**Please check your Spam or Junk folders if you have signed up and are not receiving our newsletter.**

Dear MWA Members, Colleagues, and Friends:

It is bittersweet for me to share my departure from the Massachusetts Workforce Association on November 3rd. For more than 4 years, I have enjoyed working with you to communicate the importance and impact of the Commonwealth's public workforce system, to build new partnerships and opportunities for collaboration and learning, and to lift up the successes and innovations of so many mission-driven workforce organizations and professionals.

MWA is in a strong position and I look forward to seeing the future success of the association. Valerie Sutton, MWA's current Board Chair, will assume the interim executive director role while our board conducts a search for a new executive director. Click here to learn more about the position and to apply. Kelly Hanlon, our Associate Director, will be on hand to keep the Association's work on track through the transition. I want to thank each and every one of you for your support, passion, and commitment to our Commonwealth's workforce system.

All the best,

Raija Vaisanen

Executive Director

Don't Forget to Vote! November 7th State & Local Elections

To see whether your city/town or district is holding an election, click here. Election Day is Tuesday, November 7th, but many locations are holding early voting opportunities prior to that. Click here to learn more about when and where you can vote or check out your local election division's website.

MWA, WSG, and Friends of Longitudinal Data Systems Host State House Symposium



The Friends of Longitudinal Data Systems (FoLDS), a collection of education advocates, researchers, philanthropists, and policymakers dedicated to advancing cutting-edge social policy research in Massachusetts, held its second annual Symposium on October 18th at the State House. The Workforce Solutions Group was a co-host of the event. Rep. Kate Lipper-Garabedian, Rep. Manny Cruz, and Sen. Pavel Payano helped facilitate conversations with researchers and national experts about the importance of developing and maintaining strong, secure and integrated longitudinal data systems for accountability, transparency, and program evaluation and reporting across states. H.530/S.343 An Act establishing an education to career data center codifies existing efforts and creates a governance structure for the data system. Click here for a recap of the event, including links to research shared and links to future FoLDS events.

NAWB Submits Comments to US DOL on UI Data Accessibility

Last month, NAWB submitted comments in response to a request for information by the U.S. Department of Labor regarding the use of unemployment compensation information to support the development and evaluation of workforce development programs. Across the country, public workforce systems struggle with interpreting the current federal statute and making use of best-in-class technologies that can both protect privacy and secure data, while also integrating with education and workforce data to understand whether these public investments are successful and leading to equitable outcomes. This challenge led to MWA and the Workforce Solutions Group's Data Campaign. In Pennsylvania, our colleagues have launched a campaign called #FreetheData. Click here to read their comments.

21st Century Skills Act

Rep. Norcross (D-1^st/NJ) recently introduced to House the 21st Century SKILLS Act. This legislation would convert individual training accounts (ITAs) which are funded through federal discretionary funds under WIOA (subject to annual appropriations) to a mandatory spending mechanism. Workforce boards would still be the fiscal entity to manage the funds and administer the training programs under the proposal. Click here for a bill summary and here for the bill text.