Jerry Baake is currently the Manager of Workforce Development at Advocate Aurora Health, one of the top not-for-profit health systems in the nation. As the system manager, he leads the development and implementation of Advocate Aurora Health’s workforce development strategies throughout Illinois and Wisconsin. These strategies are designed to build employment pathways into in-demand healthcare careers.

Throughout his time at Advocate Aurora Health, Jerry has launched various impactful workforce development strategies, including a disability hiring initiative and several successful registered apprenticeship programs. Prior to joining Advocate Aurora Health in 2015, he served in a variety of Human Resources roles, bringing over ten years of experience in workforce development, talent acquisition, employee relations and labor relations.

Jerry holds a Master of Science in Organizational Change Leadership with an emphasis in Human Resources Management from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and a Bachelor of Science in Management from the University of Wisconsin-Stout.

In addition to his work responsibilities, Jerry is also a contributing member of several local, regional, and state economic and workforce development councils, including serving as a board member on the Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington County (WOW) Workforce Development Board.

Vanessa Bennett is an associate director at JFF who works to create equitable pathways to careers and education for young people and adults through pre-apprenticeships, registered apprenticeships, and work-based learning programs.

Vanessa focuses on expanding economic mobility for opportunity youth by developing pre-apprenticeship frameworks and engaging employers, community-based organizations, and workforce boards in developing meaningful pathways to apprenticeship opportunities.

Her skills and areas of expertise include:

• Program design and development
• Content innovation
• Strategic planning and technical assistance
• Rural, youth, and workforce development
• Partnership and coalition-building
• Community outreach and advocacy
• National service and service reflection
• Universal designs for learning, social-emotional learning, and trauma-informed care

Before joining JFF, Vanessa was the senior manager of Career Pathways at YouthBuild USA, where she contributed to the design of pre-apprenticeship programming, managed public and private partnerships, and developed training, tools, and resources for more than 200 YouthBuild programs. She managed grants and projects with the U.S. Department of Labor, the Corporation for National and Community Service, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Earlier in her career, she worked at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Share Our Strength and led out-of-school programming for justice-involved young people in southeastern New Hampshire.

Reflecting on her decision to join JFF, Vanessa says, “I am attracted to JFF’s work because of their dedication to increasing economic mobility by creating a continuum of support that bridges postsecondary education with careers. I am excited to contribute to a team that is committed to collaboration and innovation in this field.”

Outside of work, Vanessa says, “I am a runner, an amateur baker, and an outdoor enthusiast on a mission to see every national park and climb every 4,000-footer in the White Mountain National Forest.”

Rhandi Berth is the vice president of the Workforce Institute.

She is formerly the Chief Innovations Officer for the Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership (WRTP)/BIG STEP, a nationally recognized workforce development nonprofit organization. For more than 24 years, she has been instrumental in helping WRTP/BIG STEP become the nationally recognized organization it is today. She has been instrumental in developing and pioneering the workforce intermediary and industry partnership strategies now being adopted across the country. Berth has been at the heart of WRTP since its founding and is regarded as one of the foremost experts on industry driven workforce strategies in the country. Her work as a leader in an intermediary, industry setting has as its base a strong foundation and understanding of the industrial sector. She was the first female Vice President of IAMAW Machinists Local 1430. Her work includes developing a nationally recognized model for pre-employment training certificate programs in entry-level manufacturing skills. She was also instrumental in developing the Industrial Manufacturing Technician apprenticeship as well as adapting pre-employment training certificate model to building and construction trades working with Joint Apprenticeship Committees.

Berth also serves as president of Triada Employment Services Inc., a nonprofit subsidiary of WRTP/BIG STEP. Triada staffing services provide workforce solutions targeted to the manufacturing and construction industries. Triada was developed and launched in 2007 as a market based response to industry challenges in developing a qualified and motivated workforce, and assist companies in recovery lost market share and costs related to vacancy, turnover, and temporary workforce structures. Berth currently serves in a number of advisory roles to state and national organizations involved in workforce development research and policy.

In my current role as the Global Growth & Strategy Lead for Early Careers, I’m creating and overseeing the framework of Early Careers programs to enable consultation for further growth of diverse future leaders.

In 2021 as the Director of the US Apprenticeship Program, I led the strategic oversight and execution for Community College and Non-Profit Partners for the Apprenticeship Program and its expansion to 6 additional cities. In addition to working with external partners, I collaborated with internal talent leaders, Apprentices, and their managers to ensure the expansion of our existing program would have the tools needed to support all parties.

My background is in workforce development operations, business development, partner collaborations, and leadership. I’m an experienced director with extensive experience in program management, direct client service, community and partner engagement, and leading cross-functional teams. I previously worked for a non-profit organization for close to 16 years prior to coming to Aon. I managed 6 grant funded contracts serving low income and dislocated workers out of American Job Centers in the Chicagoland area. I’ve implemented strategic planning, on-boarding, and vision of expansion locations, while also developing targeted outreach and recruitment plans.

As director of Gateway Initiatives at JEVS Human Services, Edison is working on expanding employment opportunities for underserved communities by developing sector-based career pathway programs. As part of this work, Edison has established JEVS as an apprenticeship intermediary in the IT, health care and advanced manufacturing sectors. Edison is also engaged with Jobs For the Future (JFF) in developing technical assistance strategies and supports for employers seeking to start apprenticeship programs.

Edison’s experience includes over two decades of working with youth from diverse backgrounds as a teacher, mentor, coach, supervisor, and employer. In 2022, Edison received the Greater Philadelphia Social Innovations Award for Workforce Development in Technology.

Before joining JEVS in 2017, Edison served as the Director of Educational Technology at the School District of Philadelphia, where he founded the Urban Technology Project (UTP), the nation’s longest continuously running Information Technology Registered Apprenticeship program. UTP’s extensive pre-apprenticeship programming begins with service-learning activities for middle and high school students and continues with post-secondary apprenticeship opportunities for urban youth to enter the Information Technology field.

Originally from Ecuador, Edison immigrated with his family to New York in the early 1970s. Edison graduated from Brown University and obtained his M.Ed. from Eastern University.

Joshua Johnson is a director at JFF. A member of the team in the JFF Center for Apprenticeship & Work Based Learning, he leads efforts to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in apprenticeship, with a specific focus on helping employers make commitments to building inclusive Registered Apprenticeship programs.

His skills and areas of expertise include:

• Apprenticeship programming
• Workforce development
• Business engagement
• Reentry education
• Leadership

Before joining JFF, Joshua was the state director of apprenticeship in Wisconsin. In that role, he oversaw growth in all initiatives related to the creation of intentional career pathways for Wisconsin citizens. His passion for apprenticeship is rooted in its ability to eradicate poverty.

Earlier in his career, Joshua worked for the Wisconsin Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, where he helped employers connect to the untapped talent pool of individuals with disabilities.

While he was the Wisconsin state director of apprenticeship, Joshua was elected by his fellow state directors to serve as vice president of the National Association of State and Territorial Apprenticeship Directors.

Joshua spent nearly 10 years in prison and has shared his personal story of reentry to encourage justice-involved individuals to refocus and get connected prior to release. He also speaks at events about the importance of employers creating diverse and inclusive apprenticeships to ensure that they can compete locally, nationally, and globally.

In 2007, Joshua completed a Construction Craft Laborers apprenticeship and then spent three years as a construction craft laborer journeyworker building highways in Illinois and Wisconsin.

“I am the father of three boys and two girls,” Joshua says. “I enjoy spending time with them and my lovely wife out on the water on the family boat. If I’m not out on the water, I am relaxing and enjoying the four seasons in Wisconsin while cheering on our local sports teams.”

Sam is the Director of Postsecondary Education and Workforce Development at CAST, the organization that pioneered Universal Design for Learning. Sam has designed training models and conducted research into professional development in the fields of mental health care, human services, criminal justice and education, emphasizing social learning processes in online and blended learning. Sam is the principal investigator for two National Science Foundation (NSF) grants. One to co-design a multigenerational STEM makerspace in affordable housing and the other to design a Dual Enrollment Pathway to Careers in Biofabrication, an emerging area within advanced manufacturing. Through an NSF funded grant, Sam designed and researched a mobile-first e-portfolio for youth between the ages of 16 and 24 who are disconnected from both school and the workforce. Before joining CAST, Sam was a Senior Associate and Distance Educator at the Center for Social Innovation (C4), a woman-owned small business focused on upskilling the homelessness and affordable housing workforce. At C4, Sam led the company’s online and blended learning strategy.

Deborah Kobes is a senior director at JFF and the deputy director for JFF’s Center for Apprenticeship & Work-Based Learning. She focuses on expanding access to and success in high-demand careers.

Deborah manages projects to develop innovative new educational and training models and to build capacity for program delivery among a range of organizations, from local training providers to state agencies. She seeks to create career pathways for women, people of color, and other populations that are underrepresented in high-demand sectors of the economy, such as technology, manufacturing, and construction.

Her skills and areas of expertise include:

• Work-based learning, including pre-apprenticeships and Registered Apprenticeships
• Program design and development
• Strategies for inclusion and equity within job training programs and career pathways
• Sector-based analysis and workforce development strategies

Before joining JFF, Deborah was the projects director and first employee of the Emerald Cities Collaborative, a partnership of diverse organizations united around the goal of greening cities in ways that further high-quality job creation, equity, and democracy. She has also held research positions or fellowships at MIT, the Brookings Institution, and the Urban Institute.

Reflecting on her decision to work at JFF, Deborah says, “Racial equity is not possible without economic equity. JFF’s focus on economic mobility contributes to overcoming this persistent challenge in American society. JFF brings a unique vantage of looking for practical solutions for economic advancement while also contributing to the national dialogue about needed structural reforms.”

Deborah enjoys exploring new cities and their idiosyncrasies, and she spends too much time trying to figure out how to measure local democracy.

David Polk leads the Wisconsin Bureau of Apprenticeship Standards which creates, implements and enforces policy regarding all things apprenticeship for the state of Wisconsin.

A former apprentices and plumbing instructor, Polk most recently served as director of apprenticeship and trade at Milwaukee Area Technical College. Polk’s 20 years of experience overseeing apprenticeship programs includes time in the public and private sectors and in academia. In previous roles, Polk has been responsible for developing apprenticeship programs that reach low-to-moderate income residents and Black and Indigenous workers and people of color.

As the director of apprenticeship and trade at MATC, Polk managed more than 30 different Milwaukee-area apprenticeships and adopted six new sector apprenticeships, including the first apprenticeship program for arborists in the U.S.

Polk has first-hand knowledge of the opportunities that come from working as an apprentice. In 2001, Polk completed his five-year plumbing apprenticeship with Plumbers' Local 75 out of Milwaukee and worked several years as a licensed plumber. He then worked in the trades as a meter technician and plumbing inspector before focusing on the training program aspect to help more people become aware of and build careers through apprenticeships.

Polk has a Bachelor of Applied Science (B.A.Sc.) focused in Business Administration and Management, General from Cardinal Stritch University.

Jordan Pounds graduated from Nation Ford High School in Fort Mill, South Carolina in 2020, and is currently an apprentice with Blum USA as a Mechatronics Technician. She is completing her second year in the Engineering program, studying Mechatronics, at Central Piedmont Community College.

Kristy Shuda McGuire, M.S., Ph.D. is Dean of Biomedical Studies at The Wistar Institute, the nation’s first research institute devoted solely to biomedical science and a world leader in cancer, infectious disease and vaccine research. Dr. Shuda McGuire oversees a pipeline of training programs for high school, undergraduate, and graduate students as well as postdoctoral fellows, including Wistar’s signature workforce development programs, the Biomedical Technician Training (BTT) Pre-apprenticeship and Biomedical Research Technician (BRT) Apprenticeship Programs. The BTT Program was created in 2000 in collaboration with the Community College of Philadelphia (CCP). In 2017 Wistar developed the complementary BRT Apprenticeship, the first registered, nontraditional apprenticeship in biomedical research which was awarded Outstanding Nontraditional Apprenticeship by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry in 2019. The BTT Program became a registered pre-apprenticeship in 2019, and Kristy secured funding to support an accelerated version of the BTT Program in 2021 and an expansion of the Program to other regional community colleges beginning in 2022. Kristy participated in the first cohort of the Apprenticeship Navigator Registered Apprenticeship (ANRA) Program and looks forward to developing additional on-ramps to the BRT Apprenticeship and investigating additional apprenticeable occupations and employer needs within the life sciences. Kristy earned an M.S. in the Science of Instruction at Drexel University and a Ph.D. in Genetics from Thomas Jefferson University.

Myriam Sullivan is a director at JFF, helping low-skilled adults advance to family-supporting careers while enabling employers to build and sustain a productive workforce. Ms. Sullivan’s current portfolio includes New Skills at Work, a landmark JPMorgan Chase workforce readiness initiative aimed at closing the skills gap. Prior to this project, Ms. Sullivan led Credentials That Work, JFF’s emerging work in the development and application of labor market information (LMI) and workforce research.

Before joining JFF, Ms. Sullivan served as a presidential management fellow for two offices within the US Department of Labor. As program analyst in the financial management division, she managed LMI grants for 10 states and oversaw key convenings of state and federal LMI stakeholders. As a manpower development specialist in the Office of Workforce Investments, Ms. Sullivan also managed federal grants and provided technical assistance to state- and local-level entities that administer and provide workforce development programs and services to various adult and youth populations. Ms. Sullivan previously worked at the Massachusetts Executive Office for Administration and Finance, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, and JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Ms. Sullivan holds a master’s degree in public administration from Long Island University and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the State University of New York at Albany.

Daniel Villao holds decades of experience in policy development and is currently the CEO of Intelligent Partnerships (IP), a strategic planning company focused on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) design for the modern-day workforce. Daniel’s sought-after experience earned him top influential positions in which he previously served as the Deputy Administrator in the Office of Apprenticeship for the US Department of Labor under both Democratic and Republican Administrations, the Chair of the Federal Advisory Committee on Apprenticeship, the Chair of the National Board of Directors for the Association of Latino Professionals for America (ALPHA) for 11 years, and more.

Currently, Daniel specializes in implementing innovative and accessible workforce designs that transform the way businesses nationwide approach the ever-changing landscape of the labor force. As one of the country's foremost experts on implementing DEIA strategies and apprenticeship programs, Daniel’s pursuit of fostering diversity and inclusion is rapidly affecting the way companies establish their internal diversity programming. His dedication to job inclusivity has not only helped organizations navigate vital inclusion policies, but thousands of jobs and apprenticeship opportunities have been created due to his emerging and progressive job models.

Additionally, Daniel currently serves as an Executive Board Member for the Center of Innovation for DEI in Finances, which is an emerging non-profit focused on solutions to diversify the national fund management space. He also serves as on the Corporate Advisory Board for ALPHA Inc., and he serves alongside Senior Executives from companies such as Deloitte, Goldman Sachs, and Sate Street. Over the years, Daniel’s experience with evolving industry needs has been influential in helping major employers such as Microsoft, Lufthansa, Zurich, and AON develop systems that benefit America’s workforce.

As a powerful public speaker, Daniel travels worldwide to speak on topics involving creating a better workforce for the future. He is also the author of the acclaimed book Beyond Green Jobs: Building Lasting Opportunities in Energy Efficiency. Daniel holds a Master’s of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix.

In this role, he is helping IBM and the IT Industry reorient the labor market - and talent models - to be skills-first. His team is focused on creating more open and equitable pathways to employment for all regardless of background. His team manages IBM’s Apprenticeship, Returnship (Tech Re-Entry), Neurodiversity at IBM, and P-TECH programs. In support of this mission, Tommy represents IBM externally on a number of boards: he is the chair of the Consumer Technology Association’s Apprenticeship Coalition, the chair of the Business Roundtable’s Multiple Pathways Initiative’s Metrics committee, and the co-chair of OneTen’s Skills-First Working Group.

Tommy has spent the last decade with IBM. Prior to this role he spent 5 years building out the AI business within IBM. He was the HR Leader for IBM Data & AI plus Watson Business. Before that, he helped launch the Watson Business Unit as its first Talent Leader.

Tommy grew up in Southern California, and recently relocated back to Los Angeles after living in the Northeast for 13 years. His family makes wine in California and he is a certified sommelier and all around wine snob. Tommy also is a soccer fan and big supporter of Arsenal FC.