REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Appoint New Members to the NOVA Workforce Board
Report
BACKGROUND
The federal Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998 stipulates the composition, roles and responsibilities of the local workforce board. The chief local elected official appoints the local workforce board; the Sunnyvale City Council serves as the Chief Local Elected Official for the NOVA consortium. The local workforce board determines how many seats are on the board, and is required to have a majority of representatives from business and representation from at least the following stakeholders:
• Business Executives (majority and chair)
• Education providers
• Labor Organizations
• Community-based organizations
• Economic development agencies
• One-Stop partners
The roles and responsibilities of NOVA Workforce Board members include (but are not limited to):
• Take a leadership role in forging a strong and vital partnership between business and the workforce development community, resulting in an entrepreneurial, market-driven, accountable and exceptional workforce investment system;
• Contribute specific expertise from key industries and articulate evolving industries' needs, critical to aligning our workforce with the jobs of the 21st Century;
• Develop and approve policy for workforce initiatives in the NOVA service-delivery area;
• Help create and provide oversight of a strategic plan;
• Evaluate and monitor program performance according to specified outcomes and measures; and,
• Promote the NOVA Workforce Board and workforce through collaboration and relationship building with other businesses, organizations and groups.
EXISTING POLICY
Council Policy 5.1.1: Socio-Economic - Goals and Policies: Education and Training Goal 5.1F: Provide job training and employment services, within constraints of operative Federal regulations and available Federal funding, to address the locally-determined employment and training needs of economically disadvantaged residents and others with special needs.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
N/A
DISCUSSION
The NOVA Workforce Board Nominating Committee is comprised of Sunnyvale City Council member Tara Martin-Milius and NOVA Workforce Board Co-chairpersons Steve Van Dorn and Dennis Cima. The Nominating Committee is charged with the responsibility of recommending candidates for appointment to the NOVA Workforce Board, for consideration by the Sunnyvale City Council. The Nominating Committee is recommending appointment of two candidates to the NOVA Workforce Board because of the individual strengths and assets each candidate can bring to the NOVA Workforce Board. In addition, these nominations will fill WIA mandated seats.
About The Candidates
Ms. Madeleine Case
Northern California Regional Coordinator
Building Skills Partnership
Building Skills Partnership (BSP), a unique statewide labor-sponsored training partnership, brings together diverse organizations that include the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), unionized janitorial contractors and businesses to increase low income, immigrant families' job skills, educational achievement and access to benefits and community resources. As Northern California Regional Coordinator, Ms. Case is responsible for directing the organization's training, fundraising and staff in the Bay Area and Sacramento region and maintaining and growing employer and other key stakeholder relationships. Ms. Case brings to the NOVA Workforce Board significant experience in the training of lower-skilled workers through an extensive network of labor-management partnerships that will be invaluable to the Board as it seeks to raise the skill levels, close the digital divide and expand advancement opportunities for disadvantaged workers into higher-wage jobs.
Ms. Katherine Harasz
Deputy Executive Director and General Counsel
Housing Authority of the County of Santa Clara
The Housing Authority of the County of Santa Clara (HACSC), through partnerships in the community, develops and subsidizes housing for over 17,000 households in Santa Clara County. As Deputy Executive Director and General Counsel, Ms. Harasz is responsible for overseeing the operations of the organization and supporting the administration of the county's Section 8 program. Ms. Harasz represents HACSC's commitment to provide affordable housing solutions to enable the county's low-income residents achieve financial stability and self-reliance, which includes promoting access to education, job-readiness and suitable employment. Ms. Harasz brings to the NOVA Workforce Board over twenty years of experience in government, leadership in the housing field and an interest in forging community partnerships that will be invaluable to the Board as it works to assist low income workers obtain the necessary skills and resources to secure self-sufficient employment to support themselves and their families.
These appointments comply with the requirements of the federal Workforce Investment Act.
FISCAL IMPACT
No fiscal impact.
PUBLIC CONTACT
Public contact was made by posting the Council agenda on the City's official-notice bulletin board outside City Hall, at the Sunnyvale Senior Center, Community Center and Department of Public Safety; and by making the agenda and report available at the Sunnyvale Public Library, the Office of the City Clerk and on the City's website.
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Appoint Ms. Madeleine Case and Ms. Katherine Harasz to the NOVA Workforce Board.
Staff
Prepared by: Eileen Stanly, Analyst
Reviewed by: Kris Stadelman, Director, NOVA Workforce Services
Reviewed by: Robert A. Walker, Assistant City Manager
Approved by: Deanna J. Santana, City Manager