Ray Uhalde

VP, Workforce/Education Policy

Contact Ray Uhalde

Ray Uhalde is a vice president, leading JFF’s Washington-based Workforce and Education Policy Group. The group plays an active role in developing and implementing national workforce development policy, high school reform and higher education policy.

Prior to JFF, Mr. Uhalde served more than 25 years with the U.S. Department of Labor, most recently as senior advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Labor, responsible for leading the department’s implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. As acting assistant secretary of the Employment and Training Administration for two years, he was responsible for enactment of the Welfare to Work Act of 1997 and the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. As deputy assistant secretary of Labor from 1994 to 2002, he oversaw an agency of 1400 people and a program budget of $10 billion, with responsibility for the nation’s unemployment insurance system, the One-Stop Career Center network, Job Corps, foreign labor certification for immigration, and training programs for low-income youth and adults, dislocated workers, seniors, people with disabilities, and other special populations. He testified frequently before Congress on budget, employment and training, and immigration issues.

Prior to his appointment as deputy assistant secretary, Uhalde administered the Dept. of Labor’s strategic planning, policy development, research, and demonstration activities. He joined as a labor economist in the Office of the Secretary to help develop a work-based approach to welfare reform. For his government service, Mr. Uhalde was conferred the Presidential Rank of Meritorious Executive and the Department of Labor’s Philip Arnow Award.

Mr. Uhalde briefly stepped out of the Dept. of Labor  to head the Workforce Development Strategies Group at the National Center on Education and the Economy, which provided a strong, respected nonpartisan voice on adult and youth workforce development policy issues and supported congressional and executive branch officials in Washington to ensure that the voices of state and local leaders in the field are heard. He also served as staff director for the new Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, which culminated in its widely acclaimed report on K-12 education reform, “Tough Choices or Tough Times.” In the private sector, he worked as an economist for a research and consulting firm.

Mr. Uhalde holds B.A. and M.A. degrees in labor economics from Fresno State College and the University of Maryland respectively, and was a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Special Forces.