A program of the California Workforce Association
A nine-month, cohort-based fellowship for new and established workforce executives — led by CWA Executive Director Adam Peck and Tim Aldinger.
One demands accountability, compliance, and the careful handling of public trust. The other demands vision — the ability to align partners you don't control and move whole regions forward. This fellowship is built for leaders who refuse to choose between them.
You'll leave with more than ideas. You'll leave with the judgment, relationships, and playbooks to lead at the top of your organization.
Build a powerful, trusting partnership with your Board Chair — and learn to govern with clarity, not just comply.
Turn compliance into a strategic tool. Use fiscal discipline and performance data to steer, not just to survive an audit.
Lead partners you don't directly manage. Move coalitions of agencies, colleges, and employers toward shared goals.
Align workforce development with economic development to shape local and regional strategies that actually take hold.
Join a trusted circle of fellow executives for candid support, shared best practices, and a phone list you'll use for years.
Four in-person gatherings across California anchor the program. Between them, the real work happens — in your own organization, with your cohort.
A full-day foundation session at the Foundation for California Community Colleges to set the frameworks for the year.
Two half-days following WORKCON — applying governance and fiscal frameworks to real cases.
A full-day working session to pressure-test capstone projects and sharpen your systems-leadership approach.
Capstone Presentations, connected to the Meeting of the Minds conference — your work, delivered to your peers.
Between sessions, fellows apply the frameworks inside their own organizations and stay connected with the cohort — turning ideas into practice, and colleagues into a network.
Schedule shown reflects the 2026 cohort and is illustrative of the annual rhythm. Specific dates and venues are confirmed each year.
You'll learn alongside faculty who know California's workforce system from the inside — and who lead it today.
Adam has spent his career leading workforce boards and shaping the systems that connect Californians to good jobs. As Executive Director of CWA, he sits at the intersection of state policy and local practice — and brings fellows a rare, statewide vantage point on where the field is heading. He'll help you see your board not as a constraint, but as your most powerful lever.
Tim brings deep workforce development leadership and years of guiding executives through the toughest parts of the job. A skilled facilitator, he creates the kind of candid, high-trust room where real learning happens. Fellows leave his sessions with practical frameworks — and the confidence to use them Monday morning.
Tell us a little about yourself and we'll follow up with program details, timelines, and how to apply once the next cohort opens.