Renée Timberlake has served as the Director of Economic Mobility at United Way of Greater Cleveland since the fall of 2021. In her current role, Renée directs United Way’s strategies and investments in education and workforce development, including creating and spearheading their Social Determinants of Work Initiative which identifies and addresses barriers to economic mobility.
Prior to her time at United Way, she spent 20 years working primarily with low-income and first-generation primary, secondary, and college students on college access and academic success.
Renée received her B.A. in Environmental Studies from Oberlin College in 2001 and her M.A. in Cultural and Educational Policy Studies from Loyola University Chicago in 2010. She is interested in researching the intersections of education, work, poverty, public assistance, and public policy and identifying systems-level solutions to entrenched poverty through a comparative international lens.