As the Workforce Development Systems Coordinator, Patti Balacek will play an integral role in convening leaders from state agencies with Workforce Development services to identify strategies to align Workforce Development programs across the state public Workforce Development system. This work aims to improve the state’s job vacancy rate, increase the diversity of the labor force, and ensure the system is responsive to our continuously changing economy and workforce needs.
Patti has over 25 years of experience in workforce development and is passionate about ensuring that every individual has a chance to thrive and grow in a career, and every business has the trained workforce they need to keep moving forward. As the Dean of Workforce and Economic Development at Western Technical College, she built and ran a business within the college that worked with businesses of all sizes and in every industry sector to understand the needs of their workforce and provide the solution tailored to solve their unique problem. This ranged from training, to starting a new apprenticeship program, to strategic planning including those done in partnership with the local workforce development boards and other partner organizations. Patti also served on numerous local workforce and economic development boards ensuring that there was alignment in the various programs being offered to individuals and businesses. As the Director of Strategy for Gundersen Health System, Patti led the strategic planning and strategy efforts for the entire organization including how all projects were prioritized, resourced and ultimately implemented throughout the enterprise. Patti has a Bachelors in English, Math and secondary education, a Masters in Training and Performance Improvement, and is a Certified Change Agent with additional certifications in Agile and Strategic planning.
