March 11, 2026 Quarterly Public Meeting Minutes - Governor's Workforce Development Board

Meeting Information

Date & Time:

March 11, 2026, 3:00 – 5:00 pm

Location:

Anne Arundel Community College, CADE Building, Room 219, 101 College Parkway, Arnold, MD 21012

Livestream:

Public Livestream

(IP) In-Person OR (V) Virtual OR (V/Ph) Virtual by Phone

Members Present

• (IP) Delali Dzirasa (Chair)
• (IP) Alexander Austin
• (V) Marco V. Ávila
• (V) Calvin Ball
• (IP) Stacey Beichler
• (V) Erikk Bonner
• (V) Charnetia V. Callaham
• (IP) Brian Cavey
• (V) Annesa Cheek
• (IP) Jessica Mente
• (IP) Myra Norton
• (IP) Tamla Olivier
• (V) Sanjay Rai
• (V) Carmel Roques
• (V) Marty Schwartz
• (IP) Michelle B. Smith
• (IP) Brian Stamper
• (IP) Teaera Strum
• (IP) Perketer Tucker
• (V) Carey Wright
• (V) Portia Wu
• (V) Caryn York

Members Absent

• Governor Wes Moore
• Ferris Allen, III
• Vanessa Atterbeary
• Carol Beatty
• Joanne C. Benson
• Samantha Biddle
• Donald Boyd
• Harry Coker
• Jacob "Jake" Day
• Jonny Dorsey
• Donna Edwards
• MacKenzie Garvin
• Kevin D. Heffner
• Matthew Holloway
• Roderick King
• Travis Marion
• Kirkland Murray
• Edward C. Rothstein
• Carolyn Scruggs
• Meena Seshamani
• Inez Stewart
• Michael Thomas
• Katie Thomson
• Betsy Tolentino

GWDB Staff Present

• Ashley Baldwin
• Shamara Bownes
• Shuana Davis
• Molly Mesnard
• Justin Nalley
• Edrees Nawabi
• Rachael Parker
• Katharine Swanson-Palmer

Guests*

Adenike Akintilo, John Barber Jr., Patrice Benbow, Genevieve Floyd, Ed.D., Brittny Pinto, L. Porter-Cabell, Maria Posey, Ellen Rappaport, Jennifer Ricks, Jensi Gerber, Sophie Bergmann, John Bragaw, Sonja Gladwin, Chandra Goodman, Rishan H, Anita Waters Hammond, Heather, Erin Roth, Brandon Cannaday, Kimberly Hiner, Michael Huber, Bridget Brown, Kara Burhans, Dr. Dwight Carr, Erica Chapman, Char's Phone, Gretchen Cheney, Yvette Clark, Eric Cook, Bianca Dacres, Kim Justus, Shawn Krasa, Ellen LaFrankie, Shirley Lake, LaShika H, Diane Roberts, Deborah Russell, Stephanie Adibe, Dave Schmidt, Sharon Markley Schreiber, Theresa Shank, Vernelle Shaw, Sherry Smalls, Michael Spector, Bruce Spector, Tina, Tracy Tyler, Lauren Metz, Peggy DallAcqua, Lconcannon, rachel davis, Kyle McColgan, Jael Delva, Lindsey McCormick, Tara Downes, Caroline Augustin, Chad W., Stacie Evans, Ntabaganyimana+Meka, WilliamF, John Feaster, Mariel Fedde, Mklase, Caitlin Willson, Jason Papanikolas, A. Young, Kendra Parlock.

*Please note, these are the guests for the meeting, guest attendance by phone could not be identifi ed.

I. Welcome + Purpose

The meeting commenced with a welcome from Chair Delali Dzirasa. The Chair grounded the meeting in the Board's mission, vision, and values, highlighting the responsibilities and specific purpose for the day's session to create pathways to work, wages, and wealth for all Marylanders.

• Host Acknowledgment: Expressed appreciation to Anne Arundel Community College (AACC) for hosting the quarterly session and supporting regional workforce ecosystem pipelines.
• New Member Highlights: Introduction and recognition of new members joining the Board, including Travis Marion (Mayor of Rising Sun), Acting Secretary Johnny Dorsey (Maryland Department of Service and Civic Engagement), represented by Deputy Sarah, and Acting Secretary Catherine Kate Thompson (Maryland Department of Transportation). Recognition was also given to Michael Huber (Governor's Office Deputy Chief of Staff) and Senior Advisor Katelyn Moody.

II. Roll Call + Consent Agenda

A review of the agenda and prior meeting materials was conducted, and a quorum was verified between members present in person and online.

• Motion: A motion was made and seconded to approve the consent agenda items, including the December 10, 2026, meeting minutes and the 2025 Annual Report.
• WIOA System Policies & Local Plans: The motion included ratification of all 13 Regional and Local Workforce Development Plans alongside the following updated WIOA system policy:
  • Memorandum of Understanding & Resource Sharing Agreements Policy (technical revisions clarifying the two-year review cycle negotiation trigger, administrative guidelines, and local cost-allocation parameters).
• Leadership Report: The Board discussed upcoming milestones, including the official transmission of the Annual Report to the Governor's Office and General Assembly leadership, and ongoing procedural updates for local board leadership.
• Result: The motion carried unanimously.

III. Committee Reports & Strategic Initiatives

Committee leadership provided a readout of key themes, priorities, and commitments shaping the Board's work entering the new quarter.

• Industry Partnerships: Led by Alex Austin and newly appointed Vice Chair Brian Stamper, focusing on defining in-demand vs. high-wage occupations and addressing technological skill obsolescence. Dr. Sanjay Rai shared progress on a collaborative cybersecurity and AI degree track, bridging an Applied Associate of Science (AAS) community college path into a four-year Bachelor of Technology degree.
• Access & Equity: Led by Stacy Beichler, featuring an early childhood care and education collective impact presentation from Montgomery Moving Forward (MMF). Highlighted that Maryland is one of only four states lacking a centralized child care credential and background registry data center, a gap the committee aims to address via upcoming state plan modifications.
• Career & Technical Education (CTE): Developing a cross-agency implementation blueprint to lay out specific year-over-year milestones for high school registered apprenticeships and credentials. Partnering with Jobs for the Future (JFF) to synthesize career coaching focus groups and connect public school career counselors directly to labor unions and apprenticeship sponsors.

IV. Progress to Goal: Quarterly Sprints

The Board reviewed reports and held discussions regarding the working groups and projects from the prior quarter.

• Strategic Performance Dashboard Sprint:Led by Rachel Davis, Angela Williams, and Richard Call (Reprieve) provided an update on the 11-week discovery sprint utilizing 17 specialized volunteers and DoIT data assets to construct an interactive, low-fidelity dashboard prototype.
• Dashboard Functionality: The system features interactive regional mapping, county labor analytics, equity tracking, and a semantic "Ask AI" conversational query agent for board members to run immediate data hypotheses. An open feedback meeting is slated for March 17th to prepare for future iterations.

V. Legislative & Budget Briefing

The Board reviewed critical items tracking through the active Maryland General Assembly session and their operational implications.

• Blueprint Revisions & Workforce Pell: Revisions eliminate a duplicative CTE subcommittee, returning key policy definitions directly to the full board. Staff are coordinating a letter of information with MHEC regarding federal Workforce Pell tracking guidelines.
• Adult High School Pathways: Rakita reported on amendments to SB 70/HB 297, which remove the GED pilot to focus entirely on the Maryland Diploma Works Pathway, allowing adult learners to combine partial GED scores, workplace metrics, and industry credentials to secure a high school diploma.
• Budget Highlights: Budget details feature $13 million for the EARN program, small-business upskilling grants for AI adaptation, and $2 million under the Talent Innovation Fund for regional tech and healthcare networks.

VI. Policy in Action: Federal H.R.1 Shifts

The Board held a policy discussion regarding the expansion of federal work requirements under H.R.1 (The Fiscal Responsibility Act) and the resulting pressure on state resources.

• SNAP Compliance Realities: Assistant Secretary Larry Handerhan and FIA Administrator Augustin (DHS) outlined federal work mandates projecting an impact of up to 80,000 additional Marylanders. The policy enforces a 20-hour weekly work average on adults aged 55 to 64, parents of teenagers, veterans, and individuals experiencing homelessness. Due to Maryland's higher minimum wage, compliance is achievable at 14.5 hours per week. The administrative cost shift is projected to cost the state general fund $43 million this coming year.
• System Interventions:The Access and Equity Committee will assume operational ownership of the state's response strategy to build a localized challenges-and-solutions toolkit and coordinate regional service intersections between local workforce boards and Departments of Social Services.

VII. Local Blocker Removal & Investments

The session focused on identifying and addressing barriers to service delivery and highlighting strategic capital deployments to support local system networks.

• Local Workforce Impact Fund: Reviewed the launch of a $3 million fund derived from WIOA Governor's Reserve allocations, balancing baseline formula tranches with competitive innovative grants across local workforce areas.
• Regional Highlights: Anthony Featherstone highlighted direct services funding in Montgomery County to cut a 1,000+ person training waitlist in life sciences, IT, and hospitality. Southern Maryland is funding a human-bridge project to embed workforce specialists in local DSS offices to mitigate benefit cliffs. Brandon Butler reported that the Maryland Workforce Association secured authorization to serve as a multi-employer intermediary apprentice sponsor.

VIII. Adjourn

Chair Dzirasa called for a motion to adjourn. Key upcoming dates were noted, including a mandatory virtual meeting on April 20th at 2:00 PM to vote on the federally required two-year State Plan modification, and the next standard Quarterly Public Board Meeting scheduled for June 10th.

The motion to adjourn was seconded and approved, and the meeting concluded at approximately 4:45 PM.