Barbara Chang, CareerWise New York

Barbara has over 30 years of nonprofit management experience in the NY-metropolitan area. She is currently Executive Director of CareerWise New York, an initiative that is introducing modern youth apprenticeship to New York City schools and companies. She was previously Executive Vice President of HERE to HERE, an organization whose vision is to unite employers, NYC schools and local universities to align and produce talent that is responsive to employer skill demands. Before HERE to HERE, Barbara was Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development. There she was charged with coordinating city agency workforce programs and education partners to optimize a career pathways approach for jobseekers and employers. Prior to joining the City, Barbara was Founder and CEO of Code to Work, an employer-focused nonprofit venture whose mission is to seed greater diversity in the IT sector by introducing qualified diverse job candidates to employers through a skills-based hiring approach. Her other roles include Executive Vice President of Per Scholas, the largest IT workforce development organization in New York City, overseeing fundraising and the training program, CEO of NPower National and Executive Director of NPower New York. She holds a Masters in Administration from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill and a Bachelors degree from Johns Hopkins University.

Becky Lee,  New York State Department of Labor

Becky Lee began her career with the NYS Department of Labor in the Unemployment Insurance Division in November of 2017 as an Unemployment Insurance Adjudicator. In December of 2018, the Division of Employment and Workforce Solutions was lucky to bring her on as Labor Services Representative int the Geneseo Career Center. Ms. Lee has been an amazing asset from her first day on our team.

She fit in easily with her coworkers and the Livingston County Workforce Development partners. There are many adjectives that we can used to describe Becky: reliable, efficient, pro-active, highly capable, but the best one we can think describes her is hard-working. An example we can point to was during the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic when New Yorkers were suffering financially from the shutdown. Our agency was trying to help with the record numbers of people looking for assistance. Ms. Lee did not miss a beat to help. She never hesitated to volunteer for special projects. She worked every minute of overtime that was available for almost two years, knowing that she was making a difference for each New Yorker she could help access benefits. Currently, Ms. Lee works with job seekers in their efforts to gain new employment. She assesses their needs, creates resumes, develops interviewing skills, provides labor market information and job referrals. She is able to easily build a rapport with her job seekers, so they work on achieving goals. Ms. Lee has a quiet demeanor, but she makes a big impact.

Harini Venkatesh, Office of Postsecondary Readiness at the New York City Department of Education

Harini Venkatesh is the Executive Director for Career and Technical Education (CTE) within the Office of Postsecondary Readiness at the New York City Department of Education. Passionate about designing effective education to employment systems, Harini supports a portfolio of 135 schools with access to quality college and career readiness experiences to deliver successful labor market outcomes to over 65,000 high school students. Harini brings a wealth of expertise from the private and nonprofit sectors, having worked in mega cities in USA, England, and India. Harini has graduate degrees in Economics and City Planning from the University Of Cambridge (UK) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. When not problem solving and turning ideas to implementation, Harini enjoys cooking, dog walking and planning for the next adventure with the husband and kids.

Irene Lew, United Neighborhood Houses

Irene Lew is the Senior Research Analyst at United Neighborhood Houses, where she is charged with using data and evidence-based research to help promote UNH’s policy priorities and elevate the importance of the settlement house model. She joins UNH after five years as a Policy Analyst at the Community Service Society of New York (CSS), where she conducted economic, demographic and labor market research to help improve the upward mobility of low-income New Yorkers—this included analysis of the inequitable impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic; making the case for investing in public transit affordability through the Fair Fares program; supports for out-of-school, out-of-work young adults; raising awareness of paid sick leave; and expanding labor protections for app-based workers. Prior to CSS, Irene was a Research Analyst at the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, where she conducted research on housing challenges and issues faced by low-income households. Irene received her Master’s degree in Urban Policy Analysis and Management from The New School. Irene was born and raised in Queens, where she currently lives with her husband and two daughters. When she’s not crunching numbers, she is running, in the rock-climbing gym, or eating her way through all the delicious food in Queens.

Jina Krause-Vilmar, Upwardly Global

Jina is the President of Upwardly Global, where she works to eliminate employment barriers for immigrant and refugee professionals, who are un- or under-employed. For 18-years, Jina has worked alongside government, business, and communities to create pathways and policies that advance workforce inclusion, working at the intersection of gender, migration and poverty. Internationally, her research and advocacy on safe economic opportunities for refugee women has reshaped the way humanitarian assistance parallels economic inclusion. In 2018, she co-chaired, alongside UN Women, an international network of UN agencies and organizations to advance women and girls. Today, she is an advisor to Pivotal Ventures on their strategy to increase the power and influence of women and girls of color.

Jina earned her MSc in Comparative Politics at the London School of Economics and a Bachelor’s Degree in Government from the University of Texas at Austin. Her parents immigrated to Queens from India, and she now lives in Brooklyn with her husband and children. Jina has been interviewed on CBS, MSNBC, NBC, Aljazeera America, the New York Times, and the Guardian, and published in CNN, Huffington Post, Times Magazine, and other news outlets.

Joo Phaik Tschang, Office of Employment and Training Broome County (Broome-Tioga Workforce)

JP assumed the Deputy Director position at Office of Employment and Training Broome County (Broome-Tioga Workforce) in 2016. She has been instrumental in assisting the Executive Director in the operations at Broome Career Center. Besides payroll and fiscal duties, JP also manages numerous grant functions such as budgeting, reporting and monitoring. She ensures compliance with the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) 2014 in maximizing services offered to job seekers In the Broome Tioga region while training interns and accounting personnel in their job functions. Before joining Broome-Tioga Workforce, JP was a Financial Analyst at the Broome County Office of Management and Budget performing accounting, payroll and treasury functions for over 40 County departments. JP’s varied experiences include working in the Business & Public Services Division at SUNY Broome Community College NY, working as web connection specialist in IBM Endicott, NY, graduate and teaching assistant at Binghamton University NY, Finance Manager at a land development company in Malaysia and external auditor with Arthur Andersen, Singapore and Malaysia. JP has a Master of Business Administration from Binghamton University NY and Bachelor of Commerce from University of Western Australia, Australia.

Marissa Martin, Advocacy Institute

Marissa Martin is the Executive Director of the Advocacy Institute. Prior to joining the Advocacy Institute, she served as the Northeast Director of Young Invincibles, leading policy and advocacy efforts around higher education, workforce development and healthcare for young adults.

Marissa has always had a passion for social justice and making larger systemic change to increase access and equity, holding several leadership positions overseeing Policy, Operations and Data teams. These positions include serving as the Senior Advisor for Strategic Initiatives at the NYC Public Engagement Unit; the Director of Policy and Government Relations at ExpandED Schools (formerly TASC), as well as the Director of Government Affairs for the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families where she led CACF’s New York State and City legislative and budget advocacy campaigns.

Marissa is a Licensed Social Worker (LMSW) and holds a Masters in Social Work from Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, with concentrations in Community Organizing, Planning and Development.

May-Whei, New York State Department of Labor

May-Whei is currently an Employment Services Manager with the Department of Labor. She is a graduate from Eastern Michigan University and is originally from Taiwan. In this role, she oversees three Nassau County career centers. She is grateful that her work with the DOL has provided her with both the knowledge of workforce needs and the opportunity to assist people who are unemployed or in need. She works with job seekers to help them identify their strengths, guide them to reaching their career goals, and connect them with many employers. As someone who immigrated to the United States 25 years ago, she especially understands the struggles and challenges immigrants face during the transition. May-Whei is compassionate, understanding, and ensures everyone is treated fairly and equally and empowers individuals to explore their options in pursuing their passion and purpose.

As a manager at a one-stop career center, she hopes to connect businesses with talented individuals. At the career centers, job seekers can find the services and training necessary to be successful in the workforce so businesses can recruit and retain skilled workers. May-Whei has had the pleasure of working with some of the brightest individuals and greatest leaders of the local workforce. Furthermore, she serves on the local workforce development boards aimed at lowering unemployment throughout the region. May-Whei ensures that customers are seamlessly referred to appropriate services available through partners and/or other agencies so that all resources and options are made available to them. She is committed to building an effective workforce system and to maintain and foster a good partnership with other agencies.

When asked about who motivates her to learn and succeed at work, she said it was the customers she meets every day. Their feedback and appreciations always bring joy to the work she does. One of her favorite sayings is: no matter what you do, you learn to love it and it's never just a job. She is honored to be part of the Department of Labor and is looking forward to what she can bring to her role in years to come.

Minesh Patel, Buffalo & Erie County Workforce Investment Board

Minesh is an experienced leader with elevated experience in project and grant management. He has vested interests in program management roles in the not-for-profit and public sectors focusing in the areas of Workforce and Economic Development, Community-Based Programs, and Social Innovation. He has strategically, and contrary to common practice, used his educational background in Political Science, Cultural Anthropology, and Labor and Public Policy to successfully carve a path for himself within these work sectors.

Minesh currently serves as the Manager of Grants and Compliance for the Buffalo & Erie County Workforce Investment Board where he proudly oversees the compliance of federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act workforce development funds for Buffalo & Erie County in addition to pursuing other various grant funding opportunities for the organization. Additionally, he serves as the Board President of Grassroots Gardens WNY (GGWNY). GGWNY is a not-for-profit organization that engages gardeners and volunteers in the cities of Buffalo and Niagara Falls to collaboratively cultivate and manage more than 100 community and school gardens and operates as both an urban land trust and facilitator of leased land. With roughly 2,000 gardeners from nearly 30 cultural backgrounds, our cumulative efforts result in the growing of over 30,000 pounds of fresh produce per year increasing access to fresh fruits and vegetables for many neighborhoods.

Lastly, Minesh is an avid advocate for animal rescue. He and his wife actively foster rescue dogs and to date have fostered and adopted out almost 100 dogs. It can be an exhausting experience at times and while their home has suffered some damage over the years they would never trade it for anything!

Dr. Prashanta “Sam” Samanta, Finger Lakes Community College

Prashanta “Sam” Samanta, Ph.D. Professor of Physics is the Founder/Coordinator of the Smart Systems Technologies program at Finger Lakes Community College, www.flcc.edu/SST . Over the past decade, working with the Ontario County Economic Development Office and regional technology business leaders, Dr. Samanta has addressed workforce needs of over 50 businesses in the greater Rochester Finger Lakes High Tech Ecosystem – key component of which is a required 270 hours of co-op (paid) experience. Earn-while-you-learn framework is further facilitated through a HyFlex scheduling option, allowing co-ops to transition into full-time jobs while completing studies – an important factor behind the 100% job placement rates, and 3x completion rates compared to the national average for technical degrees. Dr. Samanta developed eight new courses and has been teaching those courses since the inception of the program, now incorporating skills relevant for the fourth industrial revolution, risk assessment, resiliency and business continuity. In 2014, Finger Lakes Advanced Manufacturer’s Enterprise, an organization consisting of industry, high-schools, BOCES and community colleges spread over nine counties awarded, FAME STAR (2014) to Dr. Samanta, who served as a member of the Executive Committee (2013-2019) www.nyfame.org. Dr. Samanta was awarded the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1998, and more recently, Victor-Farmington Rotary International’s Award for Educational Excellence and Vocational Service. Through his presentations at NSF ATE hosted conferences, Dr. Samanta is recognized as a leading advocate for continuous collaboration between academia, industry, economic and workforce developers for addressing current and emerging skills gaps, and upskilling of the existing workforce for the Digital Transformation of the economy. In 2019 FLCC/Dr. Samanta and New Scale Technologies was awarded NY FuseHub Innovation in Manufacturing grant for a collaborative robot project. Graduate of Indian Institute of Technology, Carnegie-Mellon University, and University of Maine, Dr. Samanta has a decade of research experience in Nanoscience, including postdoctoral research using synchrotrons at University of Wisconsin, Brookhaven National Laboratories, and Stanford Linear Accelerator.

Priya Ramanathan, General Assembly

Priya is the VP of Government and Workforce Partnerships at General Assembly, focused on developing innovative public-private partnerships that build accessible pathways to GA’s industry leading digital skills training. Priya began her public sector and workforce development career in New York, working in strategy roles for government and non-profit organizations, including at the NYC Department of Small Business Services and the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation. Prior to GA, Priya was the VP of Growth and Strategy at Per Scholas, growing national campus operations from eight to 17 campuses and project managing investment initiatives that will allow Per Scholas to grow to 25 campuses and 10,000 learners trained nationally by 2025. Priya began at Per Scholas in 2015, managing its program operations in both the Bronx and Brooklyn. Priya is committed to lifting up nontraditional educational pathways that are focused on skills of the future and remove barriers to economic prosperity for diverse talent that still remain grossly underrepresented across growing industries, like technology.

Priya received her BA at the George Washington University and her Master of Science in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College. She also serves as the Board Chair of the Brave House, a non profit focused on providing legal services and holistic programming to young immigrant women and gender-expansive youth (ages 16-24) in New York City, with a focus on survivors of gender-based violence. Priya is a proud immigrant, Indian American and New Yorker.

Sunil Gupta, LaGuardia Community College, CUNY

Sunil B. Gupta, Vice President of the Division of Adult and Continuing Education and Workforce Development at LaGuardia Community College, CUNY, has 25 years of experience in higher education and workforce development. He joined LaGuardia Community College in 2021, and has since launched numerous workforce and equity initiatives such as the Credits for Success initiative, a Credits for Prior Learning collaborative effort to re-engage NYC residents who may have some college credit or prior learning experiences which can be evaluated towards their pursuit of a degree, and the CAREER Start program, which exposes NYC high school students through a summer bridge program, which is based upon a guided pathways framework that introduces students to meta-majors offered at the college through modules developed and led by academic faculty. Before coming to LaGuardia, Sunil was the Dean of Adult Continuing Education & Workforce Development at Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC), CUNY from 2007 to 2021, overseeing workforce training programs and pre-college pathway programs that served 10,000 students. Prior to BMCC, he worked in Enterprise Learning as the Executive Director at New York University, and in 2000 ran the Professional Training Programs at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. He serves on the national Boards of COMBASE , a consortium of 50 leading community colleges across the nation ( http://www.combase.org/about.php),and The Hispanic Educational Technology Services (HETS) a bilingual consortium constituted by 40 higher HSI education institutions (https://hets.org/) and is currently a Board member of Jobs First NYC (https://jobsfirstnyc.org/ ), and is a past Board member of the Continuing Education Association of New York and New York City Employment & Training Coalition. He was past Board President of the National Council for Continuing Education & Training (NCCET). Vice President Gupta has a BA from St. John’s University, an MS from New York University, and is completing his Doctorate at St. John’s University. A native New Yorker, Sunil was born and raised in Queens, New York.