Lauren ParkerNENA Director Lauren is the Senior Director of the Ticket to Work Program for the SkillSource Group, a Workforce EN. SkillSource is the non-profit entity of the Northern Virginia Workforce Development Board (NVWDB) and oversees 7 American Job Centers across 3 counties and 4 independent cities outside Washington, D.C. In 2010, Lauren was hired as a consultant to launch the SkillSource Ticket to Work program, serving beneficiaries in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. Under her leadership, SkillSource has grown into the top-performing Workforce EN in Virginia. The program has fielded over 1600 inquiries and served 300 beneficiaries with nearly half of those individuals replacing some or all their Social Security disability cash benefits with earned income. The outcome payments received help to sustain the program and are reinvested into supports for job seekers with disabilities. Lauren is committed to increasing the accessibility of local workforce programs and services through Ticket to Work operations. Her focus is on identifying approaches that create lasting change within the Workforce System. She currently facilitates the NVWDB’s Disability Subcommittee and is working on strategies to change policy around the treatment of SSDI under the WIOA adult program. She is a Certified Community Partner Work Incentives Counselor and initiated training opportunities for American Job Center staff to obtain work incentives counseling certification. She served as a national Disability Employment Initiative Ambassador on a panel of responders for Ticket and Workforce EN Peer Communities of Practice. |
