Erin Sparks
Next Gen Coach
Erin Sparks works nationally to provide economic and workforce development solutions for a variety of clients. Prior to launching her consultancy, Sparks was senior policy adviser for manufacturing to Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, where she helped to coordinate major initiatives including the Manufacturing USA network of institutes, Manufacturing Day and the Investing in Manufacturing and Communities Partnership.
Sparks was previously a senior policy analyst at the National Governors Association, where she worked closely with governors’ top economic advisers to produce highly rated meetings, top-downloaded reports, and actionable recommendations on innovation, entrepreneurship, and advanced manufacturing. She was the lead content expert on former Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman’s initiative on “Growing State Economies” during his NGA chairmanship, and she also co-authored “Making” Our Future, Top Trends in State Economic Development, Redesigning State Economic Development Agencies, Degrees for What Jobs?, and A Sharper Focus on Technical Workers, among other reports.
Before joining NGA, Sparks worked on policy analysis at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the National Academy of Sciences. Her M.S. in public policy is from Georgia Tech and her B.A. in international relations is from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband and three children.