Karin M. Norington-Reaves is a lifelong public servant with more than 25 years of experience in education, law, advocacy, community, and workforce development. In 2012, Karin became the founding Chief Executive Officer of the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership (The Partnership) upon her appointment by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.
As CEO and change agent, she led the merger and restructuring of three diverse workforce systems into what is now the nation’s most extensive workforce system managed by a non-profit administrative agency. Karin leads The Partnership’s mission to ensure that “every person has the skills to build a career and every business have the talent it needs to compete in a global economy.”
She oversees the administration of federal, state and philanthropic funds and the creation of effective programs that assure alignment between the skills demanded by a changing economy and those offered by the region’s labor force. She also works to generate both private and public funding to expand the services available throughout Chicagoland. In her tenure, The Partnership has raised nearly $50 million in diverse funds, including a $10.9 million grant awarded by the Walmart Foundation – the most significant gift in the history of the foundation.
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Nov 08 2019 Blog Post Chicago Codes Reboots Diversity In Tech Industry It is a great time to launch a career in technology. The tech sector is one of the fastest-growing in the country, with nearly 450,000 annual openings and average salaries exceeding $90,000. However, these opportunities are not experienced equally by all segments of the population. In Chicago and across the country, employers see a lack […]