about us
Who We Are
EQOS is a nonprofit organization that establishes universal, independent measures of education and training program quality to help people navigate the increasingly crowded and confusing education and training marketplace. The EQOS quality assurance framework helps learners and workers, education institutions and postsecondary training providers, private investors, governments, and others identify high-quality opportunities that lead to equitable economic advancement.
The vision of EQOS is to support lifelong learning and career navigation by making trusted, objective information about education and training provider outcomes in the United States accessible and useful to all. EQOS’s quality assurance criteria and metrics focus on real-world results that consumers seek, including job placement and earnings. By increasing the public’s understanding of the value of various education and training options, EQOS improves individual decision-making about how to pursue career goals and opens new avenues to equitable economic advancement for all.
Current clients and partners include state departments of higher education and/or workforce development in Colorado, Indiana, and New Jersey, as well as private nonprofit and for-profit organizations, including SkillUp, CAEL, Climb Credit, and Credential Engine. Funders to date have included Walmart Foundation, Strada Education Network, and Walton Family Foundation. EQOS also works directly with education and training providers to improve program outcomes.
Company Profile
Initially conceived in the wake of the U.S. Department of Education’s launch of the Educational Quality Through Innovative Partnerships (EQUIP) program in 2015, which outlined frameworks to evaluate and disburse federal aid for innovative postsecondary institutions and non-traditional education providers, EQOS is an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, formally established in 2020.
Our organization benefits from the insightful leadership of Jobs for the Future (JFF), our Executive Director, Board of Directors, and institutional partners.
our team
Michael Horn, Board Chair
Elise Scanlon, Board Member
Ted Mitchell, Board Member
Michael Horn is a senior strategist at Guild Education and award-winning author of Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns. Michael brings substantive expertise around education innovation, regulation, and accreditation of K-12 and postsecondary institutions.
Ted Mitchell, Board Member
Elise Scanlon, Board Member
Ted Mitchell, Board Member
Ted Mitchell is the president of the American Council on Education and brings a wide array of experience and accomplishments from across the higher education sector, as well as a long-standing focus on helping students gain access to postsecondary education and complete their degrees.
Elise Scanlon, Board Member
Elise Scanlon, Board Member
Lisette Nieves, President, Fund for the City of New York and JFF Board Member
Elise Scanlon is the founder and principal of a Washington, D.C. based law and consulting practice focused on advising accrediting organizations and higher education institutions on federal higher education policy, state and federal regulation, and quality assurance and improvement.
Lisette Nieves, President, Fund for the City of New York and JFF Board Member
Stephen Yadzinski, Vice President, Strategy & Growth, JFF and Interim Executive Director of EQOS
Lisette Nieves, President, Fund for the City of New York and JFF Board Member
Lisette Nieves is the president of the Fund for the City of New York (FCNY), an institution charged with developing and helping to implement innovations in policy, programs, practices, and technologies to improve the functioning of government agencies and nonprofit organizations in New York City and beyond. Key FCNY programs include the C
Lisette Nieves is the president of the Fund for the City of New York (FCNY), an institution charged with developing and helping to implement innovations in policy, programs, practices, and technologies to improve the functioning of government agencies and nonprofit organizations in New York City and beyond. Key FCNY programs include the Cash Flow Loan Program, the Partnership Program, and the Sloan Public Service Awards. Before joining FCNY, Lisette was the director of educational leadership and policy studies and a full clinical professor at NYU Steinhardt, where she co-led the design and implementation of a doctoral program in educational leadership and innovation and taught organizational theory and behavior and educational policy analysis. Throughout her career of more than 25 years, Lisette has served in a variety of leadership positions in the public and private sectors. She founded Lingo Ventures, served as the Belle Zeller Distinguished Visiting Professor in Public Policy at the City University of New York at Brooklyn College, and was an Obama appointee on the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics.
Tameshia Bridges Mansfield, Vice President, Workforce Innovation at JFF
Stephen Yadzinski, Vice President, Strategy & Growth, JFF and Interim Executive Director of EQOS
Stephen Yadzinski, Vice President, Strategy & Growth, JFF and Interim Executive Director of EQOS
Tameshia Bridges Mansfield is vice president for workforce innovation at JFF. She oversees workforce development and future-of-work initiatives with an eye toward innovation and system transformation. Before joining JFF, Tameshia was a program officer at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, where she led the workforce development and job access p
Tameshia Bridges Mansfield is vice president for workforce innovation at JFF. She oversees workforce development and future-of-work initiatives with an eye toward innovation and system transformation. Before joining JFF, Tameshia was a program officer at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, where she led the workforce development and job access portfolio, addressing barriers that workers face in securing meaningful employment. Tameshia is a co-chair of the board of the Clean Slate Initiative and a member of the boards of the Detroit Justice Center and the Chicago Jobs Council. She previously served as co-chair of Workforce Matters, where she was instrumental in the creation of the Racial Equity Framework for Workforce Funders.
Stephen Yadzinski, Vice President, Strategy & Growth, JFF and Interim Executive Director of EQOS
Stephen Yadzinski, Vice President, Strategy & Growth, JFF and Interim Executive Director of EQOS
Stephen Yadzinski, Vice President, Strategy & Growth, JFF and Interim Executive Director of EQOS
Stephen Yadzinski is the vice president for strategy & growth at JFF and the interim executive director for EQOS. In this role, Steve works with JFF leaders and teams to identify new opportunities, establish new partnerships, and transform JFF programs and service lines to meet an evolving and dynamic education and workforce ecosystem, le
Stephen Yadzinski is the vice president for strategy & growth at JFF and the interim executive director for EQOS. In this role, Steve works with JFF leaders and teams to identify new opportunities, establish new partnerships, and transform JFF programs and service lines to meet an evolving and dynamic education and workforce ecosystem, leveraging the fields of technology, innovation, and investment to further our mission. Previously, Steve founded the Innovate+Educate Employment Tech Division in response to the critical need to improve workforce readiness for high-demand jobs in key U.S. industries. Under Steve’s leadership, the division grew to include organizational psychologists, data scientists, user interface developers, and others to create leading-edge mobile technologies, assessments, and labor-market insights connecting Americans living at or near poverty with education, training, and quality jobs.
Shauna Pratico, Senior Program Manager at JFF
Shauna Pratico, Senior Program Manager at JFF
Shauna Pratico, Senior Program Manager at JFF
Shauna Pratico, is a senior program manager at JFF focused on designing, strengthening, and scaling solutions and various work-streams. In her role, she works primarily on projects related to JFF’s recent acquisition of Education Quality Outcomes Standards (EQOS). Prior to joining JFF, Shauna held project and program management roles in a
Shauna Pratico, is a senior program manager at JFF focused on designing, strengthening, and scaling solutions and various work-streams. In her role, she works primarily on projects related to JFF’s recent acquisition of Education Quality Outcomes Standards (EQOS). Prior to joining JFF, Shauna held project and program management roles in a variety of organizations in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, including the United Nations, International Service for Human Rights, Fondation d’Harcourt, and Miro. Her responsibilities ranged from creating capacity-building programs and large-scale advocacy campaigns to testing and rolling out technical software. In one recent role, she led a team at the City University of New York Research Foundation in the design, implementation, and scaling of a statewide training program and technical help desk for more than 10,000 early childhood care providers.