Erin leads Outreach Operations at the Institute including external relations, communications and dissemination, practitioner education, and employer partnerships. She brings over two decades of experience building public-private partnerships to her new role. Erin’s career spans research and practice in industrial organization, innovation and entrepreneurship, workforce development, and regional economic growth.  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. She has served in leadership roles in varied professional contexts including consulting, city government, and higher education. Prior to joining the Institute, Erin 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. Erin was a founding board member of Greater Portland Inc., the metro region’s economic development corporation, and served as the Chair of its higher education subcommittee (2011-2020); she also served as Chair of Oregon Inc., the state's innovation and entrepreneurship investment vehicle focused on university technology transfer, from 2015-2019.