Talent development and Kim Moore go hand in hand as Kim Moore has spent her career creating opportunities for others.
Moore grew up in Greenville, a rural town of fewer than 800 residents an hour east of Tallahassee. It was not a place of rapid economic development. She wanted more from her childhood and learned the importance of making her connections.
As Vice Chancellor for Human Resource Development at Tallahassee Community CollegeWhile Moore launched her own academic career and was later inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame, she has left her mark on noble and innovative projects. TCC became her Amazon Career Choice school, leading and creating the largest second-chance workforce program for ex-convicts. in Florida etc.
But next month, Moore will step down from his position at TCC.she was named her first generation Chief Workforce Innovation Officer, Yavapai Universityat a community college in Arizona, where she becomes the founder and designer of the school’s new workforce department.
In an interview with the Tallahassee Democrat, Mr. Moore said, “This is really going to be launching something that for the most part doesn’t exist at all.” “It also expands the territory. There are six counties that make up my service area, but it also aims to bring that kind of innovation and entrepreneurial vision and share it across the university campus community.”
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Moore’s last day at TCC will be July 7. As news of her retirement spread, many say Tallahassee’s workforce development wouldn’t be what it is without Moore’s relentless pursuit of innovation.
Moore shatters talent development and business ceilings
Her rise in the workforce has allowed her to make history again and again.
Prior to ten years at TCC, Moore, 51, was CEO of Workforce Plus, a regional agency with an operating budget of up to $14 million serving Leon County and its surrounding communities. was serving. During her stay in Florida, she became Florida’s first woman, first person of color, and youngest head of the workforce system from her 2005 to 2013.
She is the only person in Florida to lead both the Workforce Plus Commission for Business and Communities and the University Workforce Development System.
Additionally, in 2009, she became the first non-resident of color to serve as president of the Wakulla County Chamber of Commerce.
“I think most places where Kim stands, she’s isolated, not just as a woman, but especially as a black woman,” said Kelly, founder and executive director of the Oasis Center for Women & Girls. Otte said. “Black women are underrepresented in the fields in which they are involved, not just locally, but statewide and nationally.”
Otte said from afar he could sense the hurdles and challenges Moore would likely face and that it was a pleasure to see her “excellent in everything she did.”
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Over the years, Otte knew and respected Moore, who also served on the Oasis board. She saw firsthand the women driving change and listened to her.
In the nonprofit world, where Otte is an expert voice, both she and Moore worked closely together to establish the Institute for Nonprofit Innovation and Excellence (INIE), a one-stop nonprofit resource provided and managed by TCC. cooperated with No such thing existed until 2014, when it was created in direct response to a moment of crisis that involved several local nonprofits that made headlines within the Democratic Party. rice field. Otte and others spread the idea of a non-profit resource center, and TCC President Jim Her Murdoh took an interest in it.
“She was visionary and could chart a path wherever she wanted to go,” Otte said. “I think INIE was a game changer. There are many nonprofit executives behind it, but Kim was definitely driving the ship.”
Moore also helped bring TCC to provincial and national attention as the first university to launch an accelerated accreditation program in response to layoffs due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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Keith Bowers, director of the Tallahassee-Leon County Department of Economic Vitality, said Moore was innovative in his approach to setting the stage for various initiatives and improving the talent pipeline and that of the City of Tallahassee.
One example, she said, is a pilot program she created to re-offer employment opportunities to former inmates through a partnership with the Florida Department of Corrections.
“Economic progress and workforce development go hand in hand, and we couldn’t ask for a better community partner in workforce development than Kim Moore and TCC,” Bowers said. “She inspired the community to think more broadly as to how to engage people to make employment opportunities in our community very promising.”
From Florida to Arizona, Moore blazes new trails
Moore’s roots in college life began as a student on the 270-acre campus, where she later assumed leadership roles.
She has an associate’s degree from TCC, a bachelor’s degree in criminology from Florida State University, an MBA from Webster College, and most recently a doctorate in education from FSU.
Her outing west offers the opportunity to build something from the ground up.
Yavapai University operates six campuses and centers in Yavapai County, approximately 160 miles from Phoenix, Arizona. We offer 7 associate degrees and 75 certificates in over 60 areas of study. Additionally, starting this year, Arizona became the 24th state to allow community colleges to award bachelor’s degrees.
Like 1,100 other community colleges in the country, Vice Chancellor for Community Relations and Student Development Rodney Jenkins is calling for employers to put more emphasis on this area, or else third-party intervention. Yavapai College also wants to go deeper into the workforce sector, he said. need.
The school needed people with a proven track record in the field, he said. Jenkins was introduced to Moore at a conference and was immediately impressed. There he arranged a meeting with the school’s principal, Lisa Lyne.
“I said to the president, ‘We have to find the best in this industry. So who is doing it better than any of the employees?’ “I was introduced to Kim,” he said. “It was that kind of feeling.”
Jenkins knew no one was like her.
“Obviously, she’s taken workforce innovation to the level that all of our 1,100 community colleges want,” Jenkins said. “Many institutions across the country were willing to come to Kim to help build the workforce innovation sector.”
“Typical Kim Moore”
Moore left a lasting legacy in Tallahassee, especially for those who remember the Workforce Plus commercial.
Larry Robinson, president of Florida A&M University, said he woke up Saturday morning to find Moore popping out of a box (a symbol of thinking outside the box) to guide residents seeking help finding jobs. It left a lasting impression and cemented her belief that she would go to any lengths to reach where people are.
FAMU this month honored Mr. Moore, who completed his final term as a FAMU Board member, including his role as Vice-Chairman and Chairman of the Board’s Budget and Facilities Committee for approving all capital projects.
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“A lot has been and is happening at FAMU in both areas, from the budgeting process to the sheer amount of activity going on around the campus and master plans,” said Robinson. rice field. “She was right there, helping spearhead these efforts.”
Murdow said he was “incredibly grateful” for Moore’s work. When asked what made her leadership style stand out, Murdau replied, “It’s her heart.”
“She’s clearly skilled,” he said. “But she cares deeply about the people she’s helping. Whether it’s adult education or the second-chance programs she runs in prison, she gives young people the skills they need to get their first jobs.” All of them are typical,” Kim Moore. “
Contact TaMaryn Waters reporters at tlwaters@tallahassee.com and follow @TaMarynWaters on Twitter.
