For Immediate Release
December 18, 2014
Contact: Joel Nilsestuen, Executive Director
New Leadership at the Wisconsin Workforce Development Association
MADISON—Joel Nilsestuen joins the Wisconsin Workforce Development Association (WWDA) today as its Executive Director.
“We are very pleased to have Joel join us at the WWDA. Workforce issues are key to our region’s success and a strong statewide association of workforce leaders will ensure we can provide the trained workforce that Wisconsin’s employers need to succeed,” said Pat Schramm, Chairperson of the WWDA Executive Committee.
Nilsestuen comes to the non-profit WWDA with a strong public service background in Wisconsin, most recently as Legislative and Policy Coordinator for State Senator Kathleen Vinehout. His prior experience includes work with several non-profit and membership organizations.
The WWDA recently completed a new strategic plan that highlights their role as the state’s workforce experts. The plan emphasizes strengthening WWDA’s collaborative relationships within the state and at the national level.
Nilsestuen will hit the ground running to help Wisconsin’s workforce system transition to new federal legislation, the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act, which emphasizes serving businesses through career pathways and focused industry sector groups. The WWDA is in its third year of the Skills Wisconsin Initiative, a four year $6 million dollar federal grant to transform the public workforce system into a system that views business as the primary customer.
THE WISCONSIN WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION (WWDA) represents the state’s workforce experts, with 11 workforce boards covering the state that provide over 20,000 services to businesses and hosting over 1 million people in the Job Centers each year. WWDA offers innovative solutions to assist Wisconsin businesses succeed in today’s highly competitive workforce, while providing the tools job seekers need to find or advance their current career. For more information, visit WWDA online at www.wwda.org
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