Dina Klimkina

Dina Klimkina is a passionate public policy professional with ten years of experience working with policymakers at the local, state, federal and international levels. She has experience in program development, project management, and strategic planning. Her expertise includes public policy around employment and labor issues, including disability employment policy, inclusive hiring practices, transition outcomes, work-based learning, and intersectionality of racial/ethnic, rural, and other minority communities with disability.

She has engaged state legislators, governors’ offices and agency leadership from more than 45 states and the federal government to provide policy research, technical assistance, and educational resources around disability and employment policy issues. She has supported a number of projects funded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (DOL/ODEP), including the Center for Advancing Policy on Employment for Youth and the Kentucky Retaining Employment and Talent After Injury/Illness Network.

At Concepts Communications, Dina supports several other initiatives funded by DOL/ODEP including the  Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion (EARN) and the State Exchange on Employment & Disability (SEED). For these projects, she provides research and policy analysis, leads education and outreach efforts, supports partner and project management, and conducts legislative, executive, and intermediary engagement.

She has written numerous publications and given a variety of presentations on topics such as the Future of the Workforce, Stay-at-Work/ Return-to Work policies, Inclusive Apprenticeships, Civic Sector Workforce Trends, The Americans with Disabilities Act, and other similar topics. She also has experience working with numerous private, public and nonprofit entities, including Audi of America, the Alaska Work Matters Task Force, CVS Health, Deloitte, the Kentucky Employment First Council and the Texas Governor’s Committee on People with Disabilities.

Prior to joining Concepts Communications, Dina provided project management for the Urban Institute’s Center for Labor, Human Services, and Population. At Urban, she supported initiatives focused on how family, youth, and individual well-being is shaped by economic, social, and demographic trends, and how policies and programs can improve economic security, work, and child welfare and development.

She also served as the Education and Workforce Policy Program Director at The Council of State Governments (CSG). At CSG, Dina developed and delivered state needs assessments, landscape analysis, and policy evaluations for state policymakers around various education and workforce policies.

Dina received a master of arts in international studies from the University of Denver and a bachelor of arts in international studies, government, and history from Centre College.