Erin Flynn joins Outreach Team

The Institute is pleased to welcome Erin Flynn, Ph.D. as its new Director of Outreach. Erin brings extensive experience in strategic planning, public-private partnerships, employer engagement and outreach to her new role.

She will lead the Institute’s outstanding Outreach Team as they continue to expand efforts to translate research into practice to improve the lives of workers in Oregon and beyond. Erin received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and her B.A. in Politics from the University of California at Santa Cruz.

Erin’s career spans research and practice in industrial organization, workforce development and regional economic growth. Her early academic research focused on the implementation of high-performance work organizations and the impact of self-organized work teams on employee productivity in the manufacturing sector. Over the past two decades, she has established a reputation as an organizational strategist and innovator working at the intersection of higher education, workforce development and economic prosperity.

Erin has served in leadership roles in varied professional contexts including consulting, city government and higher education. She served for 8 years as the Associate Vice President for Strategic Partnerships at Portland State University where she led major institutional partnerships with Intel, Portland General Electric and OHSU. Additionally, she brings extensive experience managing and leading advisory groups and boards including serving as the Chair of Oregon Inc., the state’s innovation and entrepreneurship investment vehicle focused on university technology transfer, from 2015-to 2019.

Welcome to the Outreach Team, Erin!

Learn more about the Outreach efforts at the Institute: