Damian Ewens

Project Director, Opportunity@Work

Boston

Damian is a career educator and former tech entrepreneur with a passion for helping people earn a living by being themselves. He is a Project Director for Opportunity@Work, a non-profit social enterprise with a mission to expand access to career opportunities so that all Americans can work, learn, and earn to their full potential in a dynamic economy. In this capacity, Damian leads Opportunity@Work’s national learning lab, TechHire Rhode Island, a statewide initiative that connects employers seeking IT talent with Rhode Islanders who possess unique backgrounds and can get the job done. Previously, Damian was the CEO of Achievery, a digital credentialing platform with users in over 80 countries. Damian and his co-founder and CTO worked closely with the Mozilla and MacArthur Foundations on the development of the first open standards for digital credentials and Open Badges and developed the first visual displayer, drupal module, and Directory (an open source search and indexing system) for these credentials. He taught in grades 6-12th in some of the most innovative public schools in the country and was the founding Director of the Hub, the high school initiative of the Providence After School Alliance, where he led the development of the first system in the country where high schoolers earned graduation credit and digital credentials for learning outside of school. He holds a Master of Arts in Education (Mathematics) from Stanford University and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Santa Clara University. Damian lives in Rhode Island with his wife, Stephanie Alvarez Ewens, and their two daughters.