Meet Dan
I am a father of 3 daughters, two who are currently students within D65 schools (one at Washington and one at Nichols). My oldest daughter started Kindergarten at Washington and is now a freshman at ETHS.
I was born in Evanston and we moved away soon after; however, we moved back when I was starting 5th grade. I went to Orrington for a year and then Haven Middle School and graduated from ETHS. I went to the University of Illinois Chicago for 2 years and then transferred and graduated from American University in Washington D.C. with a degree in Environmental Science.
My employment experience over the last 15 years is in Public Policy, Advocacy, and Government Administration with a focus on Workforce Development and public programs.
Current Role:
Regional Director of the Midwest Region for Employment and Training Administration (ETA) of the United States Department of Labor (USDOL).
I oversee programs and funding for the 10 states in the Midwest, managing approximately $6 billion in taxpayer-funded, workforce-related programming allocated to states, municipalities, and community-based organizations.
Previous Roles:
- Associate Director over the Office of Workforce Development for the Illinois Department of Human Services (2019—2023). Appointed by Gov. Pritzker at the request of DHS Secretary Grace Ho (now Deputy Governor for Health and Human Services).
- Workforce Program Consultant for the Office of Workforce Development at IDHS (2017—2019) — Designed and implemented new federally funded workforce programs serving low-income adults on SNAP (SNAP to Success).
- SNAP Employment and Training Workforce Consultant at Seattle Jobs Initiative (2016—2017) until Illinois recruited me to design and implement a new program for DHS.
- Director of Policy and Advocacy at the Chicago Jobs Council (2010—2016) — Focused on employment and training services for the hardest-to-serve jobseekers.
- State Policy Coordinator at Feeding America (2009—2010) — Focused on national anti-hunger initiatives.
- Director of Advocacy for Anixter Center (2004-2009) — Advocated for and empowered adults with disabilities to improve State funded services and policies.