Michael Barnes

Executive leadership of statewide workforce development vision, strategic direction, and operations, creating alignment with State and Federal Government programs designed to assist individuals, communities, employers, and other stakeholders to drive improved job and career opportunities for underrepresented communities, and state economic development overall

• Lead and oversee all corporate governance and support operations including Finance, HR, IT, Policy, Field Operations Management and Compliance
• Headed creative budget strategy & leadership by directing $400M in program spending & grants, while adhering to complex state & federal funding models
• Successfully managed coordination of more than 20 State and Federal workforce programs, driving alignment from a program focus to a people focus, using a human centered design process
• Implemented program and product strategy redesign process to focus on system needs, gap analysis and improve access and effectiveness of workforce development tools and systems
• Created and implemented strategic planning and cross-functional operating plans across state agencies, community partners, and employer community, resulting in surpassing state workforce system goals
• Utilized trust-based relationships and collaboration skills by serving as a liaison by partnering with other state agencies, the legislature, institutions, customers, and special interest groups to develop and implement public policy.

Direct ownership for development and implementation of innovative solutions and projects through a growth strategy, to drive effective employer and community outreach and engagement, leading to improved connections of talent to training and employment opportunities

• Serve as liaison to statewide employer community
• Built and rolled out national & local best practices for employer engagement, resulting in $20M annual investment for training programs and serving 6000+ individuals each year
• Streamlined communications strategy & branding storytelling for diverse stakeholders across education, economic & workforce development, secondary & postsecondary education, private sector, and foundation partners
• Represented the state in various conferences, meetings, etc to translate complex data and information and advocate for the public workforce system and the need to serve various communities.

Developed and led, first of its kind role for the agency to implement compliance programs for state healthcare management agency that is responsible for more than $12 billion in social service programming

• Activities included conduct auditing, monitor performance improvement with both internal stakeholders as well as external business stakeholders
• Gained $35M in annual funds returned to the state by refining systems, transforming policies, and improving overpayments & Medicaid reimbursement claims
• Organized continuous improvement and drove organizational & client success by implementing PMI, Lean, Six Sigma, and other best practices
• Administered risk management & assessment systems to eliminate process gaps and eliminate training errors.

Responsible for daily business performance, field management and implementation of state and federal workforce programs through matrix of non-profit organizations, workforce development boards, and service providers to serve state's citizens

• Oversaw operations of 60 offices and 600 staff throughout the state
• Developed community programming around employment of justice involved individuals returning to the workforce
• Utilized analytical skills to review key metrics & track progress, identify financial strengths & weaknesses, and lead continuous improvement efforts.

• Quality & Corporate Education