KRIZIA R. LOPEZ
EMAIL: krizia@workforamerica.org
Linkedin: /krizia-lopez
Krizia Rosario Lopez is Vice President of Government Innovation at Work for America, where she leads capacity-building initiatives and research to help state and local governments strengthen hiring systems and workforce strategy. Previously, she served as Innovation Lead in the St. Louis Mayor’s Office through the Bloomberg Harvard City Hall Fellowship, where she led a multi-million dollar HR modernization effort that moved the city from typewriters to its first digital HRIS hiring system and helped cut hiring timelines by half. She also supported the city’s first compensation analysis in 25 years, built new workforce analytics on employee experience, staffing, applicants, career trajectories, and attrition, and helped shape a 10-year regional talent strategy tied to future labor demand.
Krizia held HR strategy, employment marketing, and skills training roles for nearly 6 years at Google, including managing Google’s flagship Sales Academy workshop across the U.S., Latin America, and Europe. She holds a BA from Columbia University and an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, where she developed strategy recommendations for the U.S. Department of Labor and taught negotiation through the Center for Public Leadership.
CASSIE GARITA
Email: cgarita@jff.org
Linkedin: /cassandra-garita
Cassandra (Cassie) Garita is a co-facilitator of the Talent Accelerator Spring 2026 program. As a Director at Jobs for the Future (JFF), Cassie partners with stakeholders across the private, public, and nonprofit sectors to design, implement, and scale talent management solutions that drive the economic advancement of workers and communities. She brings deep expertise in cohort design and facilitation, having engaged thousands of participants across multi-session programs, workshops, and alumni experiences throughout her career. Cassie holds an M.S. in Nonprofit Management, a B.A. in Political Science, and has completed post-baccalaureate studies in multi-subject education.