AGENDA  Updated: 4/9/2025 - 41st Annual NAJA Conference, OMNI Hotel Los Angeles, CA

Ring A Bell!

41st Annual NAJA Conference,

OMNI Hotel Los Angeles, CA

4/21-25/2025

Final Agenda…

We will be ringing 🔔 🔔 🔔 🔔 🔔 🔔 all week long at our “Ring A Bell” 41st Annual NAJA conference April 21-25, 2025.

We are very pleased to welcome all of our dynamic speakers. Hear face-to-face the Federal grant and subrecipient Administrative and Financial requirements from some of the best in the nation. We are proud to have presentations by former U.S. Department of Labor, Employment And Training Administration (ETA) employees, a U.S. DOL, OASAM retired cost negotiator, a State employee, some local grant recipients and subrecipients.

To kick off the conferences Monday, April 21, 2025, we will have Jan Vogel and the recently retired Honorable U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (ETA), Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) Laura P Watson. DAS Laura P Watson was over the grant money at ETA - approximately one hundred billion plus dollars. She has worked in all phases of administering the grant funds, including heading the ETA Office of Grants and Contracts. She was part of the team that shaped the Uniform Guidance that must be followed by all Federal grantees and subrecipients. She was part of the team that shaped the 2 CFR 2900 requirements that must be followed by all [Department of Labor] grantees and subrecipients. She also worked in the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of The Assistant Secretary For Administration and Management’s (OASAM) Indirect Cost area.

Mr. Jan Vogel, Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer, South Bay Workforce Investment Board will do a workforce talk. Mr. Vogel is in charge of one of the highest performing workforce boards in California. He has been a fixture in Los Angeles County’s workforce system for more than 40 years. He has created thousands of jobs in the LA County area and is one of the pioneers in modernizing apprenticeship programs. Most recently he developed a pre-apprenticeship program in aerospace engineering called AERO-FLEX. This advanced manufacturing program has quickly evolved into an employer-centric earn and learn model attracting top employers, such as Northrop Grumman, Lockheed-Martin, L-3 communications, Impressa Aerospace, Magnetika and many others. 

We will end day one with an expert who can detect when you are lying and share his skills. Jerry Balistreri will share his wisdom in his session on Reading The Tells.

But, the bell will keep ringing. Please take a serious look at our agenda. It is loaded with high-powered speakers and topics from day one through the end of the conference Friday.

Please stay for Robert Knight’s and Tom Dilisio’s Friday presentations. Robert Knight will masterfully bring you the latest workforce projections of what is really going on in Washington and Tom Dilisio’s presentation on Workforce Governance requirements is a must hear. 

We hope to see you in LA. Please see NAJA.org to register for the conference and to break your hotel. Below is the full agenda.

Final Agenda…

Ring A Bell!

41st Annual NAJA Conference,

OMNI Hotel Los Angeles, CA

4/21-25/2025

Day 1, April 21, 2025

12:15-1:15 P.M. (Plenary) Greetings -Macey Swinson, CEO and President, NAJA/Former US DOLETA, DFMAS team leader and Heddy Yep, NAJA VP

Welcome to LA and a Workforce talk - Jan Vogel,

CEO/Chief Executive Officer

South Bay Workforce Investment Board, Inc.,

1:15 - 3:15 P. M. (Plenary) - A look at what’s happening and the Uniform Guidance Updates, Retired U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration Deputy Assistant Secretary and CPA Laura P Watson

3:15-3:30 Break

3:30-4:45 P.M. (Plenary) - Reading The Tells - Dr. Jerry Balisteri, Professional Educator, Administrator, Trainer and Author.

Day 2 April 22, 2025

8:30 - 10:00 A.M. (Plenary) - Personal Identifiable Information (PII) by Nancy Meeden, Esq. Senior Workforce Policy Manager, Department of Economic Security, Phoenix, AZ and Dr. Helen Parker, former USDOLETA Atlanta Regional Administrator.

10:00 - 10:15 A.M. - Break

10:15 - 11:45 A.M. (Fiscal) Subrecipient Closeout Thomas Diehl, CPA;

10:15 - 11:45 A.M. (Program) Business Engagement, Walter L Simmons, President and CEO at Employ Prince George’s, Inc;

11:45 A.M. - 1:15 P.M. Lunch ON YOUR OWN

1:15 - 2:15 P.M. (Fiscal) Audit Resolution Systems - Ed Donahue, Jr., Retired U.S Department of Labor ETA Administrator of Grants and Contracts N.O. and a former CEO and President of NAJA; 

1:15 - 2:15 P.M. (Program) Local Area Rapid Response System - Laura Bishoff, LA County

2:15 - 2:30 P.M. – Break

2:30 - 3:45 P.M. (Plenary) - Braided Funding, Walter L Simmons, President and CEO and Jeffrey Dufresne, CPA and Chief Financial Officer, Employ Prince George’s Inc.

3:45 - 5:00 P.M. (Plenary) - Preparing A Modification Request - Retired Deputy Assistant Secretary Laura P Watson

Day 3, April 23, 2025

8:30 - 10:00 A.M. (Plenary) - Basic Artificial Intelligence (AI) - Richard (“Rick”) Maher, Adaptive Human Capital and Dr. Helen Parker, former U.S. DOL ETA Atlanta Regional Administrator;

10:00 - 10:15 Break

10:15 - 12:00 P.M. (Fiscal) Procurement Part 1 - Thomas Dilisio, Retired Sr Accountant and Grant Officer SF snd Chicago R.O. and former DFMAS Chief-Chicago

10:15 A.M. - 12:00 P.M. (Program) - Local Board 101 session by Walter L. Simmons, President and CEO at Employ Prince George’s, Inc

12:00 - 1:30 P.M. – Lunch ON YOUR OWN

1:30 - 3:00 P.M. (Fiscal) Procurement Part II - Thomas Dilisio, Retired Sr Accountant and Grant Officer SF and Chicago R.O and former DFMAS Chief-Chicago

1:30 - 3:00 P.M. (Program) - Re-Entry - Liz Jackson Simpson, Chief Executive Officer, Success Centers San Francisco, CA

3:00-3:15 P.M. – Break

3:15 - 4:45 P.M. (Fiscal) Allowable Facilities Cost - Thomas Diehl, CPA;

3:15 - 4:45 P.M. (Program) - Placement and Follow-up Systems - Anthony Velda, former Job Corps Program Manager

Day 4 April 24, 2025

8:30-10:00 A.M. (Fiscal) Indirect Cost - Art Campbell, CPA (retired Cost Negotiator, USDOLOASAM);

8:30 - 10:00 A.M. (Program) Healthcare Industry Apprenticeship showcase - Joy Jamerson, MBA

10:00-10:15 – Break

10:15 - 11:45 A.M. (Fiscal) Subrecipient Closeout - Thomas Diehl, CPA;

10:15 A.M. - 11:45 A.M. (Program) - Youth Panel - w/youth participants - Robert Sainz, President and Executive Director, New Ways To Work, Los Angeles, CA and Liz Jackson, Chief Executive Officer, Success Centers San Francisco, CA

11:45-1:30 – Lunch ON YOUR

1:30 P.M. - 3:00 P.M. (Fiscal) Mastering Subrecipient Management: 9 Key Elements for Passthrough Entities" - Zaskia Ruiz, Executive Vice President, KRA;

1:30 P.M. -3:00 P.M. (Program) ”Engaging Targeted Populations for AJCC’s through Strategic Partnerships” -

JaVette Pettaway Program Director, KRA Rancho Dominguez AJCC and Brandy Pacheco, Program Manager at Archdiocesan Youth Employment Services

3:00 P.M. - 3:15 P.M. Break

3:15 - 4:45 (Fiscal) Administrative vs Program Cost and Reclassification - Ed Donahue, Jr., Retired Administrator of Grants and Contracts, U.S. DOL, ETA, N.O. and a former NAJA CEO and President; and

3:15 P.M. - 4:45 P.M. (Program) An Intermediary Approach to Collaboration: Transforming Communities through Integrated Workforce Development , John Helton, CEO and President, CareerRise and Quasandria “Q” Turner, Director, Westside Works, Atlanta, GA

Day 5, April 25, 2025

8:15 -9:45 A. M. (Plenary) Washington Update Robert Knight, Director of Government Relations Policy, Equus Workforce Solutions 

9:45 - 10:00 Break

10:00 11:30 - (Plenary) Fiscal Governance - Thomas Dilisio, Retired Sr. Accountant and Grants Officer - Chicago and SF R.O. and former DFMAS Chief, Chicago

11:30 -12:00 P.M. (Plenary) Q&A

Macey Swinson CEO and President of NAJA facilitator, Ed Donahue, Jr, Art Campbell and Farewell

Note: Many of our presenters are featured on LinkedIn…check them out! All of our presenters are professionals. Many of them are consultants, public speakers and trainers and they passionately donate their time to make our NAJA conferences successful. They believe in the public workforce. 

Thank you all for supporting NAJA. And a huge thank you to our presenters.

This draft is subject to changes.


This draft is subject to changes. Please see NAJA.org to book your hotel and to register for the conference.

Mrs Prince Swinson  worked 34 years for the US Department of Labor30 years for the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) as a Grants and Contracts professional and in other capacities (Fiscal Accounting Specialist, Budget Analyst, and Program Manager). She worked four years for the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics in the accounting and budgeting offices. 

During her tenure with ETA, she assisted with developing program regulations; designed the original ETA 9130 reporting formats and instructions (the first ever ETA automated reports); assisted with developing ETA  administrative and financial policy, assisted with developing numerous monitoring guides and tools for ETA grant programs.   She served as an expert on a national office team that was responsible for addressing complex issues related to the administrative and financial management system requirements for ETA programs.  She provided administrative and financial professional guidance to other regional offices’ grantees for complex issues at the request of the ETA national office.   She was responsible for training the San Francisco regional office staff in the Contracting Officer’s Technical Requirements (COTR) and/or  Grant Officer’s technical requirements (GOTR) as well as other Federal grant requirements. Other duties included training ETA administrative and financial management and program staff as well as the ETA grants community in ETA grant specific and Federal Uniform Guidance requirements.  This included training the staff on-site during the monitoring reviews, providing on-site professional and technical guidance to ETA grantees; recommending corrective actions and assisting with resolving issues identified during monitoring and in audit reports   Many of the issues cross-cut Federal, State and local governments agencies including the U.S. Department of Education (School to Work), Job Corps, Health and Human Services (Welfare to Work), the Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Departments of Labors’ agencies: Office of Cost Determination and the  Office of the Inspector General.  She also worked with various state, Indian Tribal and local areas/agencies (Commerce, Governors Office, Legislative Offices, Departments of Treasury, Departments of General Service, UI Judges, Departments of Finance, Bureau of Indian Affairs) on cross-cutting issues.

She is now a consultant providing professional/technical assistance and training to ETA grantees for indirect and direct cost. Mrs. Prince Swinson serves on two boards:  CEO and President for the National Association of Job Training Assistance (NAJA) and the Idaho Shakespeare Board.