Adrian Esquivel is the deputy director for the Chicagoland Workforce Funder Alliance.
In this role, working with a wide variety of stakeholders, Adrian oversees industry-sector partnerships, organizes for workers’ rights, and promotes educational and public policy alignment to increase equity in the region.
Before joining the Funder Alliance, Adrian worked on community and economic development issues at Enlace Chicago. He also advised World Business Chicago, the City of Chicago’s economic development agency, on its workforce development strategy in an effort to align the work of economic and workforce development. Adrian has served as a board member of the Woodstock Institute, a member of the City of Chicago’s Community Development Advisory Council, the State of Illinois’ Equity Task Force, and presents nationally at conferences on issues of workforce development equity.
Adrian holds a bachelor’s degree in Social Science from the University of Michigan, a master’s degree in Urban Planning & Policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and was a Civic Leadership Academy Fellow at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago. He is currently a Job Quality Fellow with the Aspen Institute’s Economic Opportunities Program.