SACRAMENTO – Assemblymember Sandré R. Swanson (D-Oakland) today designated Gay Plair Cobb, Chief Executive Officer of the Oakland Private Industry Council, as his official representative on the California Workforce Investment Board (Board).  As his official designee, Ms. Cobb will represent Assemblymember Swanson at Board meetings and will act on his behalf.  Assemblymember Swanson was appointed to the Board in February 2007 by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez. 

"I am honored to designate Ms. Cobb as my representative on this important statewide Board," said Swanson.  "Her experience and dedication to workforce development issues and to our community make her an invaluable asset."

Through her leadership of the Oakland Private Industry Council (PIC), where she serves as Chief Executive Officer, Gay Plair Cobb has been instrumental in establishing award winning community service programs. Cobb is known through out the community for her advocacy for youth, the jobless, and ensuring that the community has universal access to comprehensive, no-cost workforce services.

The Oakland PIC’s programs have received national recognition for their innovative approach to providing job training to those most in need.  Exemplary PIC programs have served homeless persons, the formerly incarcerated, workers displaced as a result of plant and military base closures, and low-income men and women who receive training for high wage construction occupations.  PIC’s One-Stop Career Center, offering employment and training resources, job search assistance and career counseling, has expanded its services to respond to the challenges of welfare reform --- recently opening a new career center in conjunction with Alameda County’s Social Services Agency.

A native of New York City, Cobb graduated from Queens College (City University of New York) and received a Masters in Social Welfare degree from the University of California, Berkeley.  Prior to her current position, Cobb served as Western Regional Administrator for the Women’s Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor and with the Women’s Bureau in Atlanta and Washington, D.C.

The California Workforce Investment Board was established by executive order in October 1999 to assist and advise the Governor in implementing and continuously improving the state’s workforce investment system under the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA). 

Traditionally, the Board has sought to provide general guidance and to improve the workforce system by investing in statewide activities that ensure access to the most timely and pertinent information in developing policies and making decisions that optimize the impact of these programs.  The Board assists the Governor in guiding the workforce system by working collaboratively with state and local workforce stakeholders and partners such as the Governor’s Economic Strategy Panel, the Employment Development Department, the Governor’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, the Chancellor’s Office of the California Community Colleges, and the California Department of Education.

The Board next meets on Thursday, July 26, 2007 in Sacramento.