Jane Oates is the Senior Policy Advisor and recent President of WorkingNation. She is a former U.S. Department of Labor official who has played a key role in WorkingNation’s mission to raise awareness about the challenges facing the American workforce. Previously, Oates served as Assistant Secretary for the Employment and Training Administration under Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis after being nominated for the position by President Barack Obama in 2009. Prior to her appointment, Oates was Executive Director of the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education and a senior advisor to Governor Jon S. Corzine. She also served for nearly a decade as senior policy advisor for Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts.

Oates began her career as a teacher in Boston and Philadelphia public schools and later as a field researcher at Temple University’s Center for Research in Human Development and Education. She received her B.A in Education from Boston College and her M.Ed. in Reading form Arcadia University.