Biography
Peter had led nonprofit organizations in the San Diego region since 1986 including services to people with disabilities, the homeless, and under-represented job seekers. He joined the SDWP as CEO in 2012. With an annual budget of $35+ million from multiple sources and investors (public, private sector and philanthropy), the SDWP funds, oversees and delivers workforce programs to empower job seekers to meet the needs of regional employers. The SDWP conducts in-depth labor market research, releasing numerous studies in order to understand the needs and trends in our economy. With an emphasis on underserved populations and people with barriers to employment, but available to all job seekers, the SDWP and its funded partners services reach 100,000+ job seekers annually. The SDWP directly administers Connect2Careers and the Life Sciences Summer Institute, young adult internship/job programs that reaches 15,000+ youth with robust work readiness and job placement services. Leading the effort in their region to address the crisis if disconnected/opportunity youth, the SDWP has created a broad-based initiative (large annual conference, ongoing work groups, extensive research, online tools and more). SDWP launched an Income Share Agreement (ISA) fund in 2018 – an innovative student financing model to create post-secondary pathways. Recipient of the “WIOA Trailblazer” award in 2018 (of 550 workforce boards around the country) by the National Association of Workforce Boards, the SDWP is a nationally recognized leader in due to many innovations, new programs, convenings, community partnerships, use of technology, and creative marketing as they aspire to redefine workforce development.