by Joe Onek

Today, I am proud to announce the appointment of Olivia Golden as CLASP's new executive director.  She will succeed current ED Alan Houseman, who will step down at the end of the year after more than three decades of distinguished leadership.  Olivia will join us in August.

Olivia is absolutely the right person to lead CLASP at this important moment -- both for us as an organization and for a country carving out priorities for the future.  From our roots as a pioneering public interest law firm in 1969, CLASP has become the leading voice on national policy for low-income people.  With her background, Olivia is a natural fit to build on Alan's and our staff's tremendous work and advance new policy solutions that help families and individuals rise out of poverty.

Over her 35-year career, including roles at nonprofits and in the public sector, Olivia has consistently delivered results for low-income children and families.  During her eight years in senior executive roles at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) -- including as Assistant Secretary -- during the Clinton Administration, Olivia was a key player in designing and implementing Early Head Start and tripling the level of funding for child care.

Under her leadership, the D.C. Children and Family Services Agency emerged from federal court receivership and markedly improved the lives of children in the District.  Olivia is currently an institute fellow at the Urban Institute, where she leads research and policy initiatives on families' economic security and children's well-being.  She's also led initiatives on the impact of federal health and social welfare programs in states and on the implications of health reform for low-income children.

Olivia's strong track record and nuanced understanding of the issues that matter to poor Americans will allow her to hit the ground running when she joins CLASP this summer.

This is an exciting time for our organization.  In the coming months, we look forward to honoring Alan's outstanding achievements over his many years at CLASP, while integrating Olivia's talents to advance the causes we all care so deeply about.

To find out more, read today's press release.

Best regards,

Joe Onek
Chair of the CLASP Board of Directors