Erica Price Burns

Senior Vice President, Co-Director of Research

With a background in Democratic politics and over a decade of experience with Whiteboard Advisors, Erica’s unique research practice is focused on helping companies, investors, and philanthropies to understand and map an emerging, new learning ecosystem that spans PK-12 education to the rapidly evolving world of work.

Her research is used to inform investment and M&A strategy, product development, and grantmaking for learning brands. A frequent speaker and commentator on the potential for emerging technologies to foster economic mobility, Erica is the author of Skills-Based Hiring: A Primer; Investing in Talent: Perspectives on Employer-Provided Educational Assistance, and Big Gifts for Little Learners: Making the Case for Philanthropic Investment From Pregnancy Through Preschool, among many others. Erica’s recent writing and proprietary research projects have focused on the market impact of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), the role of philanthropy in supporting early care and learning, and emerging models for deploying mission-oriented capital. Her writing and perspectives have appeared in outlets including WIRED, Talent Economy, Stanford Social Innovation Review and Forbes.

Erica also curates “What We’re Reading: New Skills, Talent, and Employment,” Whiteboard’ Advisors’ weekly newsletter on workforce trends. Erica joined Whiteboard Advisors in 2011 after a successful career in Democratic politics, which included U.S. Senator Michael Bennet’s successful campaign for the US Senate, as well as roles with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Erica graduated magna cum laude from Washington University in St. Louis with a degree in Political Science and Economics.