This UHD President’s Lecture comes as a timely look at career transformation, reskilling, and building a dynamic Houston workforce—to be held in B-200 of the Shea Street Building (Marilyn Davies College of Business) at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 18. A complimentary lunch will be served.
Three expert panelists will explore strategies to expand economic mobility, ensure equitable access to high-demand career pathways, and support lifelong learning as an essential part of career resilience:
- Juliet Stipeche, Executive Director of the Gulf Coast Workforce Board and Director of Human Services at the Houston-Galveston Area Council
- Dr. Flávio Cunha, Ervin K. Zingler Chair of Economics at Rice University and Director of the Center for Economic Mobility at the Kinder Institute for Urban Research
- Jacquie Young-Hall, Workforce Development Program Manager at Port Houston
UHD’s own College of Humanities and Social Sciences Dean Wendy Burns-Ardolino, Ph.D., will serve as moderator for this conversation that will uncover how the arenas of education, policy, and industry can work together to close opportunity gaps and prepare Houstonians—and especially students—for success in a rapidly evolving job market.
“Upskill Yourself: The Future of Work Starts Now” pairs nicely with UHD’s Quality Enhancement Plan, entitled “Beyond the Bayou: Transferable Skills for the 21st Century,” which is intended to arm students with skills they can use in any career, specifically professionalism, communication, technology, and decision-making.
ABOUT OUR PANELISTS
Juliet K. Stipeche is the Executive Director of the Gulf Coast Workforce Board and the Director of Human Services at the Houston-Galveston Area Council. She is a founding shareholder of the law firm, Nagorny & Stipeche, P.C. and has extensive experience as a trial lawyer, specializing in medical malpractice defense, health care liability, health care advising, and health care law, as well as general litigation.
In 2010, Stipeche was elected to the Houston Independent School District (HISD) Board of Education as the Trustee of District VIII in a special election. In 2013, she became the Associate Director of Rice University’s Richard Tapia Center for Excellence and Equity in Education, leading local, state, and national STEM programs for underrepresented minority students and women. On February 1, 2016, Mayor Sylvester Turner selected her to serve as the City of Houston’s first Director of Education and created the Mayor's Office of Education (MOE). In 2021, Stipeche returned to her legal practice and remains active and involved in her community given her varied experience in education, politics, and governance. She is a graduate of Rice University and The University of Texas School of Law.
Flávio Cunha is a Professor of Economics. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 2007 and taught at the University of Pennsylvania before joining the Economics faculty at Rice. His area of expertise is labor economics with special emphasis on human capital formation. He was recently awarded the Econometric Society's Frisch Medal for "Estimating the Technology of Cognitive and Noncognitive Skill Formation," a paper published in Econometrica that he wrote with Dr. James Heckman and Dr. Susanne M. Schennach.
Professor Cunha's most recent research program focuses on the causes and consequences of inequality and poverty, especially the quantification of the degree to which labor income inequality is the result of the preexisting heterogeneity present across workers before they enter the labor market versus how much is due to labor market shocks. He is also studying the importance of investments in cognitive and noncognitive skills in explaining the heterogeneity that determines labor market inequality. His on-going research project, the Philadelphia Human Development Study, aims to understand the role played by parental expectations regarding the potential returns on investing in children affect actual investment decisions.
Jacquie Young-Hall is the Maritime Workforce Development Program Manager at Port Houston, leading regional initiatives that connect youth and young adults to career pathways in maritime, logistics, and port-related industries. She joined Port Houston in 2017 and loves engaging with students regarding the vast academic and career opportunities within the Greater Houston Port Region.
She serves as the education and workforce development liaison between Port Houston, business organizations, and academic and industry partners, holding numerous seats on career and technical education, post-secondary, and industry-related advisory boards. She also serves as the Board Chair for the Port of Houston Partners in Maritime Education, 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization.
Young has more than 25 years of experience in workforce development, small business and non-profit management, community engagement, career and technical education, special project management, technical and grant writing, fund development, and classroom instruction.