Amanda Ahlstrand

Amanda Ahlstrand is a managing director in the Workforce Policy and Programs practice area of AIR. In this role, she provides strategic leadership, business development, and resource management to a team that delivers technical assistance, mixed methods research, and evaluation services to clients ranging from Federal and state agencies to local and community non-profit organizations. She also serves as a Project Director and staff to multiple projects, with a focus on helping clients address complex workforce program and policy challenges through strategic partnerships and practical planning.

Prior to joining AIR, Ahlstrand served for nearly 20 years at the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration. From 2013–2019 she was a member of the Senior Executive Service, responsible for federal program operations for over $4 billion annually in workforce development grant programs.  In this role, she oversaw 15 funding streams and associated grants operated by all states and an average of 500 non-state grantees per year.  Ahlstrand regularly led efforts to collaborate with the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services on the implementation of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act programs and activities, helping build partnerships at the federal level that reflected practice at the state and local levels of the workforce development system.