Chapter 18: Workforce Economic Development Education Structures: When Administrative Crisis Leadership Makes a Difference in the Whole Organization

Only a month before, our local Workforce Solutions career center was brainstorming ways to promote our cutting-edge newest center because promoting the role of the workforce system in the community has always been difficult. But by mid-March, all centers were closed, and Workforce Solutions Alamo, (WSA) was the town’s talk in San Antonio, TX. Over the course of the pandemic, 356,000 people have been displaced from their jobs and most of these who possessed a high school diploma or less were banging on our doors for help. We did not know then that over 1,000 displaced workers would decide to attend online school during the pandemic and prepare for their futures. This reflection is written from two authors, leadership perspectives while working through COVID-19 at a career center where adults come for support in their education to find better jobs.