Navigating Skills-First Strategies in the New Year
Join us for an insightful discussion on the big wins in workforce policy from 2024 and what to expect as we head into 2025, hosted with our partners Jobs for the Future (JFF) and the Volcker Alliance. This session will offer valuable insights on the current policy landscape for workforce development, with a focus on what each organization is working on related to skills-first practices in 2025.
This event will also spotlight learning and action from Transformers in the Public Sector, the inaugural state cohort of the STARs Public Sector Hub. Through the cohort, state government leaders from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, and Louisiana are receiving targeted support focused on refining and implementing skills-first talent strategies from Opportunity@Work and the Volcker Alliance. Louisiana will share their experiences and insights on what implementation really looks like and some of the strategies they are employing at the state level.
Learning Objectives:
- Learn about skills-based policy initiative highlights from 2024
- Get information on what Opportunity@Work, Jobs for the Future and The Volcker Alliance are working on to continue skills-first talent strategies in 2025
- Gain insights from Louisiana and their state peers, on strategies for continuing the shift to skills-first strategies at your organization
Joining us will be:
Paige Bongiorno
Director, STARs Public Sector Hub
Opportunity@Work
Dr. Gina Rosen
Sr. Manager, Policy & Research
Opportunity@Work
Taylor Maag
Director of Workforce Policy
Jobs for the Future
Peter Morrissey
Sr. Director, Talent and Strategy
The Volcker Alliance
Nicole Tucker
Chief Operating Officer
Louisiana State Civil Service
Paige Bongiorno is a seasoned workforce development professional with over 8 years of experience in the public sector. With a strong background in career pipeline creation, apprenticeships, and cultivating relationships. She has successfully led numerous projects that leveraged partnerships across sectors, industries, and even states. Paige holds an Associates of Applied Science in Administrative Services from College of Western Idaho. She is passionate about helping people find their passions, achieve their career goals, and removing barriers to those achievements. She also loves working with the public sector and serving her community. Paige was born and raised in Boise, Idaho.
Gina Rosen is a Senior Manager of Policy and Insights at Opportunity@Work. Her work aims to shape policy to create a more equitable labor market for STARs, those workers who are skilled through alternative routes. This includes developing a body of research to understand the mobility of STARs as they transition within the labor market, as well as the experience they face in the workplace.
Over the course of her career, Gina has worked at the intersection of research and policy in a variety of mission-oriented organizations. She has developed and led organizational research agenda, implementation and program evaluation efforts, and a variety of policy initiatives at the local, state and Federal levels.
Rosen received a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Rhode Island, and a Masters of public policy from American University and a PhD in social welfare from the University of California, Los Angeles. During graduate school, she worked on research for organizations such as the Annenberg Foundation, the California Endowment, the Children’s Defense Fund Freedom School Program and the LA First 5 Program.
Peter Morrissey is the Senior Director, Talent and Strategy, at The Volcker Alliance. In that role, Peter leads the Alliance’s work to strengthen the pipeline of rising leaders into public service careers and engage with governments to improve their systems of hiring and managing people. In 2023 and 2024, Peter was detailed from the Volcker Alliance to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget to support the implementation of the President’s Management Agenda and other federal talent issues.
Prior to his work at Volcker, Peter served as a staff analyst in Office of Management, Analysis, and Planning of the New York City Police Department. Peter holds a bachelor’s from Fordham University, a master of philosophy from the University of Cambridge, and a master of business administration from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.
Taylor Maag is a director of workforce policy in Policy & Advocacy at JFF. She leads JFF’s federal and state workforce policy efforts, conducting research, developing solutions, writing policy recommendations, and convening necessary partners to enact change that supports JFF’s North Star.
Before joining JFF, Maag was a director of workforce development at Progressive Policy Institute (PPI), where she developed and launched PPI’s first workforce policy initiative, The New Skills for a New Economy Project, focusing on seven policy priorities to ensure greater advancement for workers without degrees in the United States.
Maag also has direct service experience, starting her career as a therapeutic behavioral coach for New Alternatives, a nonprofit where she provided in-home coaching and support for clients ages 2-21 who received services based on income eligibility and experiences of severe trauma.
Nicole is a dedicated public servant with over 13 years of experience in state government. She began her career as an HR Consultant at Louisiana State Civil Service, where her expertise and commitment to public service quickly led to her promotion through various supervisory and management roles within the agency. Her journey through the ranks has given her a comprehensive understanding of the intricacies of state operations and human resource management.
In her current role as Chief Operating Officer, Nicole oversees a broad spectrum of divisions, including talent acquisition and workforce development, compensation and classification, statewide training and development programs, compliance and audit functions, applications and data, and HR program support. She thrives on the constant activity and finds excitement in managing multiple projects simultaneously. Her leadership is marked by a strategic vision for enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of these critical functions, ensuring that the agency meets its goals and serves the public with purpose.
Nicole holds a Master’s in Business Administration and is actively involved in the Greater Baton Rouge Society of Human Resources Management (GBR SHRM), where she currently serves as the Community Relations Director. Her progressive career and deep expertise continue to drive positive change within State Civil Service and the State of Louisiana, where she remains committed to advancing the mission of public service and public sector organizations.
In addition to her professional accomplishments, Nicole is a graduate of the 2022 Baton Rouge Business Report Leadership Academy and holds the Certified Compensation Professional (CCP) designation. She is deeply dedicated to her community, volunteering her time with various organizations such as Empower225, BR Food Bank, Hope Ministries, and more. Through her leadership and service, Nicole continues to make a lasting impact both in her career and in the community.
When she’s not working or making a difference in her community, Nicole is a devoted wife to her amazing husband and a supermom to their two girls. You’ll often find her embracing her inner fashionista or interior designer, scouring the stores for the best deals, and turning shopping into a sport – where her mom would say she deserves an Olympic gold medal!
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