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A Farewell Tribute: Unpacking 14 Years of Success at NAWB
After 14 years as president and CEO of the National Association of Workforce Boards, I have chosen to step aside. This was, of course, a difficult decision for me, but I’m not leaving the work — just engaging with it differently. At NAWB, we worked “a mile wide and an inch deep” by necessity, and I find myself eager to embrace the absorbing rigor of more intricate projects.
If you’ll indulge me, I’d like to reflect for a moment on the years spent representing and advocating for the nation's 550-plus workforce development boards. In honor of these 14 years, I present you with 14 team successes that I will always be proud to have played a role in securing. They include (in no particular order):
- Workforce Ahead. In 2019, NAWB staff took to the road, visiting local boards in Tucson, Fort Worth, Omaha, Spokane, Salida, San Bernardino, Wichita and a few other locations. The conversations illuminated pressing issues like broadband access, benefits cliffs and rural employment challenges. We came home and recalibrated both the issues we prioritize, and our policy language.
- Workforce Central. What a pleasure it has been to have important podcast conversations about topics like mental health in the workplace and youth participation in the economy. A particularly memorable conversation was with Dr. Isabel Sawhill, senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution, about policy solutions to the nation’s economic inequalities; check it out.
- Workforce 101. This class for Congressional staffers really helps us frame and communicate critical issues of workforce development to people in a position to shape policy and community impact.
- The Forum. The
nation’s largest annual workforce development conference pre-dates me, but I’m proud of how it has grown and evolved. It’s never a cookie-cutter event; we listen to members’ issues and tailor each year’s gathering to facilitate cross conversations. In 2023, more than 1,500 workforce development leaders came to Washington, D.C., and threw themselves into learning, teaching, discussing, and problem-solving.
This year, we are so proud of the results after our first “Local Business Sunday,” where Forum attendees were issued vouchers to use at participating restaurants and retailers within walking distance of The Forum in the Dupont Circle or Adams Morgan Business Improvement Districts. It was a way to let Forum attendees explore and network while giving back to local businesses that had really had a couple of difficult COVID years. And to many D.C. residents who had likely never heard of a “workforce development board,” we weren't just another conference hanging out at the hotel; we infused more than $25,000 into the economy. - Building a focus on family-centered employment. NAWB is now framing workforce development alongside issues that are of practical, critical importance to parents: transportation, affordable housing, childcare, health, early education. As businesses continue to look for and hire qualified talent, lack of consistent quality childcare can impact parents’ ability to accept employment or advancement. Workforce development boards can improve employment outcomes by engaging in new partnerships, leveraging resources, and serving clients from a whole family approach.
- Boosting professional development for workforce leaders, in particular helping support the NC Workforce Development Leadership Initiative in its inaugural days. The new nonprofit prepares attendees to participate in and lead workforce development boards, engage with economic developers, and create initiatives that will further their communities.
- Navigating the shift from WIA to WIOA. The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) that became law on July 22, 2014, replaced the previous legislation known as the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). With WIOA’s emphasis on streamlined services, career pathways, increased accountability and greater involvement of local boards, let’s just say it was a busy time!
- The NAWB Executive Bootcamp. One of NAWB's main goals is to provide the field of workforce development boards with knowledge and training. Through our Executive Bootcamp, leaders deepen their workforce expertise in fiscal management, data analysis and effective collaboration. They improve their knowledge of workforce policy — plus the ability to execute and even craft it — while broadening their network.
- Expanding our worldview. We’ve begun working with the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and have hosted foreign delegates at The Forum 2023. These interactions have driven home the reality that there's room for collaboration across the world with our colleagues — and that there's also a lot of competition around developing skills.
- The launch of NAWB Connect, our online, peer-to-peer knowledge-sharing platform. This space for our members helps boards from around the nation network and learn directly from each other.
- Leading NAWB through the pandemic, while helping local boards lead their communities during extreme fluctuations in employment, the shift to remote work, and numerous other well-documented impacts. I was particularly proud of our speedy pivot to make The Forum all virtual, and then our gutsy choice to return in person at the first opportunity.
- Countless local board interactions. We haven’t visited all our local workforce development boards, but we’ve probably racked up a million miles trying. We’ve delivered specific impacts through training, strategy and board-specific advocacy efforts, and each time we have brought home insights that strengthen everything we do.
- Advocacy in Washington, D.C. Whether it’s as high-profile as testifying in front of Congress, as impactful as engaging with the Department of Labor, or as quietly focused on the long term by working on legislation that hasn’t yet been introduced, we have ensured our members’ issues are well represented in the nation’s capital.
- Growing our team. When I joined NAWB, we had 3 team members, and now we have 9. This growth has helped us serve more local boards at more depth. We have expanded our focus beyond WIOA to topics such as adult basic education, migrant and seasonal farm workers, the national reserve, childcare development grants, the Farm Bill — you name it.
I end with this important point about our robust, expert team because I want to emphasize that NAWB is in excellent hands. Melanie Anderson, our trusted executive vice president, will take the helm as interim CEO. I have great, great optimism that NAWB will continue to flourish, and I look forward to continuing to engage with my former colleagues and whomever our board selects to be NAWB’s new leader.
A final word to all the workforce leaders I’ve encountered during my tenure at NAWB: You all have given me more inspiration, insight and energy than I've ever given to you. It has been such a deep honor for me to learn first from you and then champion your energy, innovation, and commitment around our nation. Thank you for your commitment to make your communities and America’s labor force stronger than ever.
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NAWB Press Release on the Assistant Secretary of Labor's Nomination
January 17, 2025 -- The National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB) today announced that two members of its Board of Directors, Kathy Jewett and Debra Giordano have stepped down from their roles for personal reasons. Al Searles, a member of the board’s executive committee, has been elected to the Vice Chair position vacated by Jewett during the board’s most recent meeting. “On behalf of the NAWB team, I extend my gratitude to both Kathy and Deb for their valuable contributions and commitment during their tenure on the Board,” said President and CEO, Brad Turner-Little. “Their leadership and dedication have played an integral role in shaping our growth and I appreciate their guidance during a time of transformation for the organization.” “As Board Chair, I want to extend my deepest gratitude to Kathy for her exceptional leadership and dedication as a board director over the past six years and most recently as vice chair,” said NAWB Board Chair, Lisanne McNew. “Her vision and commitment have been pivotal in advancing NAWB’s mission and strengthening workforce boards nationwide. As Al steps into the role of Vice Chair, I am confident his expertise and passion will guide us forward, building on Kathy’s legacy and driving continued innovation and impact in workforce development.” She added, “Deb’s expertise and dedication to workforce development have been invaluable to our industry. Her thoughtful leadership and contributions have left a lasting impact on workforce boards and the communities they serve. We are deeply grateful for all she has done for our board.”
Continuing Resolution passes without WIOA reauthorization
Congress Proposes New CR, Does Not Include WIOA Reauthorization
Congress Releases the Legislative Text of the Continuing Resolution; ASWA is Included
A Stronger Workforce for America Act (ASWA) Hotline Process
Further Updates on WIOA Reauthorization
December 3, 2024 -- NAWB President and CEO, Brad Turner-Little , made the following statement in response to the Congressional committee leadership's bipartisan, bicameral agreement to reauthorize the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). The new bill, which we provided an initial summary of, is currently being considered on a fast-track procedure in the Senate. "Since WIOA’s reauthorization in 2014, workforce development boards (WDBs) have sought to meet the evolving needs of employers, jobseekers, and the local communities that they serve. It is laudable that lawmakers have reached consensus on legislation to make significant updates to the nation’s public workforce development system, including improvements that recognize the vital role that WDBs play in strengthening local economies. Since the initial release of a new bicameral and bipartisan WIOA reauthorization agreement last week, A Stronger Workforce for America Act (ASWA), the National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB) has spent time analyzing this proposal and engaging with our members to understand how the bill would affect ongoing operations, service delivery, and the ability of WDBs to serve jobseekers and employers alike throughout the nation. Through these discussions, it has become clear that there are aspects of this legislation that conform with NAWB’s vision for the future of the public workforce system, while there are other significant components of this agreement that will be challenging to implement at best and could undermine WBDs’ ability to meet their mission. ASWA would renew the law for five more years, sending a powerful signal that the public workforce system authorized by this legislation is critical to wider efforts in preparing and sustaining the skilled workforce needed for America’s wider success. NAWB is pleased to note that many of the organization’s recommendations have been incorporated into this legislation. These include clarifying local WDBs’ authority over local budgets; increased flexibilities to serve incumbent workers; improvements to cost-sharing requirements for one-stop centers, including flexibilities for the sharing and pooling of these resources; increased professional development opportunities for local staff; allowing for marketing and outreach efforts on behalf of the system; allowing WDBs to serve as one-stop operators when meeting certain conditions; a new emphasis on skills-based hiring; and dramatic improvements to data collection and subsequent reporting to make the public workforce system more transparent and responsive to the needs of workers and employers. While NAWB appreciates these and other aspects of the agreement, the legislation unfortunately continues to advance provisions that our organization does not support, including a new systemwide mandate for training and an overly prescriptive work experience requirement for youth funding which we believe runs counter to local autonomy and flexibility. While we appreciate the agreement’s recognition of the important role supportive services play in the success of worker skills development, we continue to call on Congress to ensure that any new requirements reflect the realities facing the populations WIOA is structured to prioritize. NAWB’s members have made clear that increased state-level set-asides will mean fewer resources will be available to local WDBs to implement these and other aspects of this legislation with fidelity. In conjunction with the proposed local workforce area redesignation provisions, NAWB’s members have also made clear that there is a strong potential that aspects of the public workforce system will need to close, staff laid off, and business services significantly curtailed under these new operating constraints. Taken together, we remain deeply concerned that these aspects of the agreement will make it more difficult for the public workforce development system to serve jobseekers and employers alike moving forward. We are grateful to have heard from so many of our members who provided thoughtful and meaningful perspectives as part of NAWB’s analysis of this legislation. They are the true experts, working every day with local community partners, elected officials, businesses, and jobseekers. We recognize the extremely challenging environment that workforce boards will be in whether this bill is enacted during the final days of the 118th Congress or if current law remains in place for the time being. In either scenario, NAWB remains committed to working closely with the incoming administration and new Congress to ensure that the public workforce development system is responsive to the needs of workers, learners, and businesses, and can fulfill the significant workforce development needs of our nation now and in the future. This will certainly be among our top priorities during Workforce Advocacy Day , scheduled for April 1-2 , 2025 in Washington, DC. NAWB members need to share their expertise with members of Congress to ensure that the workforce system has the necessary resources to serve their local communities.” Learn more about NAWB's work on WIOA.
Summary of “A Stronger Workforce for America Act,” (ASWA)
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