Following a competitive national search, the Board of Directors is thrilled to announce the hiring of Sherazade Langlade-Hunter as the new Chief Executive Officer for Workforce Professionals Training Institute (WPTI), effective August 28, 2023.
Colin H. Mincy, Board Chair for WPTI, shared his great enthusiasm that Sherazade Langlade-Hunter is the right leader at the right time to lead WPTI, saying, “The Board and I could not be more confident in the future of WPTI given the dedicated and talented team of practitioners already assembled and Sherazade as our new leader. Sherazade brings workforce development, program management, non-profit consulting, and extensive training experience. We are inspired and prepared, along with our team, to act on a vision and strategy that broadens, deepens, and strengthens WPTI’s service to the NYC workforce ecosystem, where we center equity in our internal ways of messaging and working as well as how we structure our programming and offerings.”
Joan Rosenthal, Vice-Chair of the WPTI Board, commented, “Sherazade’s return to WPTI is an exciting and transformational moment in WPTI’s great history. I’m looking forward to supporting her leadership and working tirelessly to ensure that our incredible offerings and service to the workforce development field continue at a moment where connecting our community to quality jobs has never been more critical, particularly for women and people of color who have been most affected by the pandemic.”
Sherazade Langlade-Hunter has had a successful career as a leader in the non-profit space and is a change management, organizational design, and strategy expert with experience in building and supporting high-performance teams. She returns to WPTI, having served the organization well earlier in her career. Sherazade comes to WPTI from Community Resource Exchange (CRE), where she worked as a Director, leading engagements for diverse client groups, with a particular focus on inclusive and fair practices. Her service to the workforce and the broader mission-driven local community also includes senior roles at JobsFirstNYC, Neighborhood Trust Financial Partners, NYC Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development, and seven years at Upwardly Global.
Sherazade Langlade-Hunter shared her excitement for the work ahead and working with the team on a shared vision, saying, “WPTI has long been a vital and trusted resource, partner and community for the workforce development field. Our purpose is more needed and urgent than ever as we experience, and predict, increasing changes in the workforce, our economy and our society more broadly. Our goal is transformation - for practitioners, programs, organizations and the workforce development system; and WPTI will continue to reimagine, innovate and deliver. I am grateful to the Board, our dynamic team, partners and investors for welcoming me back to WPTI."
Blake Foote, a long-time WPTI Board member and a trusted and seasoned workforce leader, stepped into the interim position to lead the organization in February and is completing the transition to Sherazade. The organization thanks Blake for her leadership and support of the staff and its work during this transition and looks forward to her returning to the Board to further support Sherazade’s vision and WPTI as it celebrates its 20th year of operations and impact in 2024.
About WPTI
WPTI is New York City's workforce development community's leading education and capacity-building organization. Since 2004, WPTI has trained over 10,000 workforce practitioners from over 1,000 programs that collectively serve more than 500,000 jobseekers and incumbent workers. WPTI’s mission is to increase the effectiveness of people, programs, and organizations committed to generating pathways out of poverty through employment. Applying comprehensive, direct program experience and resources, including industry experts, direct employer input, academic research and field surveys, labor market information, and adult learning principles, we help our clients create a better prepared workforce for the economy of the future. We disseminate best practices and forge partnerships among thousands of workforce practitioners, employers, funders, and government agencies to develop systemic workforce improvements for the long-term economic growth of individuals, families, and communities.