People join professional associations for a variety of reasons…to advance the profession, to have a voice, to share information, for professional development opportunities, networking, personal pride, and for a variety of other reasons that come from belonging. Whatever your reason for joining, the National Association for Workforce Development Professionals (NAWDP) connects workforce development professionals and encourages us to develop our knowledge and skills so we can excel in our careers.
The Partnership for Training and Employment Careers has come a long ways since I first joined, even the name has changed. Today it’s the National Association for Workforce Development Professional’s (NAWDP) with a membership of over 3,000. NAWDP is the most diverse workforce development association in the country with a membership that truly reflects the wide range of partners envisioned for the system. NAWDP’s annual conference attracts over 1,000 people and many have become Certified Workforce Development Professionals (CWDP). Interest in our professional association has never been greater. We’ve got a great start but we can do more…for all of our members…through state chapters.
The NAWDP conference is among the very best in the country yet not even a third of our members get the chance to attend. We can’t change that, but to paraphrase…if we can’t bring the members to the mountain we should take the mountain to the members!
Local chapters could provide opportunities for professionals to interact, share information and best practices and to develop enthusiasm and energy in a way that national forums never will. Having been in the training and development business for over twenty five years one of the most common things I hear from our customers is the benefit they receive from the opportunity to network and interact with their peers. State chapters can provide that opportunity.
The Missouri Association for Workforce Development (MAWD) has recently been accepted as NAWDP’s one and only state chapter. Among the goals MAWD established was to make affordable capacity building activities available to its members. And MAWD has established a state certification system that is compatible with NAWDP’s. Watch for professional development and training opportunities coming soon, in fact beginning with MAWD’s annual conference July 26-29 in Springfield, MO. Other activities will follow including training programs and information sharing forums offered in partnership with the Missouri Training Institute (MTI).
Forming a state chapter will help us bring NAWDP home to individual professionals in our state and we expect it will benefit NAWDP as well by increasing its membership and the number of CWDPs we have in our state. We’ve got a great start but we can do more through state chapters. In Missouri we intend to prove how effective we can be.
Don’t forget! Register now!
2004 Missouri Association for Workforce Development Conference
July 26-29
Lamplighter Inn – North
Springfield, MO
Here are just some of the workshop topics:
- What’s going on with WIA reauthorization?
- What effect will the new “common measures” have on our workforce system?
- Working with individuals with disabilities.
- Integrating youth services in a one-stop environment.
For conference registration and housing information please visit www.mo-awd.org or call 573/751-7563.