Strategy grounded in evidence. Built for impact.

Dr. Christopher Laney

Dr. Christopher Laney is the Managing Partner of Laney Impact Partners, an advisory firm helping states, public institutions, and mission-driven organizations translate labor market and economic evidence into policy strategies that strengthen economies, expand opportunity, and improve the systems connecting people to work.

A labor economist, researcher, and national workforce strategist, Dr. Laney has spent his career working at the intersection of workforce development, education, economic development, and public strategy. His work is grounded in a simple principle: better decisions begin with a clear understanding of what the labor market is actually telling us.

Through Laney Impact Partners, Dr. Laney leads engagements that move beyond research alone. Using the firm's FORGE Framework™ — Findings, Opportunities, Recommendations, Governance, and Execution — he works with leaders to understand complex economic and labor market conditions, identify opportunities for change, develop actionable recommendations, align institutions and resources, and create strategies designed for implementation.

Dr. Laney's work has influenced workforce and education strategies across the country. He has advised and collaborated with governors' offices, state agencies, workforce systems, education leaders, foundations, national organizations, and regional partnerships on issues ranging from credentials of value and education-to-workforce alignment to emerging industries, artificial intelligence, economic mobility, talent strategy, labor market data infrastructure, and the economic impact of workforce and career and technical education investments. His state and systems-level work has included significant engagements in Indiana, Michigan, Florida, Maryland, Mississippi, and other states across the country.

In addition to leading Laney Impact Partners, Dr. Laney serves as Vice President of Public Sector Impact and a Labor Economist at Lightcast, where his work focuses on public-sector strategy and the application of labor market intelligence to some of the nation's most consequential workforce and education challenges. His work with Lightcast is separate from Laney Impact Partners, while contributing to a broader career devoted to understanding how economic evidence can inform better decisions.

Before becoming a labor economist and national strategist, Dr. Laney worked directly within the public workforce system in Florida. That experience continues to shape his approach today. Rather than viewing workforce, education, and economic development as separate systems, he approaches them as interconnected pieces of a state's economic infrastructure — and believes research is most valuable when it leads to decisions, investment, and measurable change.

Dr. Laney's research has examined workforce policy, economic mobility, education-to-career pathways, and the changing labor market. His doctoral research studied the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and its relationship to the economic mobility of historically underserved young adults. He also served as lead researcher for Florida's State of Students report from 2015 through 2020.

Across his research, advisory work, and public leadership, Dr. Laney has built a reputation for making complex labor market evidence understandable and actionable for decision-makers. His work is ultimately focused not on producing research for research's sake, but on helping leaders answer a more important question: What should we do next?