Workforce Innovations is the nation's premier conference for America's successful workforce investment leaders, decision-makers and change agents.
If you weren't able to attend this year's unique conference to explore the links between workforce investment and economic development -- check out live video clips from the plenaries and presentations from some of the workshops.
Elaine L. Chao is the nation’s 24th Secretary of Labor, representing a new generation of American leadership. Since her confirmation by the United States Senate on January 29, 2001, she has been dedicated to carrying out the Department of Labor’s mission of inspiring and protecting the hardworking people of America. She is respected as an effective and articulate champion of the nation’s contemporary workforce, acting quickly to focus the Labor Department on the modern realities of workers’ lives.
When President George W. Bush nominated Elaine L. Chao, the first Asian-American woman appointed to a President’s cabinet in U.S. history, he described her as an individual with “strong executive talent, compassion, and commitment to helping people build better lives.”
Secretary Chao’s compassionate nature stems from her own background as an immigrant to this country at the age of eight. Her family’s experience transitioning to a new country, supported by one another and the kindness of friends and neighbors, taught her that encouragement is the key to fostering independence, and that Americans are naturally compassionate people. This inspired her to dedicate most of her professional life to ensuring that people have the opportunity to pursue lives of dignity and financial independence.
As Director of the Peace Corps, she was one of the first Americans to personally embrace the people of the former communist bloc into the family of democratic nations, establishing Peace Corps programs in the Baltic nations of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union. Later, as President and Chief Executive Officer of United Way of America, she restored public trust and confidence after the organization was tarnished by mismanagement and financial abuse, thus preserving the nation’s largest institution of private charitable giving.