Erin Flynn
Vice President
Ms. Flynn leads FutureWorks' research and consulting practice in sustainable regional development. She is a frequent keynote speaker and workshop leader at regional retreats and civic forums addressing public-private partnerships for sustainable growth and development. In the past year, she has led consulting projects focusing on public-private coordination for regional development in Boston, Portland, OR and Salt Lake City.
Ms. Flynn also spearheads national economic development initiatives at FutureWorks. She is currently managing the development of a Practitioners' Handbook for Regional Double Bottom Line Investing. The Handbook aims to mainstream the emerging field of private equity investment in urban core markets by documenting the theory and practice of this promising approach. From 2001 to 2005, Ms. Flynn directed MetroBusinessNet - a multi-year, national initiative supported by the Ford Foundation to develop and demonstrate the critical ways business leaders can work together through business-civic institutions to address social and economic challenges that impact business performance at a metropolitan scale.
Ms. Flynn also brings extensive experience in program evaluation to her current position. She recently completed a two-year assignment directing an in-depth evaluation of the Building Essential Skills through Training (BEST) Initiative for the Commonwealth Corporation of Massachusetts. BEST was a $3.5 million public-private training program designed to advance the skills and careers of entry-level employees in the health care, manufacturing and financial services sectors.
From 1995-1997, Ms. Flynn was a Research Fellow at the Center for International Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. During this period she researched and wrote her Ph.D. dissertation which examined the decline of the Massachusetts metalworking sector and strategies employed by firms to identify and survive in niche markets. Prior to joining FutureWorks in 2001, Ms. Flynn worked as a consultant providing research, analysis and strategy to a variety of public and private sector clients.
Ms. Flynn holds a B.A. in Politics from the University of California at Santa Cruz and a Ph.D. in Political Economy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is the author of numerous reports, studies and articles that have appeared in academic and popular journals including Commonwealth Magazine, Economic Commentary, Economic Development Quarterly, Regional Studies and Industrial and Corporate Change.
