People

Madeline Oliff

Madeline Oliff, Analyst, NAMI Sarasota Manatee Counties/Youth Move Suncoast Project 

Madeline Oliff is the Social Enterprise Program Manager at Workshops Empowerment Inc., a nonprofit in Birmingham, Alabama, that provides jobs and job training to people with disabilities and other barriers to employment. She oversees the WE Made program, a workforce development training program that upskills participants in the food service and retail industries by making handmade, small-batch goods. The social enterprise’s line of Southern-inspired baking mixes, fire starters, and all-natural sprays are now in over 100 stores in 24 states. Madeline made her way to Birmingham by way of the Venture for America fellowship, a program for aspiring entrepreneurs to make an impact on mid-sized innovation ecosystems. Madeline served as the Marketing and Communications Coordinator at the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama for her fellowship post before transitioning to Workshops Empowerment Inc. 

Madeline is originally from Chicago and most recently lived in the Boston area while studying at Tufts University. A 2020 graduate, she studied Sociology with a concentration in Social Inequalities and Social Change, American Studies with a concentration in Urban Education, and minored in Urban Studies. While at Tufts, she worked with Dr. Margaret McGladrey, a postdoctoral scholar of Civic Studies. Together, they evaluated the Girl Project, a critical media literacy education program in Lexington, KY, using the Youth-led Participatory Action Research method. This analysis included quantitative and qualitative data into NVivo 12 on gender identity and feminist propensities. Their work has since been published in Cultural Trends, entitled “Re-envisioning media literacy education as feminist arts-activism.” 

Since graduating from Tufts, Madeline has completed the Nonprofit Management Certificate through Duke University. She hopes to attend graduate school for Public Administration in the future. Outside of work, Madeline is a member of the Rotaract Club of Birmingham and serves as the Chapter Advisor to Magic City BBYO. She also serves as the Service co-chair on the Prosper Birmingham Advisory Board.