Jason Farr
Program Associate
Center for Workforce Development
farrj@iel.org
202-822-8405 ext. 145
Jason Farr joined the Institute for Educational Leadership's Center for Workforce Development in December of 2010 as the Center's Program Associate, where he works on a variety of initiatives focused on youth in transition, including: the National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth (NCWD/Youth), the Ready to Achieve Mentoring Program (RAMP), and DC Advocacy Partners. For NCWD/Youth, a technical assistance center for the U.S. Department of Labor, Jason primarily works on publication editing, designing, printing, and shipping; meeting planning; and program communications. As the financial contact for RAMP, a multi-state career-focused mentoring program for youth, including those with disabilities, involved with or at risk of becoming involved with the Juvenile Justice System, Jason manages site budgets, conducts site visits, and processes reimbursements. Jason also coordinates DC Advocacy Partners, a program that trains people with disabilities or their family members to better advocate for themselves or their loved ones, ultimately improving city service coordination, inclusiveness, and the lives of people with disabilities. For this program, Jason helps recruit and screen participants, plan and coordinate training sessions, collect and develop materials for the sessions, and manage the program's finances.
Jason's experience includes interning at IEL's Coalition for Community Schools, in the fall of 2010. The Coalition for Community Schools advocates on behalf of "Community Schools," a community engagement and partnership model with schools as the center of the community. During his internship, Jason conducted research to evaluate the progress of a number of community schools around the country and created one page reports describing the findings. Along with this, he edited publications and content for their website and managed their contact database. Jason has also worked in the restaurant industry as a cook and manager and has experience as a maintenance worker for Michigan State University.
Jason received his B.A. in International Studies from Michigan State University, along with specializations in both International Development and African studies, in 2010. For his last semester he took part in the University's Washington, DC study program where he interned with the Coalition for Community Schools and took courses on professional development/communications and federal public policy.