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Lazar Treschan
Director, Youth Policy
Policy, Advocacy and Strategic Planning Department
212.614.5396
ltreschan@cssny.org
Lazar Treschan leads CSS’s efforts to address the nearly 200,000 young people who are out of school and out of work in New York City. This includes local and state advocacy, as co-coordinator of the Campaign for Tomorrow’s Workforce, a coalition of organizations and individuals seeking greater investment in services to disconnected youth. He conducts original research to raise awareness about the issue and propose public policy solutions to the crisis of disconnected youth. He also assists efforts to develop federal legislation for broader-scale investments in reengaging young people.
WHY THIS WORK IS IMPORTANT TO ME:
“I have taught/tutored young people in GED programs for 12 years, and through them have learned of the need for a more robust second chance system. I believe it is inherently unfair that wealthy young people get all the chances they need, whereas poor youth do not get a real second chance, even when their first opportunities were not very strong to begin with.”
MENTORS/IMPORTANT FIGURES IN LIFE/PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT:
Richard McGahey
Lisette Nieves
Peter Kleinbard
PRIOR EMPLOYMENT:
Director of Planning and Evaluation, New York City Department of Youth and Community Development
Senior Analyst, Community and Workforce Development, Abt Associates, Inc.
PROFESSIONAL HONORS:
Certificate of Executive Education, Harvard University, Art and Practice of Leadership
Current Member, Public/Private Ventures, Workforce Leaders Academy
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS/COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT:
Adjunct Professor, New School University/Milano, Urban Policy Program
PUBLISHED WORKS:
“Out of Focus: A Snapshot of Public Funding to Reconnect Youth to Education and Employment”, Community Service Society, June 2008
“Building Volunteer Capacity: The Drivers of Successful Corporate and Service Partnerships at City Year.” In Gifts of Time and Money in America’s Communities, ed. by Arthur C. Brooks, Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, pp. 33-58, 2005 (with Peter Frumkin)
“Workforce Development for the 21st Century: The Role for Government in Sectoral Employment Training.” Kennedy School Review, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, 2001
SIGNIFICANT PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
Lead writer of various New York City RFPs, including the Summer Youth Employment Program
Assisted in the creation and early development of several small New York City high schools
BOOKS I WOULD RECOMMEND:
Urban Problems and Community Development by Ronald F. Ferguson (Editor), William T. Dickens (Editor)
Leadership on the Line by Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linksy
Random Family by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc
EDUCATION:
Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Masters in Public Policy
Wesleyan University, Bachelor of Arts, History
PLACE OF BIRTH: Madison, Wisconsin. But he grew up in Washington Heights.
Missed Opportunity: How New York City Can Do a Better Job of Reconnecting Youth on Public Assistance to Education and Jobs