Keith Richard, Ph.D.

Vice President of Research, Florida Chamber Foundation

Keith Richard, Ph.D. serves as the Vice President of Research for the Florida Chamber Foundation–the driving force for research and development in the Florida Chamber of Commerce enterprise—and has a long history of generating actionable research insights to advance Florida’s economy, business community, and education sectors.

Prior to joining the Florida Chamber team, Keith served as the Vice Chancellor of Workforce Innovation for the Florida Department of Education, and was the Education Commissioner’s designee as the agency’s Economic Development Liaison. While in this role, Keith partnered with leadership in the Executive Office of the Governor, Florida Department of Commerce, CareerSource Florida, and Florida Department of Children and Families to support the advancement of workforce education to meet the current and future needs of Florida’s economy and businesses. His work included leading projects such as the first Credentials of Value initiative, the workforce education and labor market data dashboard called the Education Meets Opportunity Platform, the initiative to enhance Florida’s wage records, the Career and Technical Education Program Quality Audit, and the education program-to-occupation realignment project (CIP-to-SOC inventory).

With the Department of Education, Keith also served as a key representative in the agency to sponsor and oversee numerous research projects with external researchers at nationally recognized research institutes and organizations, ensuring that research agendas answered meaningful questions to inform the agency’s work to enhance the education system and better serve Floridians. This work also included securing grants from federal, state and private non-profit entities to fund these projects. Keith’s priorities also included strategic collaboration with leaders of Florida’s five postsecondary educational sectors: the State University System, Division of Florida Colleges, District Technical College system, Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida, and Commission of Independent Education.

Before serving in state government for several years, Keith conducted primary, inferential statistical research through his work at the Center for Postsecondary Success, a non-profit research organization based out of Florida State University (FSU) that focuses on measuring the impacts of specific state policies. While with the Center, Keith also taught university classes at Florida State University to undergraduate and graduate students and was the recipient of the FSU Outstanding Instructor of Record Award.

The foundation for Keith’s work experience is an academic background that trained him to be a skilled researcher and statistician, and to derive conclusions through data-driven insights and synthesis of academic journal article findings. Keith earned his Ph.D. and Master of Science degree in Sociology from Florida State University with a focus on quantitative research and in topics such as state policy, higher education, military veterans, economic well-being, social psychology, and health and aging. His undergraduate degree in Psychology is from Coastal Carolina University.

Keith and his wife Rae have lived in Tallahassee for more than a decade and value their time volunteering for arts and cultural events in the community, as well as rolling up their sleeves on the weekends to work on home DIY remodeling and improvements.

 

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