Krissie Boston is the director and business manager for TIAA’s talent acquisition team. The team supports the needs of TIAA, the leading provider of financial services in the academic, research, medical, cultural and government fields; TIAA Bank, providing full-service, nationwide banking and lending; and Nuveen, the investment manager of TIAA. Krissie is responsible for managing the execution of activities that support the overarching talent acquisition strategy, including business management oversight, financial management, and communications. She has nearly 15 years of human resources experience in the financial services and telecommunications industries. Her expertise includes reporting and analytics, budget management, and project management. Prior to joining TIAA, Krissie was a senior HR analyst, supporting and leading multiple HR initiatives at the second largest cable company in the United States, and at a global bank before that. She received her bachelor’s from the University of Delaware and her master’s from Lynn University.

Andrew researches the challenges associated with the future of work and how our learning ecosystem must evolve to meet those challenges head on. Andrew was formerly a senior research analyst at the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. Andrew believes that preparing for the future of work is the fundamental challenge of our generation as it will determine who and how many have access to an independent and prosperous life.

Rob Kadel’s passion is in identifying and researching new avenues for today’s learners and workers to obtain the skills they need in a rapidly-changing job market. He focuses on new learning models and pedagogies, such as using immersive environments (augmented and virtual reality) in blended learning to demonstrate competence with new skills. His research spans over 20 years, including evaluating the effectiveness of learning technologies at both the K-12 and higher education levels. He has presented both nationally and internationally on educational innovations that are altering the learning landscape, such as blended learning at scale, augmented and virtual reality, and learning analytics. Prior to joining Strada, Rob worked with Georgia Tech’s Center for 21st Century Universities. He has also held faculty and research positions at Penn State and Johns Hopkins. He continues to teach online courses in the sociology of education, criminology, and juvenile delinquency for the University of Colorado Denver. Rob earned his PhD in sociology from Emory University.

Janet Salm leads a team in analyzing data and extracting and communicating insights to advance Strada’s understanding of the future of learning and work. She is committed to understanding and advancing the future of learning and work for all. She formerly led strategy measurement and analytical modeling efforts for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Postsecondary Success team. Janet believes in getting a running start on the future of work by designing systems for the most vulnerable.

Michelle R. Weise is a higher education expert who specializes in disruptive innovation and the future of learning and work. As chief innovation officer and senior vice president, she leads Strada Education Network’s workforce strategies as well as its innovation and thought leadership priorities. Her research focuses on the future of the workforce and how to connect students more directly to meaningful employment pathways throughout their working lives.

Anne McFarlan joined Allstate as talent strategy research consultant in December 2017. She conducts research and provides insight on external market trends to support organizational strategies. Prior to Allstate, Anne worked in information management/research roles at Thomson Reuters, Seagate Technology, and Boston Scientific. She completed her MA in library and information studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In her free time, Anne loves to hike, read, and stretch her boundaries in oil painting classes.

Todd Nielsen is a management analyst at Denver’s Office of Economic Development where he has served for 12 years, partnering local businesses with workforce programs to support training and career pathways. He has an extensive background in data, including being a former state local area economist for 43 of Colorado’s counties in the labor market information section of the Department of Labor & Employment. He has served on various boards and currently leads Colorado Data Expert and Workforce Intelligence workgroup to provide workforce and economic development programs data to inform site selection and program design/efficacy. In a previous life, he was a weatherman in Hastings, NE, and was one of the first to cover the largest hailstone to hit in the US. Todd is a graduate of Hastings College with a degree in communication and a minor in economics.

Amanda C. Repella is the data program lead and workforce economist for Larimer County Economic and Workforce Development. She works with internal and external partners to make the most of all available data in answering questions about northern Colorado’s current and future economy. She additionally serves on the Colorado Workforce Intelligence Data Expert (WIDE) team, helping to provide unique LMI insights to the Colorado workforce system. Prior to joining Larimer County in 2016, Amanda was focused on systems thinking, knowledge visualization, science communication, and relationship management for the highly collaborative, interdisciplinary Water Diplomacy research program (Tufts University, School of Engineering/Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy). Amanda earned her BFA in industrial design from Carnegie Mellon University and her MS in geosciences from Virginia Tech.

Sean Rae is the leader of the workforce analytics team at FedEx Office, having built the practice from the ground up starting in 2013. He manages a team that is focused on leveraging both internal and external datasets to inform and influence leaders across the organization to make better decisions regarding the workforce and operational performance. Sean’s team is also influential in the development of other functional analytics practices within FedEx Office and the FedEx Operating Companies. Prior to this, Sean helped establish PepsiCo’s talent acquisition analytics effort by introducing and integrating hiring analytics globally across the TA function. He holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing with an emphasis on new product development from the University of North Texas. He lives in Flower Mound, TX, with his wife and their three sons.

As the director of economic & workforce development at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, California, Israel Dominguez serves as the college’s primary external workforce and training representative to agencies, consortia, industry partnerships, and regional workforce groups in the region. He is responsible for cultivating and promoting positive and substantive relationships with local business and industry. Prior to joining Saddleback College, he served as the director of the Business and Entrepreneurship Center (BEC) at Cuesta College; the director of contact center operations for Fusion Marketing Partners in Santa Maria; and regional marketing director for the University of La Verne’s Central Coast Campus. He holds a master’s and two bachelor’s degrees in business administration.

Rob Sentz is the chief innovation officer at Emsi, where he leads in furthering Emsi’s vision through new and updated products for higher education, economic development, workforce planning, and human resources. Prior to his current position, he served as Emsi’s vice president of marketing from 2006 to 2014, managing a staff of writers and designers in producing newsletters, articles, white papers, and other materials on a broad range of economic and labor market topics. Under his leadership, Emsi data became regularly featured by national news outlets. Rob is a _Forbes_ contributor and has also taught as an adjunct faculty member at NYU School of Professional Studies in New York City. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in environmental science. He enjoys photography and living in the Pacific Northwest with his wife and five children.

Aaron is the program development manager for the Office of Distance Learning (ODL) at the University of Florida. He is responsible for assisting faculty and staff in the development of online graduate programs, including market research and business viability analysis, and for supporting core ODL programs and business functions with research, data analysis, and reporting. Since joining ODL, Aaron has led his office’s initiative to deliver deeper insight and superior service to UF’s online graduate programs by using data to identify new markets and build partnerships with employers. He earned a bachelor’s in journalism from Ithaca College in 2009, a master’s in political science from Villanova University in 2012, and is currently working toward completion of a PhD in political science at UF.

Sarah leads the research & evaluation team at the San Diego Workforce Partnership, producing labor-market research to identify in-demand industries, occupations, and skills in San Diego County. This research illuminates the present employment needs and indicates future trends in a way especially relevant to businesses, K-12 schools, institutes of higher education, and other job-training providers, ensuring that our educational institutions are preparing the workforce demanded by our local economy.

In addition to labor market research for the region, Sarah applies her systems-level approach internally, designing evaluation studies supporting program improvement at the Workforce Partnership and building an evidence base for the effectiveness of its work. Sarah also serves on the San Diego Unified School District Career and Technical Education Advisory Committee (CTEAC) and the Regional Leadership Group for Propel San Diego.

As the director of program architecture at Western Governors University, Kacey Thorne operates at the intersection of higher education and the future of work. She is responsible for establishing a comprehensive network of competencies and skills that are aligned to workforce needs. This network serves as the foundation for the development of WGU programs and facilitates the ability to offer personalized, workforce-relevant learning pathways. To accomplish this transformative work at scale, Kacey has established an emergent ecosystem of partnerships, processes, tools, and technologies that continues to grow and evolve. Kacey is passionate about the urgent call to action for higher education to better meet the needs of students and employers. She is deeply invested in student success and creating higher education systems that allow students to build the skills they need, when they need them.

Shannon Wells is the career & transfer connections manager at Sierra College in Rocklin, California. She oversees district wide career and transfer services and helps lead career integration efforts within the guided pathways framework to promote success and career outcomes for students. She develops, implements, monitors, and assesses a strategic plan and vision that promotes career development through the district and aligns with other student success efforts including equity. Shannon has over ten years of experience working on college and career readiness initiatives with specialties in higher education career services and workforce development.

Brian is executive director of the Sandbox ColLABorative at Southern New Hampshire University. Sandbox is a platform for concept-development and collaborative learning, and applies design-based principles and foresight strategies to help inform SNHU’s strategy. Prior to joining Sandbox, Brian was a Principal at Tyton Partners, a strategy consulting firm focused on education and human capital management markets, and a Senior Analyst at Eduventures, a Boston-based research firm supporting the higher education community.

Jeff Lynn has served as vice chancellor of workforce and economic development at Alabama Community College System since 2016, where he is responsible for building an efficient and effective workforce development system that is responsive to the current and future needs of individuals and businesses in the State of Alabama. Prior to this, Jeff was executive director of workforce development programs at Louisiana Economic Development, where he developed the LED FastStart program, nationally recognized as the premier workforce development in the United States. He is a certified economic developer trainer with more than 30 years of experience in manufacturing, corporate headquarters, IT technology centers, customer support centers, and other business operations. He specializes in large-scale manufacturing start-ups with significant emphasis on operational technology transfer. In August 2017, Jeff was appointed to the Alabama Workforce Council. He chairs the Statewide Educational Attainment Committee, the governor-appointed committee tasked with developing a state attainment goal and strategy. He also serves on the board of directors of the Alabama Automotive Manufacturers Association, Aerospace Alliance, AlabamaGermany Partnership, and Alabama Robotics Technology Park Executive Board. He also serves on the national Leadership Council of the Manufacturing Skill Standards Council, National Board of Trustees of NCCER, Governor Ivey’s Advisory Council for Computer Science Education, and the BCA Business Education Alliance Advisory Council.

Dean R. Kahler is the vice provost for strategic enrollment management at the University of Idaho. He previously served at Navitas Ltd. where he established a pathway program for international students. Throughout his career, Dean has provided leadership for multiple offices such as admissions, registrar, financial aid, academic advising and retention, first-year programs, international programs, transfer student services, military programs, study abroad, student disability support services, and TRIO Programs. He currently serves on the board of directors for the EAST Initiative. He was previously president for KACRAO (Kentucky) and has served on various professional committees, including SACRAO’s editorial journal review board, state ACT advisory councils, and AACRAO’s admissions policies and practices committee. Dean holds a PhD and an MPA from Southern Illinois University. He received his undergraduate degree in criminal justice from Winona State University. He lives in Moscow, Idaho, with his wife, Michelle, and their son, Alexander.

John Crawford-Gallagher serves as a researcher and policy advisor for City of Seattle Office of Economic Development, where his work informs policy and strategies aimed at building an inclusive economy through small business development, support for key industry clusters, workforce development, and neighborhood business district development. Earlier in 2019, he published the City of Seattle’s first report on the creative economy, which sparked conversations about the definition of creative work in the 21st century and highlighted race and gender disparities in the creative economy, as well as disparities between creatives working in arts versus technology.

John holds a bachelor’s degree in religious studies and classical music from Fairfield University and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Washington Evans School of Public Policy and Governance. He grew up in New Hampshire, but loves living in the Pacific Northwest, especially now that he gets to ride a ferry to work every day.

Patrick Holwell is the workforce economist for the Arapahoe/Douglas Workforce Development Board serving Arapahoe and Douglas Counties in Metro Denver. He has been in workforce development for over 25 years. He regularly helps economic developers market the skilled and educated labor force to businesses considering locating or expanding in greater metro Denver, or along Colorado’s urban Front Range. He has in-depth understanding of labor market forces and trends, and how they affect the competitiveness of businesses. He has also been instrumental in helping inform and maintain sector partnerships: consortia of businesses who are in similar industries who have decided to cooperate around developing strategies for managing human capital in a tight labor market. He recently received the Metropolitan Cooperation Award from the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation for his work, and the Sar Levitan Award from the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals for applied workforce development research. Patrick earned his MA from the University of Colorado at Denver.

Lesley Rood is a research consultant on Allstate’s talent strategy research team, where she conducts competitive intelligence and labor market research, supporting technology, data science, product operations, and customer contact talent planning. Before her career at Allstate, she provided research and analysis on career trends for the career services office at San Jose State University. She holds a master’s degree in library and information science and a bachelor’s in communication, with a background in sales and education. Away from work, she loves to cook, read, snowboard, and travel.

As the VP of economic research and data at the Charlotte Chamber, Chuck McShane consults with local and international executives, site selectors, and elected officials on demographic and economic trends regionally, nationally and internationally. His research has been featured in the Charlotte Observer, NPR, and Dice.com. His research and writing focus on the economic development and vitality of urban areas in the Southern United States—past, present and future. His articles and essays regularly appear in Charlotte and Our State, among other publications. His first book, A History of Lake Norman: Fish Camps to Ferraris, traces the rapid transformation of a sparsely populated agricultural region into one of the fastest-growing suburbs in the United States on the heels of then-Duke Power Company's largest hydroelectric energy project. Chuck is currently working on and seeking a publisher for a book exploring the recent history and economic future of small-to-mid-sized Southern towns. He holds a bachelor’s in history, an MPA, and a PhD in public policy analysis, all from University of North Carolina at Charlotte.