Member Portal
Advocating for Today, Designing for the Future
SECURE YOUR SPOT TODAY
PRELIMINARY SUMMIT AGENDA
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28
Congressional Staff Panel
Senior congressional staff from the committees of jurisdiction for Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) reauthorization and funding will discuss the outlook for federal workforce policy, including prospects for future workforce-related legislation and congressional oversight. Panelists will share insights on current priorities, emerging workforce challenges, and opportunities for bipartisan action.
Join NAWB CEO Andrew Bercich for a fireside chat with Felicia Gaither, Acting Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This conversation will explore the critical intersection of workforce development, housing stability, and economic mobility, highlighting how communities can better align workforce and housing strategies to support workers and families. Attendees will gain insights into HUD’s priorities, opportunities for cross-sector collaboration, and innovative approaches to addressing barriers that impact workforce participation and long-term economic success.
What happens when organizations optimize around what gets measured? A cross-sector panel will explore measurement through the lenses of behavior, performance, tradeoffs, and scale before participants take on the design challenge themselves – building, stress-testing, and redesigning an accountability system for a changing world. Followed by a Design Session with all attendees.
Featured panelists:
Amanda Welsh, Northeastern University
Sean Murphy, Bipartisan Policy Center
Andrew Bercich, NAWB
On your own
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29
What becomes possible when we view the workforce profession not simply as a network of service providers, but as a national capability? This future-focused session will explore how the collective knowledge, experience, and relationships of workforce professionals can help the field learn across communities, anticipate emerging challenges, and grow more capable over time. Following the panel conversation, participants will participate in a design session considering the expertise that should distinguish the profession and the capabilities it will need to create greater value in a changing world of work.
Featured Panelists:
Anthony Terlizzi, CareerTeam
Jennifer Wilson, NAWB
Johnathan Overall, KRA
Fireside chat with Marek Laco, Acting Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training at the U.S. Department of Labor
This conversation will explore the Administration’s workforce development priorities, key trends shaping the nation’s labor market, and the role of the public workforce system in meeting the needs of both workers and employers. Attendees will gain insights into federal workforce initiatives, opportunities for innovation and partnership, and the outlook for workforce policy in the years ahead.
What could employers do differently with better access to the workforce system’s collective insights, expertise, and capabilities? This future-focused conversation will explore how shared infrastructure and real-time intelligence can strengthen hiring and talent practices, expand career-connected learning, and help employers—especially smaller organizations—respond to changing skill needs and labor-market conditions. Panelists will offer possibilities and provocations to inform the culminating design session on the capabilities, roles, and relationships needed in a future workforce system. Followed by a Design Session with all attendees.
Featured Panelists:
Kevin Fudge, Britebound
Terren Klein, CollegePulse
Laura Ward, Workforce Solutions Greater Dallas
Appropriations, OMB rule, WIOA reauthorization, apprenticeships,
Workforce Pell, and Medicaid work requirements
What you need to know for Capitol Hill meetings and Q&A
Dinner on your own
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30
Scheduled for you
House Education and Workforce Committee Room (2175 Rayburn)
Schedule is preliminary and subject to change.
Hotel Information
HOTEL BOOKING LINKAdvocacy Day App
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Full Summit agenda
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Hill meeting schedule
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Office locations
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Legislative issue briefs
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Talking Points
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Meeting report forms
Helpful Information
Supplies Provided
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NAWB’s legislative agenda
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Detailed Hill meeting schedule
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Leave‑behind materials
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Capitol Hill map
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Key committee lists
What You'll Need To Bring
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Who you are
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How your board serves your community
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Your local economic impact
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Employers you’ve served
Capitol Hill Rules
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Government‑issued photo ID
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Business cards
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Comfortable shoes
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Your one‑pager and success stories
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Suitcases
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Weapons
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Items prohibited by Capitol security
Hill Day Scheduling
For those participating in Workforce Impact Day on Capitol Hill, NAWB is working with Advocacy Associates to group advocates by state or region so no one advocates alone. During registration, you’ll be asked to provide additional addresses/counties/regions to ensure accurate matching based on your service area. Advocacy Associates will use this information to arrange your individual schedule on Capitol Hill.
Why Your Participation Matters
The 2026 Workforce Impact Summit is more than an opportunity to advocate for today’s workforce system. It is a working session focused on designing what comes next.
Your experience serving workers, employers and communities is essential to building a workforce system that is responsive, effective and prepared for the future.
By participating, you will:
- Help shape a proactive, future-focused vision for the workforce system and WIOA
- Bring the realities and needs of local communities into national policy discussions
- Work alongside workforce leaders, national partners, policy experts and federal officials
- Identify opportunities to strengthen how the workforce system serves workers and employers
- Inform a policy framework designed for the challenges and opportunities ahead
- Build shared priorities and coordinated messages across states and regions
- Strengthen your ability to communicate your board’s impact
- Prepare for clear, compelling conversations with members of Congress and their staff
- Advocate for the resources and policies local workforce boards need to succeed
WIS brings together the people who understand the workforce system best to advocate for what communities need today—and help design the system they will need tomorrow.
No prior advocacy experience is required. Your knowledge, perspective and participation are what matter.
Who Should Attend?
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Workforce board leaders
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Workforce staff
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Board members and partners
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Employers who serve on boards
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Success stories — individuals served by the public workforce system
What To Expect?
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A briefing on the key legislative issues facing workforce boards
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Work groups to shape a proactive, future‑focused WIOA vision
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State‑based coordination to align messages
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A full day of meetings with Congressional offices
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A Congressional reception to close the event
Getting To Washington D.C.
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Three airports serve the Washington, DC area. They are Reagan National (DCA), Dulles (IAD), and Baltimore-Washington (BWI).
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Union Station (Amtrak, MARC, VRE)