Vickie Choitz

Vickie Choitz is the Director of Trauma and Resilience at Work. The CSW Trauma and Resilience at Work team advances workplaces and workforces that are culturally responsive, trauma-informed, healing-centered, resilience-building, and supportive of mental well-being. CSW works with partners and stakeholders to reduce the stigma of trauma and mental health in workforce development and the workplace; educate employees at all levels within organizations on trauma, resilience, and mental health; advance trauma-informed, resilience-building, and mental health supportive organizations and companies; and promote policies and systems that codify and sustain this work.

Prior to joining CSW, Vickie was a national consultant, working with CSW, Jobs for the Future, American Council on Education, and others to improve economic opportunity for people from low-income backgrounds. Over the last 20 years, her content focus has been on workforce development, adult education, postsecondary education, and improving the quality of jobs. Vickie has worked at national nonprofit organizations in Washington, DC, Boston, and Chicago, including the Aspen Institute, the Center for Law and Social Policy, Jobs for the Future, the Council for Adult and Experiential Education, and FutureWorks. Vickie has a masters degree in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School and bachelor’s degrees in Political Science and Secondary Education from Kansas State University.

CSW Projects:

• Detroit at Work Trauma and Resilience Training and Organizational Coaching
• Strengthening the Substance Use Workforce by Addressing Secondary Trauma through Healing Centered Restorative Engagement (New Hampshire)
• Trauma and Resilience Trainings in Massachusetts, Dallas, the National Governors Association
• A2B4Equity: Advancing Adults’ Ability to Benefit Through Equitable College Promise Programs
• Optimization of the Utilization of Financial Aid in the Pennsylvania Workforce System
• Detroit Adult Foundational Skill Development and Detroit Economic Mobility Grants

Publications:

• Detroit Adult Foundational Skill Development: Challenges and Solutions
• What the Detroit Economic Mobility Grants Can Teach Us
• A TRAUMA-INFORMED APPROACH TO WORKFORCE (PROVIDED BY THE NATIONAL FUND FOR WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS)
• Trauma and Resilience at Work Quick Guides
• “Happiest Time of the Year: CSW’s Vickie Choitz Writes About Trauma and Resilience in Workforce Development” (blog)

Board Membership:

• Jobs Creation and Retention Trust Board, Somerville, MA