Mari Castaldi has been the Director of Policy and Advocacy at the Chicago Jobs Council since August of 2018. The Chicago Jobs Council is a member-based organization that moves people out of poverty through employment using on-the-ground expertise, advocacy, and capacity building. As Director of Policy, Mari helps push for policy that creates equitable career pathways, removes systemic barriers to employment, and improves the quality of low-wage jobs. The Jobs Council pursues policy change on the local, state, and federal levels.
Prior to working at the Jobs Council, Mari worked as a Policy Advocate at the Western Center on Law and Poverty in Sacramento, California and a Program Coordinator at the East Bay Community Law Center in Berkeley, California. In these roles, she founded and coordinated a statewide coalition of advocacy and community-based organizations focused on fighting the criminalization of poverty. She received her Masters in Public Affairs from Princeton University in June 2018.
Mari Castaldi is a member of the Chicagoland Workforce Leadership Academy, Class of 2019, one of several Workforce Leadership Academies in localities across North America.
The Workforce Leadership Academies are part of the Economic Opportunity Fellows Network, a network of leadership and fellowship programs run by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program. Within this Network, EOP connects national and local leaders from across sectors — nonprofit, government, business, philanthropy, academia, and more — to advance policies and practices with the potential to help low- and moderate-income Americans thrive in today’s economy. Learn more at as.pn/eofn.