Robert Sainz is the incoming President and Executive Director of New Ways to Work, a nonprofit focusing on advocacy and technical assistance for the improvement of workforce and education programs and systems serving young adults, especially those from foster, probation and homeless systems.

Robert just recently concluded a 30 year public sector career in the City and County of Los Angeles. In his last position as Assistant General Manager for the City of Los Angeles Economic Development Department, Robert managed over $70 million annually in public agency grant funds. Throughout his career, he has addressed many difficult social problems facing the region’s low-income residents, including the challenges of juvenile delinquency, youth and adult unemployment, and youth disconnection from education and work. Under his leadership, he established the City of Los Angeles YouthSource System, Los Angeles Performance Partnership Pilot (LAP3), and a founding member of LA:RISE – an innovative model serving homeless and re-entry populations. He also established HIRE LA, one of the nation’s largest public-private youth employment initiatives.

Robert was previously the Executive Director of the Los Angeles Youth Opportunity Movement and worked as the Assistant and Interim Executive Director of the City of Los Angeles Commission for Children, Youth and Their Families. He began his career in the Los Angeles County Management Trainee Program in 1990, and later as a Probation Director overseeing the department’s Office of Community Relations and Office of Prevention Services.

As a national voice on workforce, Robert served as past President and Trustee in the US Conference of Mayor’s Workforce Development Council, and as an advisory member for the Nationa Dropout Prevention Council. He is also a board member of School & Main; Alliance for a Better Community; and cofounder of the Reconnecting LA’s Youth (RELAY) Institute at California State University, Northridge.

Robert is married; father of three children, and grandfather of two.