YouthNet InfoXchange 2008 “The WIA Walkabout”

Workforce Alliance Youth Council recently held its third annual YouthNet InfoXchange, a half-day conference for trainers and youth service providers serving the region. “The WIA Walkabout” was the core of the event. Six youth program providers gave a series of 15-minute presentations to small groups at Gateway Community College in North Haven. More than 100 attendees moved from classroom to classroom (the Walkabout) allowing each participant to attend all the presentations.

The conference opened with information about working with the Workforce Alliance, including a call for broad participation and collaboration in upcoming requests for proposals for WIA youth programming. Information drove all aspects of YouthNet InfoXchange, from the resource tables where attendees distributed brochures and materials about their organizations, to the buzz of networking that continued throughout the morning.

A special thanks to all of those workforce professionals who made presentations:

Developing Tomorrow’s Professionals Steven Hoag  (State Department of Education) Middlesex Partners for Youth (Middletown Ad. ED) Mark Potish Crystal Petig (Youth) Andrew Lowe (Youth) ACES/Youth Employability Program      Barbara Green  (ACES) Glenn Merritt  (Yale New Haven Hospital) Anthony Haynes (Youth)		ACE Mentoring Shawna Bartkus  (Dewberry Architects) Fire Cadet Training Program Abe Colon (New Haven Fire Dept) Knowledge Network Ann Bubriski Peter McKenize Thomas Wiggins (Youth)
And thanks also to the stalwarts on the YouthNet planning committee, who work diligently to make the YouthNet InfoXchange valuable for all who attend:
Youth Council Members Mary Ann O’Brien, New Haven Board of Education Barbara Green, ACES Maureen Wagner, CT Department of Education Iris Crespo, New Life Corporation Jim Ieronimo, United Way of Greater Meriden		Workforce Alliance Support Robert Fort Frank Milone Chris Reardon Marita Shurkus

Barbara Green (ACES), Glenn Merritt (Yale New Haven Hospital), and Anthony Haynes (Youth Council Member, ACES student)		Abe Colon (Fire Cadet Training Program) and Linda Kobylarz (Career Development Consultant, Kobylarz & Associates)		Cindy Semrau (Quinnipiac Chamber of Commerce), Peter McKenzie Knowledge Network), Thomas Wiggins (Youth Participant)
Andrew Lowe and Crystal Petig (Students at Middletown Adult Ed)		Marta Velez (New Haven Adult Ed) and Maureen Wagner (State Department of Education)		Mike Buccilli (Women and Family Center, Meriden) and John Brancato (Workforce Alliance)