For more than 20 years as a research leader at MDRC, Tessler has helped to advance understanding of the effectiveness of programs designed to expand economic opportunity, focusing primarily on employment, workforce training, and career and technical education (CTE). Tessler has designed and led qualitative and implementation research and analysis, both within the context of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and as stand-alone studies; provided technical assistance to help ensure that programs are strong and operating based on evidence of effective practices; and authored numerous MDRC reports that have been influential in establishing the evidence base on effective workforce training, sector-based and career advancement strategies. She is currently co-leading a mixed-methods study of a statewide noncredit community college CTE program called FastForward, one of the first studies to explore how factors in noncredit CTE programs influence student academic and labor market outcomes. Tessler is also co-leading the implementation study of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Building Pathways to Infrastructure Grants as part of its Sectoral Strategies and Employer Engagement Portfolio. She led the implementation study for the RCT portion of the U.S. Department of Labor’s TechHire/Strengthening Working Families Initiative evaluation, which tested innovative strategies to improve employment and earnings for young adults in high-tech industries. Previously, Tessler led the implementation research for WorkAdvance, a sector-based employment, training and advancement program; the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD’s) national evaluation of the Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) program; HUD’s Jobs Plus evaluation; and Opportunity NYC–Work Rewards, which added cash incentives for employment and training activities to the case management services provided by New York City’s FSS program. Tessler came to MDRC in 2001, after beginning her career in community-based organizations focused on community organizing, advocacy, and fundraising, and later serving as a special assistant to a Philadelphia City Council member. Tessler holds a Master of Public Policy degree from the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy at the State University of New York at Albany and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
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