AGENDA  Updated: 2/8/2026 - 42nd Annual NAJA National Conference, DOWNTOWN SHERATON DALLAS, TX

5/11-15/2026

DRAFT Agenda…

A MESSAGE FROM OUR PRESIDENT, Macey Prince Swinson 🔥: Tie-Dyed ~ Bringing It ALL  Together   

I am so very thankful to have the [full support] of the Dallas Regional Office of the Employment and Training Administration, the Office of Apprenticeship,  the Bureau of Labor Statistics and to have all of our distinguished presenters to ensure this year’s NAJA conference is one of the best ever.

Hooray!!!  Let’s get to Dallas and get this training started!!!   

Planning document

Day 1

Monday:  Welcome to Dallas and America’s Talent Strategy: Building the Workforce for the Golden Age:  ETA Region 4: M. Frank Stluka, Acting Regional Administrator—Region 4 Dallas & Dudley Light—Regional Director Office of Apprenticeship 

Monday:  Workforce Pep Talk - Jan Vogel, CEO - Southbay WIB - (Plenary)

Monday: 

Keynote:  Retired Deputy Assistant Secretary, USDOLETA Laura P Watson - Understanding Your Grant Agreement (plenary)

Monday:  2 CFR 200 UG, 2 CFR 2900 & other mandatory requirements: (fiscal)  ETA Region 4: Glarion Webb, Grants/Financial Management Specialist; and Tamika Wright, Accountant 

Monday:  (program) The Current State of AI in Workforce Development:  The Good, The Bad, and What’s Next - Josh Davies

Day 2

Tuesday:  (plenary) Chris Bernhardt, Sr.  Manager, NOVAworks - Artificial Intelligence

Tuesday: (plenary)  “The Top Ten Things To Know About Registered Apprenticeship” Maria Brady, M.A. Multi-State Navigator, Office of Apprenticeship , Dallas Regional Office, 

Tuesday:  Resilify – The Key to Thriving in Uncertain Times, Josh Davies (plenary)

Tuesday: Personal Identifiable Information (PII) (plenary) Nancy Meedan, Esq. Sr. Workforce Policy Manager, AZ DES

Tuesday:  (fiscal) Cash Management ETA Region 4: Kristy Woodard, DFMAS Division Chief/Regional Grant Officer; Brian Johnston, Fiscal Management and Program Analyst; and Shalonda Thompson, Fiscal Management and Program Analyst

Tuesday:  Deep Dive into the strategic plan to address a region’s 42K opportunity youth - Robert Sainz, President and Executive Director At New Ways to Work

Tuesday:  Case Management Including Follow-up Systems emphasizing placement and retention. (program) Akil Bektemba, President/CEO Vanguard Consulting Group, LLC - and Sheron Morgan, Executive Director, Worksource Coastal and SETA President, day not yet certain

(Tuesday) Let’s Talk Fiscal (fiscal)

Zaskia Ruiz, Executive VP, day not yet certain

Tuesday:  Financial Roundtable on Common Findings (fiscal) ETA Region 4: Kristy Woodard, DFMAS Division Chief/Regional Grant Officer and Glarion Webb, Grants/Financial Management Specialist, Lisa Thomas, VP of Finance, Southwest Partnership for Training and Employment; Marilyn Mireles,  Sr. Finance Analyst, Workforce Connections, a state TBD?

Tuesday:  (fiscal) Allowable Facilities Cost, Thomas Diel, CPA

Day 3

Wednesday:  (Plenary) There is a Pony in that Pile! Leading with Hope and Vision in Uncertain Times,  Richard Maher, Adaptive Human Capital, LLC; John Helton; and Ron Painter, Principal, Forbes Field Associates Wednesday:  

Wednesday:  Laura Bishoff, Southbay WIB (program)Topic TBD, day not yet certain

Wednesday:  (plenary) Audit Resolution w/A New Spin - how to respond (practical advice) how to meet/greet your auditor & how to respond to USDOLETA Retired DAS Laura P Watson

Wednesday: Closeout (Fiscal) Tom Diel, CPA

Wednesday:  Fiscal Monitoring (fiscal) 

ETA Region 4: Glarion Webb, Grants/Financial Management Specialis and Amber Flowers, Accountant and Catherine Bondoc, retired Director of Finance, LA City

Wednesday or Thursday:  (plenary) LMI Session: Patterns in Labor Market Data:  Bureau of Labor Statistics Dallas Region:  Italina DiFulvio, Branch Chief of Industry and Employment Statistics,  and Margaret Humphrey, Branch Chief of Occupational Unemployment, Employment and Wages Statistics, day not yet determined

Day 4

Thursday:  (Plenary) Registered Apprenticeship: Building Partnerships and Braiding Resources.” A panel discussion moderated by Maria Brady featuring Joy Jamerson M.B.A. and Harry Dispensa, Retired  USDOLETA

Thursday:  Performance Management  (Plenary) ETA Region 4: Cliff Atkinson, Performance Management and Program Analyst

Thursday: Admin vs Program Costs Deep Dive  (Plenary) Catherine Bondoc, Retired Finance Director, LA City

Thursday:  Up-to-date Federal Indirect Cost Requirements (Plenary) Victor Lopez,  Retired Chief, Cost & Price Determination Division/S& A., USDOL,OASAM -

Also, Victor will assist w/grantee specific meetings Tuesday afternoon - Thursday.  Art Campbell,  Retired Cost Negotiator Wednesday afternoon - Friday 

Thursday:  UG Cost Principles and WIOA regulations cost principles (plenary) Nancy Taylor, retired ETA Regional Director, SF 

Day 5

Friday:  Compliance to Connection:  (Plenary) Data Storytelling and AI to Bridge the Gap -  Zaskia Ruiz, Executive VP,  KRA

Friday:  Washington Update Robert Knight and/or Ron Painter, Principal, Forbes Field Associates (plenary)

Friday:  Q&A and Closing - Macey Swinson & Art Campbell (plenary)

We hope you can join us.  See registration and reservation details at NAJA.org

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

This draft is subject to changes.

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.