Workforce education: New Jersey as a laboratory for America

Speaker Biographies

Sivaraman Anbarasan is executive director and CEO of the New Jersey Community College Consortium for Workforce and Economic Development. He also serves on the advisory council of the New Start Career Network at the Heldrich Center at Rutgers University. He has worked in higher education for more than 14 years, including at Camden County College, Sussex County Community College, and the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He began his career in the information technology (IT) industry, working among other jobs as a regional manager at Unisys Corporation. He also founded an IT company that was later sold to a NASDAQ-listed software firm. He holds a graduate degree in electrical communication engineering from the Indian Institute of Science and a master’s in business administration from the University of Pittsburgh.

Robert Asaro-Angelo serves as commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, where he oversees services for New Jersey workers, including public workforce programs, wage and hour compliance, unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation, temporary disability insurance, and family leave insurance. Before joining the department, during the Obama administration, he was eastern regional representative for the US Department of Labor, coordinating federal initiatives on the regional, state, and local levels. Before going into government, he worked for the Laborers’ International Union of North America; the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees; and the Service Employees International Union Local 1115. He holds a bachelor of science degree in communications from Boston University and a master’s in public policy from the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University.

Mark Cacace is lead school-to-careers coordinator at the Passaic County Technical Institute. He has worked with the school district for 24 years: 10 years as an automotive instructor, 12 years as a school-to-careers coordinator, and two years as lead coordinator. In 2017, he was chosen as Junior Achievement of New Jersey’s Educator of the Year. He holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial training from Montclair State University and a master’s degree in educational leadership from Marygrove College.

Linda Eno is acting deputy chief academic officer and state director of career and technical education for the New Jersey Department of Education. She has been with the department for three years. Before joining the agency, she worked for the Monmouth County Vocational School District, first as a career and technical education teacher and then as principal of Biotechnology High School. Before becoming an educator, she was a registered nurse. She holds a doctorate in educational leadership from Seton Hall University.

Aaron Fichtner is president of the New Jersey Council of County Colleges. Before joining the council, he served for eight years in the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, rising from assistant commissioner for labor planning and analysis to deputy commissioner and then commissioner. Before joining the department, he was the director of research and evaluation at the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University. Before that, he worked in economic development agencies in Jersey City and Atlanta. During his tenure at the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, he served as chair of the National Association of State Liaisons for Workforce Development Partnerships, an affiliate of the National Governors Association. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Vassar College, a master’s degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D. in planning and public policy from Rutgers University.

Philip Guenther is superintendent of the Atlantic County Vocational School District, a position he has held since 2004, and shared-superintendent of the Atlantic County Special Services School District. From 2011 to 2013, he served as president of the New Jersey Council of County Vocational-Technical Schools. In 2008, the career education programs at Atlantic County Institute of Technology won a National Blue Ribbon from US News & World Report.

Tamar Jacoby is founder and president of Opportunity America, a Washington-based nonprofit working to promote economic mobility — work, skills, careers, ownership, and entrepreneurship for poor and working Americans. A former journalist and author, she was a senior writer and justice editor at Newsweek and, before that, the deputy editor of The New York Times op-ed page. Her articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Weekly Standard, and Foreign Affairs, among other publications. She is the author of “Someone Else’s House: America’s Unfinished Struggle for Integration” (Basic Books, 2000) and editor of “Reinventing the Melting Pot: The New Immigrants and What It Means to Be American” (Basic Books, 2004). Since 2008, she has been president of ImmigrationWorks USA.

Kermit Kaleba is federal policy director at National Skills Coalition, where he directs the organization’s efforts to advance a national skills strategy. Among the issues in his portfolio are federal legislation, agency regulation, national funding initiatives, and federal policy advocacy by state and local leaders. He also works with National Skills Coalition field staff and on-the-ground partners to improve state and local implementation of federal programs. He worked for the National Skills Coalition once before as senior policy analyst, then left to join the Washington, DC, Workforce Investment Council, where he rose to the position of executive director. He holds a bachelor’s degree and a law degree from the College of William and Mary.
Fred Keating is president of Rowan College at Gloucester County. Before becoming president, he served as vice president of student services and interim president of what was then called Gloucester County College. He has served as a member of the board of trustees at the College of New Jersey and chair of the New Jersey College Affordability Study Commission. His many awards include a South Jersey Biz executive of the year and an NAACP Game Changers award. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from the College of New Jersey and a doctorate in organizational leadership from Wilmington University.

Kate Blosveren Kreamer is deputy executive director of Advance CTE, a national nonprofit that represents state directors and other state leaders responsible for career and technical education at the secondary, postsecondary, and adult levels. Before joining Advance CTE, she was an associate director at Achieve, where she led initiatives on policy, research, and communications. Before that, she was a policy adviser at Third Way and a research assistant at the Progressive Policy Institute. She cofounded and served as president of the nonprofit Young Education Professionals-DC and later cofounded Young Education Professionals National. She holds a bachelor of science degree from Cornell University and a master of public policy from Georgetown University.

Andy Smarick is the Morgridge Fellow in Education at AEI and president of the Maryland State Board of Education. He began his career as a legislative aide, first in the Maryland General Assembly and then in Congress. He went on to serve as cofounder and chief operating officer of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. He has been a White House fellow in the Domestic Policy Council; a deputy assistant secretary of planning, evaluation, and policy development at the US Department of Education; and deputy commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Education. He has also been a partner at Bellwether Education Partners and a visiting fellow at the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation. He is the author of “The Urban School System of the Future: Applying the Principles and Lessons of Chartering” (Rowman & Littlefield, 2012). His writings have appeared in Bloomberg View, National Affairs, National Review, Time, The Weekly Standard, and Education Next, among others publications. He holds a master of public management from the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Ted Toth is senior technical adviser at Rosenberger North America, formerly a family-owned firm that manufactures parts for satellites and radar systems. He began his career as a tool and die apprentice and rose up through what was then Toth Inc. to become general manager and eventually buy the company, selling it in 2012 to Rosenberger North America. He is an active member of the National Tooling and Machining Association, formerly chairman of the board and now serving its foundation and education and technology teams. He also serves on a number of advisory boards, including for the National Institute for Metalworking Skills and several local community colleges and technical schools.