New York, NY – The Markle Foundation is pleased to announce today that Dr. Christopher Howard has been elected to its Board of Directors. Dr. Howard is the President of Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh. He is a distinguished graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and saw active service as both a helicopter pilot and an intelligence officer for the Joint Special Operations Command. At Oxford, he received a Doctorate in Politics and he also earned an MBA with distinction at Harvard Business School. Prior to his current role at RMU, Dr. Howard served as President of Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia for six years.
“Chris Howard is one of the nation’s most innovative education leaders. He understands the challenges many Americans face in obtaining promising careers in good jobs, and the need for educational design to help them meet those challenges,” said Zoë Baird, CEO and President of Markle. “We are delighted to have Chris join our Board and look forward to working together to contribute to an equitable economic recovery for all Americans.”
Suzanne Nora Johnson, Chair, Markle Board of Directors, added, “I am delighted that Chris Howard will be joining the Board of Directors; I have known Chris to be a steadfast champion and advocate for educational and economic opportunities for people of all backgrounds, including those who have historically lacked access.”
“I’m pleased to be joining an organization which is addressing one of the most pressing issues that we face today in this country, economic opportunity for all Americans,” said Dr. Howard. “Markle’s leadership in addressing the urgent crisis of employment opportunity is one of the most fundamental issues of our time and I look forward to contributing to the strategies Markle is pursing.”
The Markle Foundation has formed the Rework America Alliance, a nationwide collaboration to enable unemployed and low wage workers to emerge from the current public health and economic crisis stronger. The Alliance aims to help millions of workers, regardless of formal education, move into good jobs in the digital economy by accelerating the development of a nationally scaled system of worker training aligned to jobs that employers will need to fill.
About The Markle Foundation
The Markle Foundation works to realize the potential of technology to achieve breakthroughs in addressing some of the nation’s most pressing issues. Markle challenges itself and diverse partners to deploy their varied expertise to identify solutions and achieve systemic change. Today as advanced technology and automation change the very nature of work, Markle’s priority is advancing solutions toward a labor market that will enable workers in America to move into good jobs in the digital economy. Markle’s workforce initiatives include Skillful and Rework America, and most recently, the Rework America Alliance. They follow Markle’s success in creating the policy and technology architecture that has enabled improvements in healthcare, national security, and access to the Internet. For more information, visit markle.org, follow @MarkleFdn and @ReworkAmerica on Twitter, and read our book, America’s Moment.
