Hydeia Austin is the Program Manager for the Newark Youth Career Pathways Program, a Newark, NJ, native and a product of Newark Public Schools. Prior to joining Newark Alliance, Austin worked with Hudson Community Enterprises (HCE) as a transitional counselor and job coach with the High School Transition program, providing services and skill-building to individuals with disabilities and underserved members of the community. In 2020, Austin was promoted to School-Based Employment Services Coach, a role bridging HCE and Jersey City Public Schools. In this role, she developed a curriculum focused on job exploration, workplace readiness, and work-based learning experiences for Jersey City students.

She has demonstrated her commitment to educational reform and social justice advocacy through her 13-year affiliation with the Abbott Leadership Institute (ALI) and her experience with the Youth Media Symposium (YMS) at Rutgers University-Newark. While earning her bachelor’s degree in Social Behavioral Sciences with a minor in social work (2015), she served as a college mentor to her fellow peers in the YSM, as well as a Chair of her University’s Student Activities Board from 2013-2015. Wherever her career takes her, Austin is committed to providing the type of mentorship and career advisement to young people that she received years before.