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About The Forum 2027
Lead. Influence. Transform.
What is The Forum? NAWB Forum 2027 is the national gathering for workforce leaders committed to strengthening their organizations, their communities, and the workforce system. Through timely discussions and sessions, practical learning, and meaningful peer exchange, The Forum offers an opportunity to step away from the day-to-day and invest in your professional growth.
Who Attends The Forum? Workforce Development Board leaders and staff, business and industry leaders, educators, economic development professionals, policymakers, community partners, and workforce innovators from across the country.
When is The Forum? April 5–8, 2027
Where is The Forum? New York City
Why Should You Attend? The challenges facing workforce development continue to evolve, and so must our leadership. Forum 2027 is designed to provide the ideas, strategies, and relationships that help professionals lead with confidence, influence change, and transform outcomes in their communities.
Explore the Conversations Shaping Workforce Development
Programming will explore six focus areas that reflect the issues shaping workforce development today and into the future:
- Workforce Board Member Excellence
- Workforce Board Staff Excellence
- Apprenticeship Evolution
- AI and Future Technology
- Partnerships and Economic Development
- Local Impact
Whether you’re looking to strengthen your leadership, discover innovative approaches, or connect with colleagues facing similar challenges, Forum 2027 is an investment in your work and the communities you serve.
Mark your calendar now and plan to join us in New York City as we come together to lead, influence, and transform the future of workforce development.
Agenda
April 5–8, 2027 · New York Marriott Marquis · New York City
Schedule is preliminary and subject to change. All times are Eastern Time.
MONDAY, APRIL 5
Pre-Conference Sessions
View sessions and speakers
Serving with Purpose: Building Workforce Boards That Lead, Govern, and Make an Impact
Built to Win: Competing for Talent, Employers, and Opportunity in the Smart Machine Age
From Steward of Funds to Financial Governance Strategist
Working Smarter With Generative AI: Supercharging Your Business Engagement
Additional pre-conference session details will be announced.
NAWB Board of Directors Meeting
Board Chairs and Executive Directors Session
Newcomers Session
Welcome Reception
TUESDAY, APRIL 6
Breakfast in Exhibitor Hall
General Session I: Empire State Showcase
Networking Break with Sponsors and Exhibitors
Concurrent Sessions
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From Classroom to Local Careers: Building Rural Talent Pipelines
From Reentry to Retention: Five Practices That Improve Employment Outcomes for Justice-Involved Jobseekers
Excellence by Design: Building Workforce Systems That Perform
Leading in Workforce Development: Local Governance in Action
Beyond Compliance: Workforce Board Excellence Assessment as a Catalyst for Governance and System Transformation
From Contracts to a System: Creating Consistency Across Workforce Provider Networks
Scaling Workforce Development Programs: From Local Impact to Statewide Reach
Leading Through Change: Why Great Leaders Don’t Lead Everyone the Same Way
Advocacy 101
From Strategy to Scale: How Workforce Boards Are Making Apprenticeship Work
The Intermediary Advantage: Rethinking How Workforce Boards Convene, Connect and Catalyze Registered Apprenticeship
Leading Aerospace Workforce Innovation: How Lockheed Martin & Workforce Colorado Transformed Talent Pipelines Through AMTAP
From High School to Journeyman: Creating a Construction Workforce Pipeline Without Creating Another Program
Building an Industry Talent Ecosystem: A Blueprint for Workforce Innovation
From Conversation to Action: How Industry-Led Sector Partnerships Drive Regional Workforce Solutions
Leading Regional Change: How Collaboration is Reshaping the ECE Workforce
Scaling Local Workforce Infrastructure: Human Centered AI for Regional Ecosystems
WorkReadiness in the Age of AI
AI: Enabler, Eliminator, or Elevator? Reimagining Workforce Roles in the Age of Automation
Build, Don’t Buy: How One Workforce Board Used AI to Solve a Career Navigation Challenge
Designing the Workforce Agency of 2030: Leading Through the Age of AI
Networking Lunch with Sponsors and Exhibitors
General Session II
Networking Break with Sponsors and Exhibitors
Concurrent Sessions
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Designing Workforce Systems for Workers 55+: How Workforce Boards Can Employ, Retain, and Advance an Aging Talent Pool
Reimagining Teacher Externships for Rural Communities
The Power of One Roof: How Co-Location Accelerates Employer Engagement and Talent Solutions
Burning the Barriers: How to Do Supportive Services Better. (And Yes, Using WIOA.)
Beyond the List: A Hands-On Lab for Identifying Credentials That Create Real Economic Value
Measuring What Matters: From Job Counts to Economic Mobility
The Integration Imperative: Rethinking How Workforce Boards Deliver
Advocacy 201
Expanding Opportunity: Using Apprenticeship to Unlock Overlooked Talent
Apprenticeship Starts Local: How Florida’s Workforce Boards and Partners Built a National Model
Rising Phoenix Apprenticeship: A Semiconductor Talent Model Powered by TSMC
Funding Workforce Development Projects
Leading, Innovating, and Transforming Together: Innovative Workforce Partnerships with Adult Basic Education
Leading Beyond the Boardroom: Convening and Activating a Regional Workforce Strategy
Economic Impact of Industry Sector Partnerships: a case study on Northern Nevada
Small Business, Big Impact: Workforce Partnerships That Fuel Economic Development and Career Pathways
Using GIS Mapping to Improve Data Informed Workforce Planning, Outreach & Service Delivery
AI in Action: A Human Centered Approach to Workforce Innovation
Lessons from Goodwill Southern California’s AI Beginner Workforce Initiative
Beyond Transactions: AI-Powered Workforce Transformation
Regional Meetings
View regional meeting rooms
Region I
Region II
Region III
Region IV
Region V
Region VI
Reception with Sponsors and Exhibitors
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7
Breakfast in Exhibitor Hall
General Session III
Networking Break with Sponsors and Exhibitors
Concurrent Sessions
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From Outreach to Impact: Innovative Youth Engagement That Transforms Communities
From Classroom to Career: Making Adult Education Essential to America’s Talent Pipeline
Capturing Impact: Stories, Testimonials, and Community Voices
The Room You Make: How members create the conditions for engagement
Building a Community of Practice: Workforce Boulder County’s Coaching Lab
The Human Side of Workforce Innovation
Advocacy
From Awareness to Apprenticeship: Building Employer-Led Talent Pipelines
Lead. Influence. Transform: Modernizing Apprenticeships by Embedding AI Across All Occupations for Regional Economic Excellence
Building the Construction Workforce Ecosystem: How to Align: Education, Industry, Workforce Boards, and Employers Around a Shared Talent Pipeline
Working Across Laborshed: Building Rivian’s Workforce Pipeline
Maximize Every Workforce Dollar: A Hands-On Grant and Contract Lab
The Indiana Blueprint: One State’s Model for Cyber Talent Grown at Home
From Convener to Catalyst: Workforce Boards Shaping Regional Talent Pipelines
The Future of Workforce Development is Local: Lessons in Scalable Local Workforce Board / Training Provider Collaboration
More Than a Career Fair: Building a Connected Education-to-Workforce Talent System
Navigating What’s Next: AI, 18-24 Year Olds, and the Humans Who Help
Unlocking Quatum Futures
AI: What’s Next – And What it Means for the Workforce Behind It.
From Four Staff to Greater Capacity: Building an AI-Enabled Workforce Organization
Networking Lunch with Sponsors and Exhibitors
General Session IV
Networking Break with Sponsors and Exhibitors
Concurrent Sessions
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From Evidence to Action: How to Launch Transitional Jobs Program that Works
From Ad Hoc to Institutionalized: Building a Policy Development Program That Outlasts You
Transform: How to Maximize the LinkedIn Presence of Your Workforce Development Board…as Well As You Personally!
More Than a Merger: Building One Stronger Workforce System
Plotting the Course: Why Traditional Skills Fail in Uncertainty, and How “Navigatorship” Fixes It
Content as a Service: Turning Workforce Insight into Practical Tools Communities Can Use
Shared Intelligence: Turning One Workforce Index into Your Region’s Connective Tissue
Advocacy
From Paperwork to Paycheck: One Region, Four Seats, One Apprenticeship
Collaboration Through Apprenticeship: Catalyzing the Behavioral Health Workforce Through Strategic Partnerships and Pathway Development
Neuroinclusion in Apprenticeships: How We Accommodate and Adjust for the Workforce of the Future
Making Universal Real: Building a Child Care System Without Breaking the One You Have
Medicaid Work Requirements: From Readiness to Reality
From Signal to System: Building Employer-Backed Talent Pipelines That Scale
Climbing the Commitment Ladder: From Advisory Board to Accountable Partners
Beyond the Career Fair: Designing an Employer-Led Workforce Pipeline
And Then What? Building the Bridge from Workforce Programs to Economic Mobility
From Vision to Live System: The Executive Case for AI-Enabled Workforce Services — More Capacity, Better Outcomes, Stronger Funding
Ensuring Human Decision Making for Ethical and Practical Application of AI
From AI Hype to Workforce Impact: Designing Human-Centered Career Navigation
Career Exploration and Beyond the Classroom
Exploring New York and Dinner on Your Own
THURSDAY, APRIL 8
Breakfast in Exhibitor Hall
Concurrent Sessions
View sessions and speakers
Connecting TANF participants to tech-adjacent careers: A strategic look at bridging the digital divide
Create a Sustainable Funding Strategy for Your Public Workforce System
Values & Attitudes in Action: Building a Workforce Culture People Can Trust
From Inquiry to Action: How Workforce Boards Build Skills-First Ecosystems
From Firefighting to Foresight: Strategic Decisions for Workforce Boards in a VUCA World
From Programs to Ecosystem: How regional NY Partners Are Reshaping Workforce Development Around Shared Strengths, Not Individual Enrollment
Future-Ready Workforce Leadership: Leading Through AI, Disruption, and Continuous Change
Smart Tools, Strong Talent: Modernizing Apprenticeship Management
Apprenticeships That Work: Building Employer-Led Talent Pipelines Through Workforce Board Leadership
The Apprenticeship Playbook: How Workforce Boards Can Scale Employer Engagement
Keeping the “WE” in WIOA: Building Stronger Title I and Title II Partnerships
Degree Optional, Skills Required: Lessons from the Skills-First Accelerator
Creating Healthcare Talent Pipelines: How Employer Partnerships Transform Student Career Pathways
When Growth Outpaces Talent: Building a Regional Workforce Pipeline
Driving 5X placement Gains for Disclocated Workers Using AI
AI Use Cases for Workforce Boards
The Jobs Our Data Can’t See: Building Real-Time Career Pathways for Mission Critical Industries
AI: Enabler, Eliminator, or Elevator? Reimagining Workforce Roles in the Age of Automation
Transition Break
General Session V
Adjourn — See You Next Year in Chicago!
Build Your Case for Forum 2027
Every year, NAWB Forum brings together the people and ideas shaping the future of workforce development. In the letter below, you’ll get a preview of what to expect at Forum 2027 and why it continues to be the premier event for workforce leaders across the country. We hope you use this letter as a resource as you make your plans to attend.
We hope you’ll join us in New York City next April.
Download the LetterAccommodations and Travel
Lodging
The New York Marriott Marquis will be the official hotel and conference space for The Forum 2027.
Located conveniently in Times Square, you will be situated in the epicenter of New York City excitement!
Hotel block information coming soon!
Getting to New York City
There are three airports in the New York City area to fly into. Find approximate travel times from each airport to the Marriott Marquis Hotel below:
John F. Kennedy International Airport
Taxi/Uber: ~ 1 hour
Public Transport: ~ 1 hour
LaGuardia Airport
Taxi/Uber: ~40 minutes
Public Transport: ~45 minutes
Newark Liberty International Airport
Taxi/Uber: ~30 minutes
Public Transport: ~ 45 minutes