Lynda M. Dorman, MIM, MBA, CVF®
Founder & Executive Director
More than 30 years of executive leadership across business, corporate, government, and nonprofit organizations.
About LIFT HIGHER
Built for the people too often left out, and the systems that should know better.
We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that focuses on advancing economic mobility, workforce participation, family stability, and community prosperity through coordinated training, employer partnerships, and support services.
Our Mission
Move people from barriers to careers, and keep them on the climb.
Most workforce programs end at job placement. We start there. The work that matters happens in the months and years after, retention, advancement, wage growth, leadership readiness, and the slow, real building of family and community wealth.
Our Philosophy
Four pillars that shape every decision.
Dignity-first design
Every touchpoint, from intake forms to graduation, is designed to honor the people we serve.
Outcomes over outputs
We track retention, wage growth, and advancement, not just enrollments and placements.
Coordinated ecosystems
Employers, funders, government, education, and community institutions working as one system.
Generational mobility
We measure success by what families gain over decades, not what individuals gain in a single year.
Support in Practice
The work between the milestones.
Behind every certification, every training completed, and every program milestone achieved is a supportive team at Lift Higher to help identify and help mitigate the constraints and gaps that keep barriers to economic mobility out of reach. Through strategic partnerships, we link our participants with resources that address the childcare gap, the transit gap, the housing gap, the mental health gap and more. Support is not a department at LIFT HIGHER. It is how completion happens.
Our Vision
A country where opportunity changes generations, not just paychecks.
We imagine workforce ecosystems where a returning citizen's first day on the job is the start of a career, not a one-time placement statistic. Where a single mother's certification translates into housing stability, college savings, and confidence for her children. Where a veteran moves into senior leadership because we translated their service for the civilian world.
Leadership
The people accountable for the work.
Vickie R. Braxton, EdD, MA
Executive Manager
Curriculum, training design, and workforce programming for neurodiverse and vulnerable populations.
Tiffini Gillespie-Rowan, BA
Director, Nonprofit Services and Outreach
Growth strategy, sponsorship acquisition, donor engagement, and community partnerships.
Thomas “Mike” Turner, JD
Founding Board Member
25 years in business development, supplier diversity, procurement, and small business advisory.
Terri Smith Moore, PhD, MBA, RPh, CPH
Founding Board Member
Health strategy, clinical research, health policy, and health workforce development.
Nadine Cid, MS
Founding Board Member
Human resources executive and consultant with more than 25 years across government contracting, nonprofit, and professional services.
Kerry L. Kennedy, MA
Founding Board Member
Arts administrator, public art strategist, and museum professional with three decades of civic and cultural leadership.
Stacie B. Burgess, MA
Founding Board Member
Strategic communications executive with more than two decades of leadership across higher education, government, nonprofit advocacy, and agency consulting.