KRA Senior Staff Present at 2019 NAJA Conference
Between June 18th – 20th, three corporate staff members conducted six Breakout Sessions at the 2019 Conference of the National Association of Job Training Assistance, the premier resource for “Seminars, Conferences, Workshops, and Training…for Workforce Development Grantees, Grantors and Subs.”
The 3-day workshop agenda was intensive, offering only 12 Program- and 12 Fiscal- Track Sessions, meaning that KRA presented 25% of all NAJA Breakouts, with Zaskia Ruiz, KRA Director of Finance, Accounting, and Compliance, conducting 33% of the Fiscal-Track presentations!
On the 18th she presented WIOA Fiscal 101, focused on helping attendees understand the minimum financial-management standards set forth in 2 CFR 200.302 and WIOA Sec. 185; required roles/responsibilities of fiscal staff; the importance of the Chart of Accounts; and how to implement a system of checks-and-balances.
At the same time, John Hattery, KRA Director, Strategic Partners, was conducting WIOA Business Engagement, an interactive presentation that highlighted best-practice examples drawn from KRA’s successful B2B model, stressing staff selection and development; customizing services to best meet employers’ needs; and youth vs older worker business-engagement programming.
On the 19th Zaskia conducted Subrecipient Monitoring Requirements, sharing her in-depth knowledge of the difference between Contractors and Subrecipients; the Subrecipient risk- assessment process; and the technical assistance and financial-management oversight process. The morning of the 20th she presented Audits & Resolution of Findings, assisting participants to understand Single Audit requirements; audit-process roles/responsibilities; internal control and compliance requirements; and the process for resolving findings and questioned costs.
In the afternoon, Zaskia shared her expertise on Implementing Staff Development & Training Programs for Fiscal Grant Compliance, stressing best-practice strategies for developing customized federal-grant compliance programs; evaluating internal and external reporting challenges; and organizing resources for employee-orientation packages.
That morning, Joseph Seymour, KRA Corporate Training and Development Coordinator, and recipient of the 2015 NAWDP Professional Development Award, conducted The Outcome Zone: Effective Performance Management, addressing concerns and issues related to performance “benchmarks, metrics, numerators, and denominators.”
Posing such questions as, “Are you drowning in confusing performance expectations that are seemingly impossible to achieve?” and “Are you proactively impacting future performance, or reacting to past performance instead?”, Joseph designed this interactive session to empower team members for success—transforming staff leadership by optimizing the input-to-outcome process; identifying/measuring key performance indicators; and connecting professional development to performance expectations.
Dr. Boone’s 20+ years’ experience in the industry is extensive and her expertise in private-, public-, and non-profit sector workforce-services organizations is unparalleled, particularly in the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan area.
