Over 200 staff members from workforce development partners and service providers gathered on March 1 in Moses Lake for the 2024 Columbia Basin Workforce Collaboration Summit. The summit is an annual convening that focuses on improvement of customer access, partner collaboration, and professional and personal development. This valuable one-day event allowed partners from education, health, technology, training, housing and more to share resources from their areas of expertise, helping to expand the community knowledge base to better serve customers.
Thank you to the event planning committee, which included Washington State Employment Security Department, OIC of Washington, DSHS, Big Bend Community College, and SkillSource. Thank you to Mitch Weary from OIC for emceeing the event. And a very special thank you to Big Bend Community College for hosting the event at the Masto Conference Center space, and for sponsoring the keynote speaker, Horacio Sanchez of Resiliency Inc.
Horacio Sanchez shared a presentation on the poverty impact, and the ramifications to cognitive, emotional, and social development and health. One attendee shared, “The keynote speaker was very engaging and I liked the fact that he used both humor and seriousness in his session. It made me think about the ways that I can incorporate the tips and tools he talked about to not only reverse damage caused by trauma but also improve my focus.”
The summit included 20 breakout sessions that ranged from topics such as artificial intelligence and employability, new metrics for gauging economic outlook, hunger and housing resources, and how to effectively engage in storytelling to enact social change. Ample opportunities for networking and small discussions kept attendees engaged and inspired, strengthening established connections across individuals and partners, and fostering new ones.
This event was truly collaborative, and was the largest of its kind in six years! We are incredibly grateful to all staff, board members, partners, and speakers for their unique contributions that made this Workforce Collaboration Summit a success.
photos courtesy of Big Bend Community College
