Topic: Closing the Opportunity Gap Through Public Private Partnership

This presentation will provide an overview of promising practices for public-private partnerships to fill the talent gap, and will address the need to strategically align economic and workforce development.

Biography

As Vice President, Workforce Strategies, Andrea leads CBIA’s efforts to improve education and workforce development opportunities, partnering with educational institutions, government entities and sector-related business groups to ensure Connecticut has a competitive, highly skilled workforce. Under her leadership, the Partnership was awarded the 2017 STEM Organizational Leadership Award by the CT Science Center.

A former member of the Hartford and State Boards of Education, Andrea has spent more than two decades working to improve outcomes in underserved communities. Prior to joining CBIA, she served in various communications, strategic planning and development roles for municipal and nonprofit entities, including the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities and The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven.

Andrea currently serves on the boards of the CT Technical Education & Career System, Five Frogs and the Hartford Public Library, and chairs the Teach for America Connecticut Board. She also serves on Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty’s STEM Advisory Board and Senator Chris Murphy’s Council on Cities. In recognition of her community service, Andrea was inducted into the inaugural cohort of the New England 100 Women of Color, and has been recognized by the CT Commission on Children, the YMCA, the Urban League and the CT NAACP, which named her one of the 100 Most Influential Blacks in the State.