Shad Ahmed joins Anthropic as Economic Mobility Lead after leaving Opportunity@Work

Shad Ahmed took to social media to announce he has joined Anthropic as Economic Mobility Lead, ten months after stepping down as Chief Operating Officer at Opportunity@Work.

Shad Ahmed announced on LinkedIn that he has joined Anthropic, the artificial intelligence company best known for its Claude AI models, to lead economic mobility efforts.

Ahmed will work on the Beneficial Deployments Team, focusing on advancing economic mobility through collaborations with social innovators and organizations.

In his post, Ahmed wrote: “Quick career update: I have joined Anthropic to lead Economic Mobility! We are at a generational moment with AI, and for me, Anthropic is a generational company. It's clear Anthropic takes its mission as a public benefit corporation seriously, and that's why I have joined the Beneficial Deployments Team to help social innovators and leading organizations advance economic mobility with Claude.”

Ahmed’s move to Anthropic comes ten months after he stepped down as COO of Opportunity@Work, a U.S.-based nonprofit focused on rewiring the labor market to expand opportunities for workers skilled through alternative routes (STARs).

In a LinkedIn post at the time, he said: “Sharing the news that I have decided to step aside as COO of Opportunity@Work this month. It has been an amazing 5+ years, and the time is right for the next generation of our organization’s leaders to take the baton.”

During his tenure, Opportunity@Work expanded its STARs-focused initiatives, including the Tear the Paper Ceiling campaign with the Ad Council, policy changes across 25 states to remove degree requirements, and data products such as the STARs Public Sector Hub.

Ahmed emphasized the need for collaboration in his new role. He added in his latest post: “We are early in the AI transition, and I truly believe we can shape our future with intentionality. It will take a lot of iterative learning and building together, so please reach out if you are building something at the intersection of AI & economic mobility.”

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