Former state Rep. Charlotte Golar Richie is taking a top job at an organization that sponsors programs providing job skills to underemployed youth.

YouthBuild USA on Tuesday announced that Richie, a veteran of both the State House and City Hall, is joining the Somerville-based organization as its senior vice president for public policy, advocacy and government relations.

A Dorchester Democrat, she served in the Massachusetts House from 1995 to 2000, representing the Fifth Suffolk District.

Before leaving to become Mayor Thomas Menino's housing and neighborhood development chief, she served as House chair of the Committee on Housing and Urban Development.

She also served as a senior adviser to Gov. Deval Patrick and later had a brief tenure as the executive director of his re-election campaign. She left in November 2009.

Golar Richie is a graduate of Rutgers College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Dorothy Stoneman, president and founder of YouthBuild USA, said in a statement, “Charlotte has spent her professional life working to end the cycle of poverty for low-income young people and their families. She is the perfect person for this role.”