Maryland Governor's Workforce Development Board

🎄✨ Wishing you a happy holiday season filled with joy, love, and cherished moments! From our team to yours, may this season bring warmth and happiness to your hearts and homes. Thank you for being part of our journey this year. Here’s to a bright and prosperous New Year ahead! 🌟 Molly Mesnard John Strickland Ashley B. Shuana Davis #HappyHolidays #Gratitude #Teamwork

Congratulations to TEDCO on an incredible 10th Entrepreneur Expo held on December 4th! This premier event highlighted Maryland’s entrepreneurial spirit with amazing talent, engaging roundtable discussions, dynamic panels, exhibits, capped off with inspiring remarks from Governor Wes Moore and TEDCO President and CEO Troy Stovall. Our Deputy Director Shuana Davis joined Maryland Department of Labor Secretary Portia Wu and Cyber Maryland Board Member Supro Ghose for an insightful panel on Building a Pipeline to Protect Our Digital Infastructure: The Cyber Maryland Program and Its Evolution. She shared how the Maryland Governor's Workforce Development Board is advancing efforts to build and support the current and future cyber workforce, fostering strategic partnerships with industry leaders and collaborating with TEDCO and the Cyber Maryland Board. Kudos to TEDCO and the entire team on an outstanding event! We’re excited to continue collaborating and strengthening Maryland’s talent pipeline!

On Monday, nearly 200 business, community and policy leaders from across the state convened at the Maryland Business Summit on Engaging the Future Workforce, hosted by the Maryland Governor's Workforce Development Board (GWDB) and the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The event was emceed by Deputy Director Shuana Davis, with opening remarks from Executive Director Rachael Stephens Parker and a special pre-recorded call to action from Gov. Wes Moore. The day highlighted strategies to empower and engage the next generation of workers, featuring a keynote address by Lydia Logan, Vice President of Global Education and Workforce Development at IBM. Logan emphasized the critical need to develop future-ready talent through innovative strategies such as skills-based training and hiring, and flexible workplace practices. Carim Khouzami, GWDB Chair and CEO of Baltimore Gas and Electric, framed the Summit’s bottom line: “Investing in young talent is not just corporate social responsibility—it’s smart business.” Lisa Hamilton, President and CEO of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, added: “The strength of our state and our country largely depends on how well we prepare our youth for employment success.” Panels hosted by GWDB members Charnetia Young and Marco V. Ávila, P.E. showcased Maryland companies’ success with internships, apprenticeships, and summer youth programs. Business leaders shared insights into partnerships with education and workforce organizations, while youth participants highlighted the transformative impact of these experiences on their lives and careers. Delali Dzirasa, GWDB Vice Chair and President and CEO of Fearless, delivered a compelling call to action, urging businesses to leverage resources like those offered by Maryland’s 13 local workforce development boards, K-12 work-based learning programs and career coaches, and dozens of Apprenticeship Navigators across the state. These resources are invaluable tools for building sustainable youth employment pathways. And they listened! Dozens of employers raised their hand to make new commitments to working with youth, and we’ll be helping connect them to local resources in the coming days and weeks. Thank you to everyone who joined us, with a special thanks to Lateefah Durant, Vice President of Innovation at CityWorks DC, and her team, and to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, for their partnership in putting together this impactful event! We are excited to continue working together to strengthen and advance Maryland’s future workforce. #YouthEmployment #MarylandWorkforce #TalentPipelines

Yesterday’s Maryland Business Summit brought together leaders to discuss ways to invest in young workers and create pathways to economic success. Hosted with the Maryland Governor's Workforce Development Board, the event highlighted successful youth employment initiatives and opportunities to help young people thrive in the job market. Young people bring skills, talent and drive, and employers can provide opportunities for them to grow and strengthen the workforce and economy. As President & CEO Lisa Hamilton said, “The strength of our state and our country largely depends on how well we prepare our youth for employment success.”

The Maryland Business Summit on Engaging the Future Workforce is underway! KUDOS Maryland Governor's Workforce Development Board and Annie E. Casey Foundation for supporting Maryland businesses in building a youth talent pipeline!

What an honor to provide opening remarks at The Maryland Business Summit hosted by the Maryland Governor’s Workforce Development Board (GWDB) and the Casey Foundation. This event brought together Maryland business leaders, policymakers and community-based organizations to discuss innovative strategies for engaging and empowering rising talent to support Maryland’s economic growth. We heard from Carim Khouzami of BGE who chairs GWDB along with an incredible array of employers and young people who talked about their experiences with employment programs for young people including apprenticeship. The young people who spoke were so thoughtful, curious and smart. Their energy and interest was eye opening to their employers who hadn't expected high school students to be so engaged and capable. And their managers were so devoted to opening the doors of opportunity to new talent and willing to change existing practice and policies to do so. They also stressed how important it was for them to be nurturing and a listening ear to these new employees. All of these young people are on the path to high paying jobs in high growth areas like healthcare, manufacturing and the technical trades. It was so encouraging to see so many other employers and educators in the room trying to figure out how they can do this too. A huge thanks to Rachael Stephens Parker, executive director of GWDB, her entire team and all of my Casey colleagues who helped to put this event together. I'm certain that our efforts will lead to many more doors opening to great jobs for young people.

🎙️ NEW POLICY ISSUANCE 🎙️ Our CTE Committee is pleased to release two new policies to guide implementation of the Blueprint for Maryland's Future: 👷♀️ Defining the "high school level of a registered apprenticeship" and standards for apprenticeship programs that will support the state's apprenticeship expansion goals: https://lnkd.in/dWd3sQD6 👨⚕️ Defining industry-recognized credentials, including quality criteria and a new review process, for credentials that support the state's credential attainment goals and that can be supported through Perkins CTE resources: https://lnkd.in/dGGRMMUu A two-page summary of these two policies and how they add up to the Blueprint's "45% goal" can be found here: https://lnkd.in/dk2kXkyH Thanks to our members and partners, especially those at the Maryland Department of Labor Apprenticeship & Training Program, Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) College & Career Readiness team, Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC), and Maryland Department of Commerce for your collaboration, and to the hundreds of local stakeholders from education, workforce development, private industry and students and families who informed the development of these new policies. We're excited to partner with you all to dramatically increase participation in these types of apprenticeships and credentials among Maryland's students! #apprenticeship #credentials #CTE

The Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) hosted its inaugural Student Success Summit in November, bringing together national thought leaders, college and university presidents, and campus administrators to evaluate institutional goals and progress. Additionally, MHEC released their draft post-2025 completion goals which prioritize equity in outcomes, ensure credential value, and foster data-driven pathways to student success. GWDB Executive Director Rachael Stephens Parker joined state leaders at the Summit, including MHEC Secretary Rai, commission leaders, and Maryland Department of Labor Secretary Wu to address hundreds of postsecondary education leaders from across the state. She shared ways the Maryland Governor's Workforce Development Board is collaborating with MHEC and postsecondary institutions in its work on sector strategies and industry-recognized credentials, and how we can coordinate this work to support the state’s new post-2025 completion goals. Congratulations to our MHEC colleagues on reaching this milestone - we look forward to supporting what’s next in 2025 and beyond! Together, we are building a Maryland where everyone has the opportunity to thrive and achieve, and where every student who chooses to pursue a college degree has the tools they need to succeed. ⭐️ #StudentSuccess #HigherEd

As we continue our commitment to developing the next generation of talent, AstraZeneca is pleased to be one of the first employers taking the Maryland Governor's, Gov. Wes Moore, Apprenticeship Pledge. AstraZeneca’s Brian Stamper recently joined the Maryland Governor's Workforce Development Board, the Board’s Executive Director, Rachael Stephens Parker, and other partners from private industry, education, labor, and government, to launch the Governor's Apprenticeship Pledge. Globally, AstraZeneca has operated a Registered US Apprenticeship Program since 2019, launched three new apprenticeship programs this year and will offer a ground-breaking degree level scientific apprenticeship in the coming months. Over the next year, AstraZeneca will partner with the Maryland Governor's Workforce Development Board to explore new ways to expand our Registered Apprenticeship Program and broaden our ongoing efforts to ensure diverse talent has the opportunity to gain valuable career experience by working alongside industry experts. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/e89xqTCP #NAW24

The Maryland Governor's Workforce Development Board is incredibly proud to partner with Gov. Wes Moore to launch the Governor’s Apprenticeship Pledge. Through this first-of-its-kind campaign, employers who take the pledge commit to using registered apprenticeship as part of their talent pipeline strategy, and receive tailored support and special recognition for their leadership. Thank you to AstraZeneca and GWDB member Brian Stamper for being the first to pledge. We’re excited to have you joined by fellow GWDB member companies like Royal Farms and other pioneering employers across our State. In Maryland we are proving that we don’t have to choose - we can grow a dynamic, competitive economy and leave no one behind at the same time. 🚀 Our goal? 500 employers and 5,000 new apprentices by this time next year. Let’s do this! 🚀 Learn more, join the movement, and take the pledge today: https://lnkd.in/e89xqTCP And check out the press release here: https://lnkd.in/eNr-YQvT (Share this to help us spread the word!) Maryland Workforce Association Maryland Department of Commerce Maryland Department of Labor Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) Maryland Association of Community Colleges MEDA (Maryland Economic Development Association)