Todd Greene is an institute fellow and the executive director of WorkRise, a research-to-action network focused on jobs, workers, and mobility hosted by the Urban Institute.  WorkRise funds research on promising practices, policies, and programs as well as undertakes foundational research on labor market trends with the aim of strengthening employers, informing policymaking and practices, and providing genuine economic mobility and security for workers.

Prior to joining Urban in January 2021, Greene was executive director of the Atlanta University Center Consortium Inc. (AUCC), the world’s oldest and largest consortium of historically black colleges and universities. Under Greene’s leadership, AUCC engaged in thought leadership, collaboration, and
strategic innovation for each member institution (Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, Morehouse School of Medicine and Spelman College) and for all members collectively. He led a team focused on enhancing academic opportunities and other educational experiences for students, forging interdisciplinary research, and catalyzing a broad economic development agenda. He oversaw numerous programs and initiatives including the AUC Data Science Initiative, the Dual Degree Engineering Program, and the AUC Career Services Office. He also provided leadership for the University
Community Development Corporation, an organization focused on creating sustainable communities through economic and social development initiatives.

For more than 10 years, Greene served as a vice president in the research division of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. He led the economic and community development department, responsible for a range of research, policy, and outreach initiatives to promote inclusive economic growth, including
community and economic development finance, small business access to credit, affordable housing strategies, and human capital and workforce development. At a national level, Greene founded and led the Federal Reserve System’s Human Capital/Workforce Development Working Group and conceived of and oversaw the creation of the Federal Reserve Center for Workforce and Economic Opportunity.

Previously, Greene was a member of the general faculty at Georgia Institute of Technology, where he served as director of centers and programs related to applied economic development including the Community Policy and Research Services Group; the Center for Economic Development Studies; the
Center for Manufacturing Information Technology; and the Program in Science, Technology and Innovation Policy.

Greene is a noted thought leader and expert on the intersection of economic development, workforce development, and community development and is a frequent speaker at conferences in the U.S. and abroad. He has published numerous articles and is the co-editor of Transforming U.S. Workforce
Development Policies for the 21st Century (2015) and Investing in America’s Workforce: Improving Outcomes for Workers and Employers (2018).

Greene is vice chairman of the board of directors of the International Economic Development Council. Greene’s other board memberships include the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, the Corporation for a Skilled Workforce, and Invest Atlanta (the city of Atlanta’s economic development agency). He is also a member and past chairman of the Georgia Economic Developers Association. Greene is a certified economic developer (CEcD). He is an alumnus of the 2003 Leadership Buckhead, 2009 Leadership Georgia, and 2011 Leadership Atlanta programs. 

Greene earned his undergraduate degree from Harvard University and master’s degrees from Washington University and Georgia State University. He has completed executive education programs at Stanford University Graduate School of Business and Universidad ESAN (Lima, Peru).