The Latest

This week marks six weeks until the start of Forum 2026 in fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada.

As we get closer, I wanted to take a moment to share some of the exciting things we have in store for you before, during, and after the Forum—and how this year’s experience has been intentionally designed to help you grow as a workforce development leader.

Before getting into specifics, I want to share an important shift we’ve made this year: we’ve redesigned the Forum to be more impactful. That means fewer sessions than in past years—but each session will be longer (75 minutes), highly interactive, and focused on giving you practical tools you can take home and implement in your local area.

It’s not enough to simply hear about good ideas happening across our industry. We need to turn those ideas into action. That’s exactly what this year’s Forum is designed to do.

We also know that pre-conference sessions aren’t always the right fit for everyone. So, this year, in addition to our pre-cons, we’re excited to introduce post-conference sessions—giving you the opportunity to continue learning even after the main conference wraps up.

Lastly, before I share some of the specific things we are doing to make this Forum memorable and the best ever, I want to recognize that this is a change from what we have always known at the Forum.  I know there is value in being in DC, but this evolution of the Forum allows us to unlock new possibilities that will make this year’s experience our most impactful yet.

DC in the Desert

Many of you attend the Forum to stay connected to federal policy and strengthen your advocacy efforts. This year, we’re bringing DC to the desert.

We’re thrilled to welcome Deputy Secretary Keith Sonderling (U.S. Department of Labor) and Deputy Assistant Secretary Nick Moore (U.S. Department of Education) as main stage participants. We’re also grateful to have The Honorable Dina Titus U.S. Congresswoman (NV-1) joining us for our Executive Director and Board Chairs meeting.  And we aren’t stopping there; we hope to have additional announcements over the next few days.

We’re also investing heavily in advocacy this year through a dedicated Advocacy Track, including training on how to effectively advocate at the national level—highlighted by a session led by former Congressman Jon Porter on making meaningful impact with federal elected officials – and sessions focused on state, county, and municipal advocacy. We’re seeing some of the most successful boards in the country capture momentum by leveraging influence at every level of government—and we want to help you do the same.

Forum Awards

One of my favorite parts of the NAWB Forum is the opportunity not just to gather, but to celebrate the best and most innovative work happening across our workforce system. The Forum allows us to elevate the strategies, partnerships, and leadership that are driving real results in communities across the country.

This year, we’ll highlight forward-thinking practices and the outstanding partnerships at the heart of WIOA. If your board is doing work you’re proud of, I encourage you to nominate your board for a Forum Award. Sharing your story helps amplify your impact—and gives others across the system real examples they can learn from and build on. The deadline to submit your application is February 19^th.

Pre-Cons and Post-Cons

This year you can choose one of these pre-conference sessions on Monday, March 23^rd to start your Forum experience:

• Mark Perna, last year’s most popular plenary speaker, presenting Mastering the Megatrends: Shaping the Next Generation of Talent

• Mary Ann Lawrence leading Are You Ready? Board Contingency Planning

• Turning Data into Action: Insights That Drive Workforce Board Impact—a session that is free for Members thanks to generous support from the Lumina Foundation. Non-members will pay $295 to attend.

• We’re also excited to partner with the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) on a special DOL-funded pre-con workshop focused on the electric vehicle industry cluster and the workforce systems needed to support everything from critical mineral extraction and the lithium battery lifecycle to vehicle manufacturing, retail, and maintenance. Board representatives selected for this session may receive up to $700 in travel reimbursement and will be eligible for up to $10,000 in planning grants through a Shark Tank–style pitch competition. Applications for the EV workshop close this Friday February 13! APPLY HERE.

 

On Thursday afternoon, March 26^th, we’ll launch three post-conference sessions:

• Working Smarter with AI: Building an Ethical, AI-Literate Workforce with AI expert, Past-Chair of the Colorado Workforce Development Council, Chair of the NGA AI and Quantum Workforce Sector Partnership Subcommittee and author of Thought Partner—The Fusion of Soul and System: The AI Collaboration, Jonathan Liebert. This session moves beyond hype and fear to focus on what truly matters: ethical and responsible AI use, real-world productivity gains, and building true AI literacy across teams. 

• From Employer Demand to System Design: Advancing Skills-Based Talent Strategies is a hands-on working session with workforce leaders, employers, and national partners—including our sponsor Walmart, the Kauffman Foundation, CBEN, and Britebound—focused on advancing skills-based talent strategies and launching NAWB’s new Skills Toolkit

• Level up your grants strategy with Grant Writing: Go, Write Win! led by TAD Grants, designed to help you submit stronger, more competitive proposals with confidence. The session goes beyond theory, breaking down evaluation criteria, proposal scoring, common pitfalls, and real-world strategies for client management, contract negotiation, and organizational readiness—so you can submit high-quality applications on time, every time. Normally $995, this special session is available for $595 for NAWB Members and $695 for Non-Members—an exceptional value for a comprehensive, hands-on grants training.  *Please note this session runs through the end of the day on Friday, so please plan your travel accordingly. (Forum room rates are still available Thursday and Friday nights.)

Partner Track Excursions

We’ve been excited to see how many attendees are bringing travel companions this year—about one in eight registrants so far. Because of that, we’ve built out a slate of excursions and experiences that we are calling our “Partner Track” to make the week memorable for everyone.  These are excursions designed for your travel companions, but I totally understand if you want to sneak away to see the Hoover Dam on Friday.

Excursions include:

• Monday (3/23): F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix Plaza – experience the world’s most popular racing series

• Tuesday (3/24): Allegiant Stadium tour – home of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders and the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels

• Wednesday (3/25): Area15, Imersive experiential museum, including Meow Wolf – Omega Mart, Illuminarium, and more

• Friday (3/27): A guided visit to the Hoover Dam—the largest single workforce project in US history

Now Is the Time to Book

If you haven’t finalized your plans yet, now is the perfect time to do so. We ask you to book your room at The Cosmopolitan, the official hotel of The Forum 2026, to stay connected to the full Forum experience and take advantage of our discounted room block.

And for a limited time, you can also save 10% on standard Forum registration during our President’s Day sale by using the code FRMVEGAS26. Tickets at this rate won’t last long.

I can’t wait to welcome you to Las Vegas and to Forum 2026. It’s shaping up to be one of our most impactful gatherings yet.

See you in Vegas!

Drew