalition, Andy was Director of Workforce Policy for the national Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute, where he worked with employers, unions and client advocates to improve job quality and training for low-wage workers within the nation’s long-term care sector. Andy also spent over 14 years in community organizing and development efforts within several of New York City’s low-income and working-class neighborhoods.
He is a member of the Postsecondary Value Commission, formed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in partnership with the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP).
Andy holds a master’s degree in urban sociology from the Graduate Faculty at the New School for Social Research, and a bachelor’s degree in political science and honors studies from Villanova University. He is based in Philadelphia and Washington, DC.
