Grace Cosachov Protos

Grace Cosachov Protos is the Executive Director of Work Life. Leading a team of subject matter experts, she establishes the strategic vision of the office whose primary mission is to improve the organizational health of the university and its faculty and administrators. As the leading voice of work-life perspectives, she advocates for value-aligned organizational improvements that focus on enhancing supportive systems and impacting University workplace culture and climate. 

Formerly, Grace was the Regional Administrator for the U.S. Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau where she oversaw the implementation of policy, research and advocacy projects devoted exclusively to promoting the advancement of working women. Developing strong relationships across community-based organizations, federal, state, and local government agencies she and her team worked collaboratively on various initiatives related to women’s work force issues. 

Prior to joining the Women’s Bureau, Grace was a senior vice president at MacKenzie Partners, Inc., a corporate advisory services firm, where she worked on corporate mergers, acquisitions, and stakeholder identification and communications for clients who were Fortune 500 companies. 

Grace is currently an Executive Board member of the College and University Work Family Association and on the Advisory Board of the Boston College Center for Work and Family. Formerly, she was an adjunct professor at Columbia University School of Social Work where she taught courses on leadership and management and effective board development. She is the former Co-chair of NYC 2020 Women on Boards and former Chair of the NY Regional Executive Committee of the US Department of Labor. 

Grace holds a Master of Social Work from Columbia University and is a Doctoral of Social Welfare candidate at the NYU Silver School of Social Work.