Emily Dieppa Colo (she/her)

Residing in Detroit, Michigan, Emily Dieppa Colo has worked at the forefront of direct care workforce development for nearly 15 years. As the Vice President of Workforce Innovations, Emily leads a team of highly skilled experts who design and implement evidence-based interventions to improve job quality for direct care workers and address systemic inequity.

Working at the intersection of adult education and transformational leadership, Emily is an experienced practitioner supporting self-actualization through innovative training and employment models. Emily has successfully led several high-impact programs at PHI, including developing entry-level, specialty, and advanced training for diverse workers using a trauma-informed and culturally competent approach. She has worked closely with long-term care employers across settings to integrate the PHI Coach Approach® and other leading-edge recruitment and retention strategies to help address the workforce shortage. Additionally, Emily has designed and implemented advanced role models for direct care workers that accelerate career mobility while improving outcomes for older adults and people with disabilities.

Before joining PHI, Emily created and led a home care training program for incumbent workers in Detroit, collaborating with labor unions, long-term care employers, and city officials. She also served as the chief of staff for a healthcare workforce organization, where she gained extensive experience leading organizational development and culture change initiatives during times of transition.

Emily will receive her MEd in Adult Education from Louisiana State University in 2024. She is an Economic Opportunities Fellow through the Aspen Institute’s Detroit Workforce Systems Leadership Development Academy and has a BA in Political Science from the University of Arizona.