Yelena Nemoy is the Director of Youth Development for the Opportunity Youth Forum at the Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions.
In this role, Yelena focuses on OYF program activities and is a member of the design team for the OYF national learning agenda and technical assistance for OYF communities, the youth-led change and engagement team, and the impact team. During her time at the Aspen Forum, Yelena has led a variety of grant and technical assistance initiatives, supporting OYF communities in designing and scaling a range of pathways for opportunity youth, including pathways to entrepreneurship, postsecondary education, and family-sustaining careers.
Yelena has spent the entirety of her career to-date in the youth services and youth development fields, starting at Urban Peak Denver, where she provided crisis intervention support and transitional living case management services to youth experiencing homelessness. Yelena also worked in dropout prevention, overseeing an internship program at Goodwill Industries of Denver that connected high school students with quality summer work experiences. Yelena is the first person in her family to go to college. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Pace University and a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Colorado in Denver.