David Kaz

David Kaz, a principal associate in Abt’s Social and Economic Policy Division, has nearly 20 years of experience providing technical assistance, training, research, and policy analysis. He has worked on a wide range of programs and policies that affect low-income populations. He has directed, designed, and conducted both large- and small-scale, multi-faceted technical assistance projects for federal and state agencies and other clients and stakeholders. Clients have included the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service, Washington State’s Department of Social and Health Services, King County, and the City of Seattle. He has worked on workforce legislation with members of Congress.

The projects he has worked on chiefly involve collaborating with clients on programs that span workforce development, post-secondary education, and human services. He also has helped build effective platforms for learning and the dissemination of practical tools, resources, and best practices. Kaz also has expertise in designing and conducting qualitative research and analysis and translating these into practical tools, trainings, and recommendations for practitioners.

Kaz leads Abt’s Workforce and Economic Mobility technical assistance portfolio. He focuses on such issues as workforce development, work and income supports, postsecondary education, and social and human services. He leads the development of technical assistance and implementation projects in this area. Kaz is working on a project to provide strategic planning consulting to MidPen, a California housing provider, related to economic mobility for its residents. He also developing a quarterly series of webinars for Workforce & Economic Mobility to showcase Abt’s research findings and experience and provide peer learning and practical solutions to improve service delivery.

Before Abt, Kaz served as director consulting professional services and policy at Seattle Jobs Initiative (SJI). Over the course of 17 years there, he led numerous projects related to program evaluation and design, labor markets, and workforce development and postsecondary education research. He also led data collection and analyses and development of tools and resources to increase workforce program and college access and attainment for low-income adults. In addition, Kaz led SJI’s team that provided training and technical assistance for federal, state, and local government agencies and private contractors to improve workforce development and human services systems and programs across the U.S.

Expertise:

• Technical assistance
• Qualitative research
• Workforce development
• Income support

Key Projects:

• USDA Food and Nutrition Service’s national technical assistance project on SNAP E&T, SNAP to Skills
• USDA Food and Nutrition Service’s national training partnership grant for SNAP E&T (multiple independent projects in with National Association for Workforce Boards, REDF, American Professional Human Services Association, LISC)
• USDA Food and Nutrition Service’s SNAP E&T learning academies
• AARP Foundations’ SNAP E&T research and national technical assistance for older workers

Publications:

• Kaz, David, Key, Clinton, Molina, Frieda, and Utterback, Annie. 2021. Road to Engagement: A Toolkit for SNAP E&T Programs. Washington, DC: United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service
• Kaz, David. 2017. SNAP E&T Operations Handbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Developing, Implementing, and Growing and SNAP E&T Program. Washington, DC: United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service
• Kaz, David. 2016. SNAP E&T: Opportunities for Alignment with WIOA. Seattle, WA: Seattle Jobs Initiative, supported by the Annie. E. Casey Foundation
• Kaz, David. 2015. Understanding Benefits Cliffs: Implications for Helping Washingtonians Advance to Self-Sufficiency Through Workforce Strategies. Seattle, WA: Seattle Jobs Initiative
• Kaz, David. 2015. Basic Food Employment and Training: How Washington State Brought to Scale Skills Training for Its Food Stamp Population. Chapter in book, Transforming U.S. Workforce Development Policies for the 21st Century. Van Horn, Carl, Edwards, Tammy, and Green, Todd, editors. Kalamazoo, MI: W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research