Ron Painter
National Association of Workforce Boards
Washington, DC USA
"Find your passion, hold on to it, and pursue it because that’s a life fulfilled. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t succeed."
Career Roadmap
Ron's work combines: Politics, Business, and Helping People
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Advice for getting started
Think about your interests and what you're inclined to be good at. Find people who can help you identify those passions and strengths. Then pursue that to the utmost degree.
Here's the path I took:
High School
Bachelor's Degree
Political Science and Government, General
Grove City College
Graduate Degree
Public Administration
University of Pittsburgh
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life has been direct
1.
Growing up, my father was very involved in politics—I was always excited to go with him to watch election results, meet candidates, and talk about government and politics.
2.
My experiences as a kid led me to get my bachelor’s degree in political science.
3.
I worked in local elected office after college before going back to school to get my Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree.
4.
Graduate school was when I really started to focus on what I had to learn to be good at what I wanted to do, including learning the mechanics of effective public management.
5.
While studying public administration and labor relations, I got the opportunity to help manage the City of Pittsburgh's job training funds.
6.
I fell in love with helping people get back into the labor force after something outside of their control took them out.
7.
I continued to work within labor relations in various positions and am now president and CEO of the National Association of Workforce Boards, which makes the connection between workers and the market.
8.
I’ve also served as an adjunct professor for the University of Pittsburgh, where I taught an undergraduate course on the process of public policy.
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Society in general:
You can't do it.
How I responded:
There are a lot of naysayers in the world who will tell you that you can't do something and you can't succeed. That's just an opinion and a myth. Overcome that by finding your passion, finding the people who will help you identify your strengths, and then pursue it.
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
Balancing work with other life interests is very important but it's very hard to do sometimes. When I can, I go to my family's hobby farm to take my mind off of things. I also try to use traveling time at work to reflect on the work that I'm doing.