Karla Yoder

Karla Yoder is the Senior Youth Workforce Specialist at World Learning, providing technical leadership to the Youth Workforce & Entrepreneurship program portfolio. She has over 20 years of experience designing, supporting, and researching workforce and economic development programs in both developing economies and the United States. Her areas of expertise include demand-driven training and education, youth employment, school-to-work transition, small and medium enterprise development, and access to finance. Ms. Yoder served as a FUSE Executive Fellow at the District of Columbia’s Workforce Investment Council, developing strategy and designing programs in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and has overseen workforce and economic development programs in Egypt, Ghana, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Malawi, Rwanda, the United States, Yemen, and Zambia. Her publications include “Women and microcredit: A critical introduction” in The Women, Gender & Development Reader, The 21st Century Community College: A Strategic Guide to Maximizing Labor Market Responsiveness, and Strengthening Education to Drive Economic Development: A Manual for Replicating The CEC Experience in Your Community. She holds a master’s degree in Sociology from the George Washington University and a bachelor’s degree in International Studies from the School for International Training.

Expertise: youth employment; workforce development; economic development; private sector engagement; positive youth development