About Us

• Our Vision
• Our Mission
• Our Members
• Our History
• Our Accomplishments
• Our Strategic Initiatives
• One-Stop System: CONNECT!
   

Our Vision

We are a regional catalyst shaping and influencing the Silicon Valley workforce investment system to promote economic opportunity and shared prosperity.
 

Our Mission

The NOVA Workforce Board provides strategic leadership to continuously improve the workforce investment system by:

• Providing guidance to the one-stop delivery system: CONNECT!;
• Being responsive to what our customers want;
• Being accountable to our investors; and
• Holding service providers accountable for results.
   

NOVA Workforce Board Members

Van Dang, Co-Chairperson	Cisco Systems
Mary Schuppert, Co-Chairperson	Symantec Corporation
Poncho Guevara, Vice Chairperson - Public Sector	Sacred Heart Community Service
Steve Van Dorn, Vice Chairperson - Private Sector	Santa Clara Chamber of Commerce
Rich Allen, Past Chairperson	Solectron
Frank Benest	Dr. Frank Benest Consulting
Dennis Cima	Silicon Valley Leadership Group
Carl Cimino	Pipe Trades Training Center
Nicholas de Lorenzo	National Council on Aging
Janeen Dittrick	California Employment Development Department
Christopher Galy	Intuit
Hilary Goodkind	Sound Principals
Elaine Hamilton	MM Hamilton Financial Group
Jacque Hansen	Housing Authority of the County of Santa Clara
Donna Hezel	California Department of Rehabilitation
James Hill	Proofpoint Systems, Inc.
Bruce Knopf	County of Santa Clara
Stephen Levy	Center for Continuing Study of the CA Economy
Barbara Malaspina	Santa Clara Unified School District
Michael Marlaire	NASA Ames Research Center
Connie Martinez	1stACT Silicon Valley
Susan Murphy	Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Medical Center
Barbara Ratcliffe	Biltmore Hotel and Suites
John Rehm	IDEO
Karin Roache	Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company
Ladan Saghafi
Neil Struthers	Building & Construction Trades Council
Judy Sugiyama	Applied Materials
Jay Thomas	Narus, Inc.
Linda Thor	Foothill-De Anza Community College District
Ken Toren	Parkinson's Institute and Clinical Center
Alison Webber	Building Skills Partnership/SEIU Local 1877

 

Our History

The North Valley (NOVA) Job Training Consortium was the brainchild of several visionary cities who recognized the importance of developing a coordinated effort to align community resources and business opportunities in a rapidly changing economy. To address this need, a governing board representative of Silicon Valley industries, the NOVA Private Industry Council, was formed in 1983 by a joint powers agreement among six cities: Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Los Altos, Mountain View, Palo Alto, and Santa Clara. The City of Sunnyvale, as lead city in the consortium, opted to provide administrative direction, financial backing, and the assumption of all liability of NOVA operations.

The NOVA Private Industry Council enjoyed outstanding leadership in policy development, enabling NOVA to become a national model for building an effective workforce system that benefited both job seekers and employers. In 1998, NOVA was singled out as "Best in the Nation" for the quality of its business practices (using the criteria of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.)

In 2000, the 18-member NOVA Private Industry Council evolved into the 30-member NOVA Workforce Board in accordance with regulations set in the 1998 Federal Workforce Investment Act (WIA). Also in 2000, the City of Milpitas joined the NOVA consortium.

The NOVA Workforce Board oversees NOVA, an employment and training agency, and CONNECT!, a collaborative of workforce development agencies providing one-stop services to businesses and individuals in Silicon Valley.

(To learn more about other workforce investment boards in the Bay Area and California, and to find out about WIA eligibility requirements and/or services, click here.)
 

Our Accomplishments

Over the years, the former NOVA Private Industry Council and now the NOVA Workforce Board have been recognized for their leadership and contributions to the workforce investment community. Starting off in 1983 with 15-20 staff members and an annual budget of about $2.5 million, NOVA now represents a seven-city consortium, employs about 60 individuals, and annually invests over $10 million to foster economic prosperity in our region. NOVA has earned national acclaim for its innovative solutions and effective business practices. Highlights of the Board's awards and accomplishments include:

• Visit from President Clinton, Vice President Gore and Secretary of Labor Reich to use NOVA as the model for designing a workforce development system that is customer-focused, demand-driven, adaptive to changing labor market conditions, and accountable for outcomes.
   
• The US Department of Labor named NOVA/CONNECT! one of 13 "Promising Practices" nationwide in one-stop innovations.
   
• NOVA/CONNECT! was selected to be one of five sites nationwide to participate in the US Department of Labor's 21st Century Workforce Summit to promote a satellite-linked dialogue among business, labor, academic and government leaders.
   
• The NOVA Labor Market Information Plus (LMI+) received the JETT*CON Showcase Award for access and accessibility.
   
• The National Business Learning Partnership is a US Department of Labor-led Peer-to-Peer Training Pilot Project. In 2004, NOVA was selected as a mentor organization for its innovative, customer-driven business services and was matched with a "protege" site in Massachusetts interested in enhancing the business services component of its workforce investment system.
   
• The April 2004 report, Connecting the Workforce Investment System to Small and Emerging Business prepared by RISEbusiness (Research Institute for Small & Emerging Businesses) detailed six case studies that exemplify best practices in one-stop systems for business services, specifically to small and emerging businesses. NOVA's Business Services was spotlighted for this study.
   
• In November 2004, NOVA was featured in the National Business Learning Partnership publication, Learning to be Demand Driven: A Case Study of NOVA.
   
• The NOVA Workforce Board was invited to present at the 2005 Center for Workforce Preparation Conference of the US Chamber of Commerce for its successes in partnering with local chambers to create effective workforce development strategies, for the small business community.
   
• The NOVA Workforce Board was awarded the California Space Authority's 2007 Buzz Aldrin Space Education and Workforce SpotBeam Award for the development of a training curriculum/certificate program, in collaboration with UC Santa Cruz, to transition unemployed and underemployed software engineers into aerospace engineers.
   
• NOVA was selected to participate, as a mentor, in the 2008 U.S. Department of Labor's PIT (People Inspiring Transformation) Crew Initiative, a project that brings together workforce investment boards and one-stop career centers from around the country and through peer-to-peer learning and coaching facilitates transformational change and innovation.

Our Nine Strategic Initiatives

To realize its vision and accomplish its mission, the NOVA Workforce Board has developed these nine strategic initiatives:

1. Adult Workforce Investment: To provide opportunities for increased skill levels and career mobility of the workforce in order to be able to live and work in Silicon Valley.
    
2. Business Community: To enhance our relationship with and relevance to the business community.
    
3. Youth Workforce Development: To ensure that opportunities exist for youth to build the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for employment and future economic independence.
    
4. Labor Market/Industry Intelligence: To understand and influence the workforce system in the Silicon Valley region through analyzing and communicating the current and evolving employment environment.
    
5. Funding Development: To identify funding opportunities and to develop new resources for the workforce investment system that support the Board's vision, mission and strategic initiatives.
    
6. Performance Accountability: To drive Workforce Board members and assigned activities toward achieving performance excellence and accomplishing the adopted Vision and Mission of the Board.
    
7. Legislative/Policy Impact: To identify and influence legislation and policy which supports the Board's strategic plan.
    
8. Marketing/Communications: To build value and awareness of NOVA services and support operational goals.
    
9. Board Development: To increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the NOVA Workforce Board.
    

One-Stop System: CONNECT!

CONNECT! is a collaborative of 25+ workforce development agencies offering one-stop, streamlined services to businesses and individuals. NOVA helped establish the collaborative in 1997 and is one of 10+ partners located onsite at the CONNECT! Business and Career Campus, 420 S. Pastoria Ave., Sunnyvale.

CONNECT! helps businesses by linking them with agencies who can find solutions to their employment challenges. This can range from hiring qualified workers to locating training for valued employees. Partners can also provide business development support. For more information, contact the CONNECT! Business Service Center at (408) 730-7830.

For job seekers, CONNECT! partners offer job listings, workshops, resume facilitation, interview preparation, and labor market information. CONNECT! also provides vital referrals to support services that give individuals the ability to transcend employment barriers. For more information, contact the CONNECT! Job Seeker Center at (408) 774-2365.