College, Industry, Policy Experts Join Forces To Prepare Workforce Of Tomorrow
Over 600 Workforce Leaders Converge on San Diego for 4-day National Institute
WASHINGTON, Jan. 24, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- What are the in-demand jobs of tomorrow, and how do we ensure that worker skills match employer needs? As the nation continues to slog its way out of persistently high unemployment, these overarching questions face workforce experts who assemble in San Diego Jan. 30-Feb. 2 at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina for the 20th Annual Workforce Development Institute (WDI).
Sponsored by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), the WDI will attract more than 600 workforce and training experts from community colleges throughout the nation, as well as from the automotive industry – experiencing a resurgence after near-death just four years ago – advanced technologies, "green" technologies, energy technologies and others. The event also will serve as a program hub for major foundations, many of which have invested heavily in community college programs, including the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Lumina Foundation and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
Featured speakers will include representatives from the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Education, Labor, Transportation, and the U.S. Economic Development Administration, as well as from major corporations such as Intel Corporation, Microsoft, Cengage/ed2go, Pearson Workforce Education, GE, Snap-on and Trane.
In a special tribute, AACC Special Assistant to the President and CEO James McKenney, who founded the WDI two decades ago and will retire later this year, will take the dais for the last time. He is succeeded by Kathryn Mannes, recently named AACC's senior vice president for workforce and economic development.
Following are highlights of the event. A full agenda for the institute is available at www.aacc.nche.edu/wdi. All of the following general sessions will be held in Grand Ballroom B/C.
Thursday, Jan. 31
Opening General Session – Keynote by Anthony Carnevale, director Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce; AACC President Walter G. Bumphus; San Diego Community College Chancellor Constance Carroll; Kathryn Mannes; James McKenney (8:15-10:15 a.m.)
Lunch and General Session: Charting a New Course – Keynote by Jane Oates, assistant secretary Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor (Noon-1:45 p.m.)
Post-Election Prospects for Federal Workforce Policy – David Baime, AACC senior vice president for government relations; William Kamela, senior policy counsel, education and workforce, U.S. government affairs, Microsoft; Mary Gardner Clagett, director of workforce policy, Jobs for the Future (5-6 p.m.)
Friday, Feb. 1
General Session: A Year Up - Real Skills for Real Jobs with Real Success – Gerald Chertavian, founder and CEO, Year Up; Kayona Robinson, student, City College of San Francisco (8:15-9 a.m.)
Lunch and General Session: Where the Jobs Are – Brenda Dann-Messier, assistant secretary, Office of Vocational and Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education; Debra Goldfarb, high performance computing strategy director, Intel Corporation; William Kamela, senior policy counsel, education and workforce, U.S. government affairs, Microsoft; Mike McSally, vice president of enterprise operations, Allegis Group; Ben Morris, national college/postsecondary president of SkillsUSA, Green River Community College (12:15-1:45 p.m.)
Saturday, Feb. 2
Super General Session: Making Waves – Part 1 The Disruptive Potential Community Colleges Have in Reframing the Skill Sets of the Future; Part 2 Disruptive Learning Opportunities and Challenges from Industry. Panelists represent key foundation and industry representatives from organizations previously listed.
NOTE: Members of the news media may register without cost for part or all of the Workforce Development Institute. To register and/or request interviews with featured speakers, contact Norma Kent, [email protected] or 703.585-8556.
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the American Association of Community Colleges is a national organization representing the nation's almost 1,200 community, junior and technical colleges and their more than 13 million students. Community colleges are the largest sector of higher education, currently serving almost half of all U.S. undergraduates. For more information about AACC and community colleges, see www.aacc.nche.edu .
SOURCE American Association of Community Colleges
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