“Lessons Learned: Financing Workforce Training for Results” Event Speakers

Speaker Bios 

Harry J. Holzer is the LaFarge SJ Professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University and a non-resident senior fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution. He previously served as chief economist for the U.S. Department of Labor and professor of economics at Michigan State University. Holzer joined the Georgetown Public Policy Institute (now the McCourt School of Public Policy) as Professor of Public Policy in the fall of 2000. He served as associate dean from 2004 through 2006 and was acting dean in the fall of 2006. He is also currently an institute fellow at the American Institutes for Research, a research affiliate of the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin, a research fellow at IZA, and a National Affiliate of the Center on Poverty and Inequality at Stanford University. He has also been a faculty director of the Georgetown Center on Poverty, Inequality and Public Policy. He received his BA (1978) and PhD (1983) from Harvard University. 

Rachel Lipson is a Research Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, a Resident Scholar at the Aspen Institute Economic Strategy Group, and a non-resident senior fellow at Brookings Metro. Her current research focuses on next-generation jobs created by frontier technologies, many of which do not require a four-year degree. From 2023 to 2025, Rachel served as a Senior Policy Advisor at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s CHIPS Program Office, where she helped launch the workforce strategy for the $50 billion federal investment to reshore semiconductor manufacturing. Prior to joining the federal government, she served as the founding director of the Project on Workforce at Harvard. 

Ethan Pollack is a senior director in the Policy & Advocacy practice at JFF, where he explores innovative approaches to education financing including income share agreements, outcomes-based loans, and other innovative approaches. His work tracks the evolution and performance of these models, establishes best practices and policy guardrails to ensure that they benefit learners, and cultivates an ecosystem that fosters experimentation and emphasizes consumer protection. Before joining JFF, he worked at the Aspen Institute, the Pew Charitable Trusts, the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, the Economic Policy Institute, and the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. He holds a master’s degree in public policy from George Washington University. 

David J. Socolow is Head of Policy at the Social Finance Institute, where he leads initiatives in collaboration with policymakers, researchers, and peer learning communities to build knowledge about outcomes-based policies and practices that expand social and economic mobility. Before joining the Institute in 2024, he spent over 30 years in government and the private sector championing education and workforce success. He most recently led New Jersey’s Higher Education Student Assistance Authority, where he created the state’s tuition-free college program and expanded career pathways and financing options for jobseekers. Socolow previously served as New Jersey’s Labor Commissioner, as the state’s Unemployment Insurance Director, and in senior roles on Capitol Hill and at the U.S. Department of Labor, Pinnacle Foods, Inc., and the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP). He holds a BA from Harvard College and an MPA from Rutgers University. 

Jason A. Tyszko is senior vice president at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, helping drive the organization’s industry-leading workforce and education portfolio. Through events, publications, and policy initiatives, his work seeks to cultivate and develop innovate thinking that spurs action to preserve America’s competitiveness and enhance the career readiness of youth and adult learners.