Amanda Olmstead’s work lies at the intersection of education, workforce development, and student success, with a focus on building pathways that lead to economic mobility. As executive director of pathways and upward mobility at Achieving the Dream, she provides strategic leadership for ATD’s national work in workforce alignment, dual enrollment, advising, and holistic student supports. She works with colleges and partners across the country to strengthen connections between K–12 education, postsecondary education, and the workforce, helping translate promising approaches into strategies that can be adopted and scaled across institutions to help students access credentials, careers, and opportunities for economic mobility. Previously, Amanda served as ATD’s director of workforce alignment, leading national initiatives focused on noncredit-to-credit pathways, work-based learning, credentials of value, employer partnerships, and labor market alignment.
Before joining ATD, Amanda served as director of programs and operations for NASPA’s Advising Success Network, where she led a national network of partners developing resources and services to strengthen holistic advising and student supports at colleges and universities. Amanda also spent nearly a decade working in Maryland in roles spanning workforce development, adult education, and K–12 career and technical education, including managing English for Speakers of Other Languages, career readiness, and workforce programs at Baltimore City Community College.
