Wed, 2/23 3:34PM • 13:54 SUMMARY KEYWORDS alaska, department, opportunities, experience, work, communities, pandemic, labor, workforce, individuals, ledbetter, training, allowing, serving, global pandemic, orders, allocate, state, jason, lead SPEAKERS Dr. Tamika L. Ledbetter, Jason Caputo Jason Caputo 00:00 Hello and welcome. You are listening to the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development podcast series, where you'll hear all about how the department helps Alaskan workers, job seekers, businesses and communities. I'm Jason Caputo and today we have a very special guest, the Commissioner of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Dr. Tamika L. Ledbetter, Commissioner Ledbetter welcome. And thank you for joining us today. Dr. Tamika L. Ledbetter 00:25 Greetings, Jason is great to be here with you. Jason Caputo 00:28 So you have a very interesting background, you came to Alaska almost 20 years ago, you were serving in the airborne, and were stationed at Elmendorf Air Force Base, you and your family that made a big decision to stay and make Alaska your home. What was it about Alaska that drove that big decision to stay? Dr. Tamika L. Ledbetter 00:49 Well, that's a great question. But let me be sure that we're clear I was serving in the United States Air Force. And I wanted to get orders to go someplace warm, like Guam or Hawaii. And I received orders to Elmendorf Air Force Base, I was very excited about those orders. Not knowing where Elmendorf was, until I saw that it was in Alaska. And I thought, Oh, my goodness, what an opportunity. So I would thank the US military for allowing me the privilege to head to Alaska from the East Coast, and the rest is history. But I tell you, when you when you get to a place like Alaska, it has, it does something to you, it has a special place in your heart, when you stay here for any length of time. And, and my five year plan turned into now almost 20 years. So it's been good to me and my family. And I'm grateful for the opportunity to have lived here in this great state. Jason Caputo 01:52 That's wonderful. I think that is a common story. A lot of Alaskans can can relate to maybe they thought they were passing through, but the beauty of this place really grabs you and the people and and we caught you, basically, that's wonderful. So, you know, not all commissioners have any experience with the departments they lead, but you actually have a very long history with the department going back to 2007. You were hired as a career development specialist, then you moved up through the department to management and then leadership positions. Has this experience working at the different levels throughout the department been helpful? Now that you're leading department? Dr. Tamika L. Ledbetter 02:36 Fantastic question. And yes, I think that having a real tangible experience within the department that I now have the pleasure of leading was very critical. Knowing what the staff and team members that work in this, you know, body of work that we do, knowing what they do, understand and processes, understanding protocols, understanding the value of the state workforce, I think it has a major impact on how you frame your leadership, I had the wonderful opportunity of rising through the ranks. That's not something that happens often, I had the privilege of having supervisors who gave me opportunities, who were willing to allow me to think broadly, and to spread my wings and to be as creative as I wanted to be, as long as I was within, you know, everything that I did was ethical, legal, and moral. And as long as I could bring those big ideas to them, they knew that they could support them. And so because of that experience, it allows me to now not only lead the department, but I'm leaning forward, oftentimes the things that I'm asking directors to do, and their teams to do. Those are the very jobs that I have done. And so it makes a huge difference when you can understand the body of work, understand the passion within the people who do the work, and to be able to just have some sort of you can identify with them. When that happens. I think you have a level of street cred that allows you to influence people in a great way, because they know that ultimately you care about them. And because you care about them, they know that they can follow your lead, because that lead is leadership with integrity. Jason Caputo 04:37 And so also added to that not only the you know your experiences in the department, but going back you also have an experience as an Air Force veteran. You served in Operation Iraqi Freedom. You've you a community leader, a public speaker, a human performance improvement consultant, how How have those experiences helped you in your current role? Dr. Tamika L. Ledbetter 05:03 Wow, when you read all of that, I go, wow, he's talking about me. It's exciting. And I believe it the way it has helped me, it's all about people. It's all about relationships. It's all about how you have empathy for the people that not only you serve, but those who you are working alongside. Ultimately, every case that we have, if you're a case manager, every time you have an opportunity to assist someone with a job, that's a family that you're impacting. And if you understand that, fundamentally, workforce development is about improving the lives of people, offering opportunities, offering the connections to those opportunities, so that they can be whatever it is they want to be that allows them to contribute to our great state, when you realize that that's what you're doing. Oh, my goodness, it causes you to really work harder, strive more, to do more. And so I've had some great opportunities within the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, I started my career as a case manager. And I can go back and remember, you know, that single mom, who just, you know, she was receiving public assistance, and wanted to not, you know, be in that predicament. And she decided to go and get her certified nursing assistant credential. When you hear those success stories, and I have lots of them, it just really lets you know that what you do matter. And I like every state worker to know that you know what I see you, I hear you. And I know that your work is difficult at times, but you are doing a great service to the people of Alaska. And so we applaud you for that work. Jason Caputo 07:01 That's amazing how all those all those very different experiences really, really do bring you to this moment and give you such a grounded view of what you're doing, even though you're, you know, you were at the top of the department, you still have that connection, but to that the entry level worker, you know, and it's good that those experiences have prepared you so well, because we are faced now, with this huge health and economic crisis caused by the pandemic. And I know being part of the department, we have had to make changes, and we've had to adapt what have been some of the toughest challenges so far that you've seen? Dr. Tamika L. Ledbetter 07:44 Well, I will tell you, Jason, I first should say this, I have a personal motto. And that motto is leadership is not what you do. It's the embodiment of who you are. And I think that anytime you have a challenge, and we have experienced challenges with this global pandemic, you can look at it as something that will devastate you, or you can look at it as something that will allow you to rise above that challenge, and be more creative. I've found that in this day and age, especially as we come out of the impact of a global pandemic, I am learning to be more flexible, and to be more fluid. And I believe that it's interesting that some good things are coming out of this. We are we have a more diverse workforce, we have individuals who perhaps are reimagining what they want to do. They they are making critical decisions for their families, they're deciding whether or not they no longer want to be in a certain type of sector. And perhaps they're moving forward to more of a compassionate type of job. There are a lot of opportunities today that I think just two years ago, may not have presented themselves. And so I would say the most difficult part or the most challenging part is to help people understand that all is not lost, that there are many programs and services that the Department of Labor delivers that can assist them with connecting to that next opportunity, whatever it be, whether there's a need for funding, whether there's a need for upskilling whether there's a need to you know, you're just getting into the workforce for the very first time, whatever it may be, stop by our office, call our office, talk to one of our staff members who are right there leaning forward, ready to help but I still believe that it's difficult to help the masses to understand the wonderful array of opportunities that are at their disposal that they just don't know about. Jason Caputo 10:04 And seeing that opportunity, those opportunities even in crisis, that's a very powerful idea. And we're looking now, as we persevere through the pandemic, we're looking for those opportunities in the future to more fully open our economy. what ways do you see the department helping in Alaska's recovery in the future? Dr. Tamika L. Ledbetter 10:28 That's a great question. Also, you know, in the governor's proposed budget he allocated or at least proposed to allocate $10 million to the Department of Labor to be administered through the Workforce Investment Board. I am very excited about that, because I believe that we already have the training infrastructure in place to not only bolster opportunities for individuals, but to almost lead the way in terms of our collaboration and our networking and bringing all of those training providers together for an all hands on deck approach. And so we're looking at allocating some of that funding to the consortium between AVTEC and the University of Alaska, to allow them to do more Coast Guard related training to bolster the maritime sector, particularly the domestic center for maritime excellence. We're looking at “RSA-ing” some of those funds out allowing through the grant process similar to STEP allowing individual training providers who we know do great work, we want to assist them in allowing them to train up Alaska's workforce. Also, we're looking at targeting rural residents, we know that Alaska has a lot of rural communities who need these opportunities. We don't want individuals to always have to travel to the big three, Fairbanks, Anchorage, Juneau, in order to receive training, we want them to be trained in their communities and remain in their communities, if that's what they choose to do. So the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, has wide reach, our services are well tested, we bring people together. And we do a great job of fostering opportunities for individuals, not only individuals in outlier communities, but also within the central region. So I think this is the perfect time out of this pandemic, we have learned that it is vital for our state to collaborate with each other. Alaska is different from New York or New Jersey, or, you know, Georgia, we have to help one another. And we need to be there for each other and many of our programs promote just that. It's it's collaboration, it's integration and cooperation. And that really is the spirit of the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act. WIOA Jason Caputo 13:16 fantastic. So so many exciting opportunities to look forward to we've got this influx of resources and an infrastructure that you're talking about to get it out to every to all Alaskans all over the state. That's, that's very exciting. Looking forward. Thank you so much, Commissioner, Ledbetter for talking with us today. And thank you, listeners for joining us. This has been the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development podcast series. We hope you found the show informative, and that you'll join us for our next podcast. Dr. Tamika L. Ledbetter 13:47 Thank you, Jason.