By Michael Woestehoff, CEO
MPS (Navajo)
The premier workforce development conference returns to Arizona this May!
Workforce Development Conference 2026 Convenes in Phoenix
The 42nd National Association of Workforce Development Professionals (NAWDP) Annual Conference arrives at the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown from May 18-20, 2026, gathering more than 1,700 professionals from workforce boards, tribal programs, community colleges, and federal agencies.
Founded in 1984, NAWDP has spent 42 years equipping practitioners who serve Native populations and rural communities. This year’s theme, “Rising to the Challenge,” speaks directly to the work Ellsworth carries out every day across Indian Country.
Native Voices Shaping Tribal Workforce Strategy
Three days of programming will feature more than 90 sessions, including critical Tribal-focused content. Thurman Roberts, Tribal Career Navigator at Nevadaworks and an enrolled Washoe member with Paiute lineage, has built partnerships with 22 Northern Nevada tribes and five tribal agencies. Furthermore, Dr. Alexandria Wright of Blue Stone Strategy Partners brings two decades of economic analysis serving Our Relatives, having facilitated the Northern Nevada American Indian Workforce Development Strategic Plan engaging 22 Native Nations.
Additionally, Lori Frazier Bearden, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Labor ETA, will deliver federal policy insights affecting workforce pipelines, while Christy Boelter of ARIZONA@WORK Maricopa County rounds out the trainer roster.
Ellsworth Champions Culturally Competent Native Workforce Development
Ellsworth is genuinely excited about the workforce development conference 2026 and the conversations ahead. As we continue serving tribal and rural communities through IHS staffing, our work increasingly centers on solving Indian Country’s largest interconnected challenges, namely housing access, workforce pipelines, and creating new on-ramps for Native students entering the job force. Through online certification programs, vocational pathways, and culturally competent partnerships with elders and Native practitioners, Ellsworth is building infrastructure that lasts.
Register here. Attendees receive 60 days of session recording access following the event, typically released within 10 days of conclusion.
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