Rotary Lunch Program: Heather Ficht + East Cascades Works
On Tuesday, June 4, our lunch program will be a presentation entitled “The State of the Workforce in Central Oregon” from Heather Ficht, Executive Director of East Cascades Works.
Heather is the Executive Director of the East Cascades Works, a non-profit serving the ten counties on the east slope of the Cascades Mountain range in Oregon including Hood River, Wasco, Sherman, Wheeler, Gilliam, Jefferson, Crook, Deschutes, Lake and Klamath counties.
East Cascades Works mission is to support the talent needs of employers, and maximize and align investments in the career goals of individuals to fuel a thriving economy.
Heather has over 25 years’ experience in workforce development in Oregon, ranging from direct service to working for local workforce boards. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from University of Wisconsin Madison and her Master’s in Social Work from Portland State University. Heather has supported the start-up of several organizations as well as programs and has extensive experience with youth workforce programming and re-engagement strategies that launch young people on to careers.
Currently, Heather serves as a member of the state’s Workforce and Talent Development Board and is immediate past Chair of her industry partnership in Oregon called Oregon Workforce Partnership (OWP), a collaboration of the 9 local workforce boards in Oregon. She also serves on the state’s oversight body for the public workforce system in Oregon along with state agency leaders called the Workforce System Executive Team (WSET) and as a member of the Oregon Governor’s Workforce and Talent Development Board.
We’ll be in our usual room at the Riverhouse – Deschutes South.
