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Madison, Wisconsin – Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) Secretary Ray Allen has been named Region V Director of the National Association of State Workforce Agencies’ (NASWA) Board of Directors.
“I am honored to accept the appointment of Region V Director to the NASWA board, and look forward to identifying innovative solutions to continue to move the nation’s workforce forward,” Secretary Allen said. “We have done a lot of great things in Wisconsin, and organizations like NASWA allow for the free flow of ideas and provides a forum to identify best practices that can be implemented here, and across the nation.”
NASWA is a national organization of state administrators of the publicly-funded state workforce system, including the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), employment services, training programs, unemployment insurance, employment statistics and labor market and workforce information. Region V of NASWA consists of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio.
Secretary Allen has held several private and public-sector positions which have given him a unique perspective on a variety of issues.
As Secretary of DWD, he oversees the operations of a state agency with roughly 1,600 employees and an annual budget of $450 million. He joined state government in 1987, when he was appointed to serve in the Department of Industry, Labor and Human Relations. He was later appointed to the Department of Employment Relations where he supervised the Division of Affirmative Action, the State Employee Assistance Program, and the state’s Totally Quality Management Training Program. Prior to joining DWD, Secretary Allen served as the Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions.
In addition to his wealth of public sector experience, he is the former publisher and owner of The Madison Times, a weekly newspaper, and is currently the Vice President of Madtown Paradies, which operates retail stores in Dane County’s Regional Airport.
