SpeakHire, a nonprofit dedicated to closing the access gap between underserved young people and career opportunity, today formally announced the appointment of Dr. Abby Lovett-Uddin as its new Executive Board Chair. Dr. Lovett-Uddin was voted into the role by SpeakHire's board and began serving July 1, as the organization enters the first year of a new five year strategic plan.

In this role, Dr. Lovett-Uddin will guide SpeakHire's Year 1 priorities of strengthening board governance and fundraising infrastructure, while deepening the organization's partnership with the New York City Department of Education across grades 6 through 14 and building stronger bridges into community college pipelines. This work, she says, is central to closing the access gap for underserved individuals in both urban and rural communities. Her first year lays the foundation for SpeakHire's five year plan to expand its model into new cities nationally.

She brings more than two decades of leadership in New York City public education to the role, including as founding principal of a career and technical education high school in the South Bronx and multiple leadership roles within the NYC Department of Education focused on instructional access and systems-level reform.