2023 Winter Policy Forum Headshots & Bios
Courtney Arbour, Director, Texas Workforce Commission, Workforce Division
Courtney Arbour is the Director of the Texas Workforce Commission’s Workforce Development Division where she oversees an integrated workforce development system that provides planning, oversight, policy guidance, technical assistance, and implementation of employment and training activities. With 500 million in funding administered directly or sub-granted, the activities are targeted to upskilling workers and supporting connections between workers and Texas employers. Local Workforce Development Boards, Workforce Solutions offices, Adult Education and Literacy providers, and Apprenticeship programs are primary partners in the work.
Stephanie Beckhorn, Director, Employment & Training, Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity
For the past two decades, Stephanie Beckhorn has played an important and growing role in Michigan’s workforce and economic development.
Beckhorn has been lending her talents to Michigan’s workforce development efforts since 2001 when she joined the Bureau of Workforce Transformation. In 2013, she went on to serve as Director of Workforce Policy and Strategic Planning for the Michigan Workforce Development Agency and in 2019, at the beginning of Governor Whitmer’s term, she served as the acting department director.
Today, as the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity’s Director of the Office of Employment and Training, Beckhorn provides leadership and guidance for the Bureau of Services for Blind Persons, Michigan Rehabilitation Services and Workforce Development.
She approaches projects in an inclusive manner and seeks solutions that are effective and replicable. Whatever challenges Michigan has faced, Beckhorn’s collaborative, data-driven approach has enabled Employment and Training to adjust swiftly to evolving economic demands.
Under her direction, Employment and Training administers key workforce programs and systems that equips both employers and workers with resources critical for their success, including vocational rehabilitation to support individuals with disabilities with gaining or retaining employment.
Beckhorn works directly with federal, state and local level partners to provide the connections, expertise and innovative solutions to drive continued business growth, build vibrant communities, and attract and retain key talent to fill Michigan’s vast pipeline of opportunities. This work is accomplished through federal and state programs focused on job preparedness, career-based education, worker training and employer assistance.
Beckhorn is a Certified Business Solutions Professional (CBSP) and earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Michigan State University.
Lorrie G. Briggs, Deputy Assistant Secretary Workforce Development and TANF, Department of Children and Family Services - Louisiana
Lorrie G. Briggs has been a Louisiana Civil Servant for thirty-two years. She has worked as an adult probation and parole officer with the Department of Corrections, but the majority of her time as a civil servant has been with the Department of Children and Family Services. Ms. Briggs has worked in every capacity in direct service delivery and regional administration in the Child Welfare Division. She has served as a state consultant with the Child Protection Investigative Section. She was a Regional Administrator with Economic Stability, Child Support Enforcement and Child Welfare. Ms. Briggs has also worked as an Area Director for Child Support Enforcement.
In September of 2020, she became the first Deputy Assistant Secretary of a newly created Workforce section, within DCFS. The section initially was composed of SNAP E&T and Strategies to Empower People Program(STEP). The STEP program is Louisiana’s TANF work program. In August of 2021, she developed the Child Support Enforcement Employment and Training Program as an addition to the section. In 2022 she assumed administration of the TANF program in Louisiana.
Ms. Briggs has a Bachelor’s of Criminal Justice from Louisiana State University and a Master’s of Science Degree from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. In 2022, she was named as a Member at Large on the board of the National Association for Welfare Research and Statistics. She and her husband of 23 years, Raymond Briggs have two adult sons. Raymond Briggs, Jr is a resident and works in Houston, TX and Dylan Briggs is a student at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
John Colbert, Co-Founder, Capitol Hill Partners, LLC
John Colbert is co-founder of Capitol Hill Partners, a consulting firm dedicated to assisting nonprofit and workforce related programs. John served in the Clinton Administration as Chief of Staff of the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA).
Prior to becoming Chief of Staff, he was in legislative affairs for the Department handling a variety of ETA programs, including as a point person on the authorization and implementation of the Workforce Investment Act, Welfare to Work, and Older Americans Act, as well as a liaison to the Appropriations Committee.
An attorney in private practice before entering government, he has also served as Senior Counsel to both the National Center on Education and the Economy and Jobs for the Future, as well as an advisor to the former Deputy Prime Minister of Ireland, focusing on fostering the Irish peace process.
John is a graduate of Holy Cross College, was awarded the Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick full scholarship for a Master's degree in Political Science from the Catholic University of America, and also holds a law degree from Georgetown University.
Joelle Gamble, Chief Economist, U.S. Department of Labor
Joelle Gamble currently serves as Chief Economist of the U.S. Department of Labor. Prior to this role, she was Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy for the Biden-Harris White House National Economic Council. Joining the team on Day One, Joelle worked on consumer finance issues –including student and medical debt, retirement policy and labor issues. She joined the White House from an economic policy advisor role on the Presidential Transition.
Before joining the Administration, Joelle worked as a principal for Omidyar Network’s economic program. Omidyar Network is a foundation and investor focused on structural economic change. She also served as a Director and Advisor to the CEO at the Roosevelt Institute, an economic policy think tank. Prior to joining the Biden Administration, she also served on their Board of Directors.
Joelle and her work has been featured in Bloomberg, the New York Times, CNN, Fortune, MSNBC and other outlets. She holds degrees in economics and public policy from Princeton University and UCLA.
Jeff Green, Deputy Executive Director, WorkForce West Virginia
Jeffrey A. Green has served as Deputy Executive Director of WorkForce West Virginia since2017. He currently leads the Agency’s Research, Information Technology, and Unemployment Divisions. Mr. Green started with WorkForce West Virginia in 1996 as a Labor Market Analyst, and took the role of Research, Information, and Analysis Director in 2010.Mr. Green has a Master of Arts from Marshall University and is currently a Doctoral student at Marshall University. Over the past 20 years Mr. Green has served on numerous committees and projects based around labor market research and information technology. He currently serves as Chair for the Workforce and Labor Market Information Committee of the National Association of State Workforce Agencies.
Michael Harrington, Commissioner, Vermont Department of Labor
Michael Harrington, was appointed to the role of deputy commissioner for the Vermont Department of Labor in 2017 by Governor Phil Scott. In 2019 Michael became interim commissioner and in 2020 he was permanently appointed commissioner of the Department. Prior to joining state service, Michael served as the Economic and Community Development Director for the Town of Bennington, VT. He has also held the role of chief student affairs officer for Paul Smith’s College, and director of client relations and training for the organizational development firm New Directions. Michael received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, and was named to Vermont’s 40 under 40 list in 2013. He currently serves as the NASWA Board Chair.
Anna Hunter, Assistant Director - Division of Employment and Rehabilitation Services, Department of Economic Security
Anna Hunter has been with the Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES) for over 13 years. She began leading the Division of Employment and Rehabilitation Services (DERS) in 2020. DERS is responsible for Arizona’s implementation of state and federal workforce programs including WIOA, Vocational Rehabilitation, and Unemployment Insurance. Prior to her current position, Anna served as the Deputy Assistant Director in the Division of Benefits and Medical Eligibility (DBME). During that time she was responsible for the more than 50 SNAP, TANF, Medicaid Assistance field offices.
Anna is inspired by the work of the front line team members, and defines her leadership strategy as recognizing the employees who work with the clients are the most important, and it is the responsibility of leadership, at all levels, to remove roadblocks and allow those employees to do more good for our fellow citizens.
Anna earned her Bachelor of Science in Family Studies and Human Development from the University of Arizona, as well as a Juris Doctor from California Western School of Law.
When she is not in the office, Anna enjoys spending time with her husband and four young children.
John Ladd, Administrator, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration, Office of Apprenticeship
John Ladd became Administrator of the Office of Apprenticeship in January 2008. As the Administrator, John has responsibility for oversight and activities related to the National Apprenticeship Act as well as the management of OA staff in the National Office, 6 Regional Offices, and numerous field offices across the country.
Prior to his appointment as Administrator, John served as the Deputy Administrator for the Office of National Response and the Director of Regional Management in the Office of Field Operations. John has received numerous awards and honors while at ETA including being selected for the inaugural class of ETA's Excellence in Leadership Program. John also has extensive experience in ETA's Regional Offices having spent a number of years in the Boston Regional Office working with workforce development programs in New England. John first came to the Department of Labor as a Presidential Management Fellow in 1993.
John also has experience at the local level of the public workforce system having worked in Boston, MA, and Stamford, CT.A native of Boston, MA, Mr. Ladd received his bachelor's degree from Boston University and his Master's in Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Mike Lang, Employment Service Director, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development
Mike Lang has been the Employment Service Director for Minnesota since 2019. In addition to overseeing the Wagner Peyser Employment Service program(WIOA Title III), he oversees the Foreign Labor Certification program, the Work Opportunity Tax Credit program, bonding program and other statewide and local programs. Additionally, his team is currently participating in the Fidelity Bonding Demonstration grants and Partners for Reentry Opportunities in Workforce Development (PROWD) grants.
Mike started with Minnesota’s Employment Service program in the summer of 1999 as a contractor developing a website for a local AJC during summer break before his senior year of high school. This transitioned to an internship during his senior of high school. He continued his employment with the ES program throughout completion of his Bachelor of Arts Degree with a dual major in Sociology and Creative Writing. He found the passion to make workforce development his career while facilitating job clubs during the Great Recession.
He is a lifelong resident of Minnesota and resides in a suburb of St. Paul with his wife Danae who works in health care and three young children.
Adam Leonard, Director of Information Innovation & Insight, Texas Workforce Commission
Adam Leonard is the Director of the Division of Information Innovation & Insight (I|3) for the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC). Adam envisioned and founded I|3 to help TWC leverage its most important untapped resource - its data – to help the agency and its partners better help employers, individuals, families, and communities achieve economic prosperity.
I|3 has four major areas of responsibility:
- Analytics Infrastructure Department – building out our modern data infrastructure and democratizing our data by creating intuitive online dashboard and analysis tools;
- Business Transformation – applies process improvement protocols to help program and policy-makers improve effectiveness and ideally transform entire business processes;
- Labor Market Information – gathers, analyzes, and disseminates key Labor Market and Labor Market Adjacent information help drive effective decision making; and
- Analytics & Evaluation – applies modern data science and traditional statistical research techniques to better understand our programs & system and how to improve them.
Since joining TWC in 2003, Adam has worked extensively with federal, state, and local partners to improve the use of data in both the Texas and national workforce systems. He continues to influence the national conversation about the use of data in the public sector serving on several NASWA committees and subcommittees relating to data, technology, and accountability as well as the Department of Labor’s State Data Workgroup, the National Skills Coalition’s Workforce Data National Advisory Panel, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s JEDx Initiative, the Education Department’s Rethink Performance workgroup, and various P20W+ Communities of Innovation. He is also helping guide development of the Southern Regional Data Collaborative and participating in the Midwest State Regional Data Collaborative governance meetings. Other key recent partnerships have been with the Coleridge Initiative and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Adam earned a BA in Government from the University of Texas and a MPAff from the LBJ School of Public Affairs.
Matt Lyons, Senior Director, Policy & Practice, American Public Human Services Association (APHSA)
Matt Lyons is the Senior Director of Policy & Practice with the American Public Human Services Association (APHSA). In his role, Matt oversees the organization’s national policy influence agenda and state and local implementation support strategies.
Prior to joining APHSA, Matt served in a variety of roles in state and local government, including administering economic support programs for Maryland's human services agency, managing disaster recovery programs for the State of New Jersey, and coordinating the delivery of housing and healthy homes programs for the City of Baltimore. Matt also has worked for a non-profit research institute, leading technical assistance, data analysis, and information system design and implementation for human services programs across the country.
Matt lives in New Jersey with his partner (Kathryn), two little ones (Sam and Charlie), and his trusted dog/work buddy (Pepper). He has an undergraduate degree in Government and Politics and a Master of Public Policy from the University of Maryland.
Jason McCandless, Assistant Deputy Secretary, Division of Workforce Services for Florida Department of Economic Opportunity
Jason McCandless is the Assistant Deputy Secretary, Division of Workforce Services for Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO). Prior to his current job, Jason was the Vice Commander of Space Delta 4, Buckley Space Force Base, Colorado. Jason is retired from the United States Space Force, after serving more than 20 years. He was commissioned through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps at Saint Joseph’s University and graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 2002. His career includes Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) operations and space operations in the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) program. Jason has served staff assignments at Headquarters, Air Force Space Command and Headquarters, United States Air Force.
Hoa Pham, Director, Bureau of Employment Programs, Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, Office of Income Maintenance
Hoa currently serves as the Director for the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services’ Bureau of Employment programs, where she oversees the Commonwealth’s portfolio of employment and training programs and policies designed to build long term economic stability with and for TANF and SNAP recipients. This includes ongoing partnership and systems-building with state and federal interagency partners related to workforce development, education, human services and target population-specific stakeholders.
A lifelong public servant, Hoa’s career spans the social impact sector, including experience as a direct service provider, program manager, intermediary, and funder. With a lifelong commitment to learning, she channels these perspectives to build stronger, more collaborative solutions for communities in need. She has also served on the advisory and steering committees of over a dozen region-wide initiatives ranging from prison reform efforts to targeted neighborhood revitalization.
Erin Roth, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Maryland Department of Labor
Erin Roth currently serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Maryland Department ofLabor’s Division of Workforce Development and Adult Learning. In this role, she helps lead the division, which oversees a budget of approximately $160 million of federal and state funds and 460 employees. Throughout her tenure with the Department, Ms. Roth has led major initiatives and innovations for the state’s workforce system, many of which have been apprenticeship related and focused on supporting jobseekers with barriers to employment. Roth holds a Bachelor of Arts in Global Studies from Loyola University Maryland, a Master’s in Public Policy from Johns Hopkins University.
Scott B. Sanders, President and CEO, NASWA
Scott B. Sanders has been the President and CEO of the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA) since October 2014. He manages the association of state administrators who handle workforce training, unemployment insurance, employment services, employment statistics, labor market information programs and veteran reemployment in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and US Territories. The association provides advocacy at the national level for a more effective workforce system, and engages with the US Department of Labor, employers and the public.
He previously served as Commissioner of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD) and was a member of the cabinet of Governor Michael Pence and Governor Mitchell Daniels. DWD managed and implemented training and employment programs for Hoosiers, collaborated on regional economic growth initiatives for Indiana, coordinated the adult education system, and oversaw the unemployment insurance system. He was also involved in the launching of JAG in Indiana in 2007.
Scott currently serves on the boards for Jobs for America’s Graduates, LMI Institute (Chair 2020-2021) and the UWC Foundation. He also served on the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board from February 2019-January 2021.
Scott also has over 20 years of private sector experience prior to his role at DWD.
Scott earned his master’s degree in business administration from Northwestern University’s J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management and his bachelor’s degree from Miami University.
Martin J. Walsh, Secretary, United States Department of Labor
Secretary Martin J. Walsh, was born and raised in the Boston neighborhood of Dorchester by immigrant parents. He later served as a Massachusetts state representative and followed that by serving as Mayor of the City of Boston for seven years. In that role, he promoted high-quality workforce development and created a program called Building Pathways which has become a model for increasing diversity in the workplace and providing good career opportunities for women and people of color.
Secretary Walsh is a survivor of Burkitt lymphoma and a proud member of the recovery community who has worked to expand addiction treatment throughout his career.
He leads the U.S. Department of Labor with a strong connection to working people and a commitment to creating an economy that works for all.
