As Senior Associate Director of the Urban Institute, Linda focuses on the establishment of policies and programs and maintains supervisory responsibility for Institute program staff.   She has more than 35 years of experience working on issues of educational and workforce access and community development for low-income youth and minorities.  

From 1975 to 1986 she worked on numerous employment and training efforts including programs for adolescent parents and disadvantaged youth and non-traditional jobs for women.  Between 1986 and 1996 her volunteer efforts provided support for Charlotte area programs for youth, including church-sponsored   and public school programs designed to increase the success of targeted groups  in the educational system and in transitioning to the workforce.  From 1996 to 2007, Linda worked on the development and administration of education programs, including a school-based pilot project which matches successful high-school students as mentors with elementary students that are experiencing difficulty in the educational system.  She has worked for the Research Triangle Institute ; MDC, Inc; Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation; Big Brothers Big Sisters; the Saint Francis Jobs Program; the Levine Museum of the New South and the NC departments of Employment of Training, Community Employment, and Natural and Economic Resources.