Sandy Goodman, Director
Sandy provides technical assistance, training, and project leadership on adult postsecondary success and career pathways initiatives. She works within and across the adult education, workforce development, and community college systems to equip each to better support low-income adults realize their education and career goals.
Sandy is co-author of No Matter What Obstacle is Thrown My Way, a report from NCTN’s Single Mothers’ Career Readiness and Success Project. The paper documents community college programs that support single mother students. Building on the report findings, Sandy is leading College Success for Single Mothers, assisting community colleges develop and expand key practices and services to enhance their success in college and careers.
Sandy’s expertise includes designing and managing statewide professional development projects. She has assisted many states in developing and scaling the role of college and career navigators. She worked with the Virginia Community College System[SG1] to design a Career Coach Certification Program to standardize and scale approaches to coaching in secondary and postsecondary college access programs.
Her recent projects projects include:
- Directing the development of the Personal and Workplace Success Skills Digital Library to help educators teach personal and workplace success skills, are commonly referred to as employability, workforce preparation, 21st century, lifelong learning, and human skills.
- Directing the Single Mothers’ Career Readiness and Success Project
- Co-directing the SABES Program Support PD Center in MAssachusetts
- Directing the SABES Education and Career Planning PD Center in Massachusetts
- Serving as the NCTN lead partner for Building the Foundation: Strengthening Public-Private Systems for Upskilling Workers, led by the National Skills Coalition
Sandy is the lead author of the College Transition Toolkit, and she edited the Integrating Career Awareness curriculum guide and the College and Career Navigator Trainer Manual. She develops and facilitates online professional development courses and has developed training for trainers on promoting college and career readiness.
Prior to joining the College Transition team, Sandy directed a career ladders project called Partnership for Automotive Career Education (PACE) where she facilitated collaboration among community-based organizations, postsecondary and secondary education institutions, and private-sector employers. She also directed a large community-based ABE/ESOL program in Boston and was active in a number of city and statewide adult education planning and advocacy efforts.
Sandy also brings deep expertise in community education and human services. She worked as a counselor/advocate and has trained and supervised volunteer counselor/advocates staffing a domestic violence shelter and 24-hour hotline. She also served on statewide domestic violence team at the Massachusetts Department of Social Services, where she provided case consultation and developed risk assessment protocol and implementation training to child welfare, law enforcement, and community agencies.
Sandy has a B.A. in Women’s Studies/Social Thought and Political Economy from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and an M.P.A. from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Read Sandy’s article: Building Clean Energy Workforce Capacity in Massachusetts
Email: sandy_goodman@worlded.org