Kim Oliver Email & Phone Number

Hartford, Connecticut, United States

Hartford, Ct

The Board of Education includes four elected and five appointed individuals; together, we are responsible for top-level, district-wide decisions that affect the direction and progress of our schools.

Hartford, Connecticut

Appointed by Mayor Luke Bronin in 2016, I oversee the coordination, planning, and policy related to early childhood, youth, and recreation for the City of Hartford.As municipal government for Hartford, we have a responsibility to our youth and families unlike any other. We believe that our role is to help families, children, and youth succeed and grow into thriving adults, which will, in turn, will help them make positive contributions to the city and create and sustain a vibrant city and region. We act as a leader, convener, and partner to ensure children and youth have a seamless, positive experience from birth to age 24. We do this by focusing on four tenets that anchor the department: children and youth (1) are ready; (2) feel safe; (3) have a healthy start; and (4) have access to economic opportunity. In order to effectively address these four areas, we partner with families, schools, and community to promote and improve the integration of services for children, youth, and families across three divisions – young children, youth services, and recreation. The office of young children is responsible for providing for the expansion of high quality early childhood opportunities and programs in order to ensure Hartford's young children are safe, healthy and prepared for early school and life success. The office of youth services is responsible for developing and coordinating citywide youth-related services, policy, partnerships and resources to address the needs of our most at-risk youth. The division of recreation is responsible for providing an integrated approach to youth development and recreational activities in the city.

Hartford, Connecticut Area

I provided leadership and oversight for youth workforce development in North Central Connecticut. We partnered with government, employers, service providers, philanthropy, and other stakeholders to provide in-school, at risk, and out-of-school youth (ages 14 to 24) learning opportunities in work-based competencies, occupational skills, and work experiences. • Directed a cross-agency collaborative using collective impact and nationally-recognized best practices to build the region's talent pipeline by addressing the needs of 6,300 Opportunity Youth in Hartford and transforming their liabilities into opportunities for economic success with a goal of scaling up the work to serve more than 23,000 Opportunity Youth region-wide.• Directed several youth employment strategies including those resulting in the out-of-school, year-round program for young adults (ages 18 to 24) serving more than 200 youth annually and the Summer Youth Employment and Learning Program for youth (ages 14 to 18) serving more than 2,000 youth annually.• Led RFP development and procurement process for career pathway programming for out-of-school youth resulting in more than $2 million in investments using public funding (WIOA Youth).• Developed the education and career pathway system, a multi-tiered model that illustrates a comprehensive well-connected and transparent system, partnership, and/or individualized pathway that meets youth where and when they are, offers personalized guidance and support, addresses non-education and non-employment barriers to success, provides multiple exits (as needed) with subsequent entry points, and leads to sustaining careers in in-demand industries and occupations.• Designed and implemented an employer engagement strategy that focuses on employer needs, benefits, and values that led to employer-based investments in youth employment.• Managed a team of seven (7) workforce development professionals dedicated to youth employment.

I worked with partners such as the City of Hartford, Capital Workforce Partners, Connecticut State Colleges and Universities, employers, service providers, philanthropy, and other key stakeholders to develop a regional report and work plan to address the needs and challenges of Hartford’s young workers (ages 16 – 24) who do not have a high school diploma or who have a diploma or GED but are not in school and not working.Opportunity youth is about making pathways to success for young workers, families, and businesses in our community. This collaborative effort will help us realize the potential of Hartford’s future.I provided staff leadership to the collaborative in developing and implementing a college and career pathway system and aligned, connected infrastructure for achieving collective impact for youth and adults.

As the Workforce Solutions Manager, I was responsible for the development, coordination and oversight of programs that create career advancement opportunities for entry-level and new workers. I provided staff support to the collaborative and helps to establish partnerships with stakeholders to promote the integration of services and meet the collaborative goals in key industry sectors - manufacturing, health care, and energy/utilities. Subsequently, I worked with employers, training providers, funders, and community-based organizations to increase job placement, retention, and advancement of employees while enhancing the participating organization’s productivity and competitive advantage.

• Director: Managed a sales operations organization tasked with the planning, creation, and production of marketing communications, and sales promotional materials to implement strategic and sales objectives across the geographic and product spectrum. • Other positions included National Sales Associate, Presale Specialist, National Account Service Manager/Representative, Sales Consultant, Team Leader, and Network Access Analyst.

I managed flexible benefits claims and enrollment forms; arranged Tuition Assistance filing system; and updated Life Insurance filing system.

Created and updated various complex databases in Paradox and Microsoft Access; evaluated Help Desk software for Information Systems group; completed ongoing and ad hoc reports including Claims Analysis Report, DATALERT, customer survey/report, along with COBOL and SQL reports; and installed and acted as a primary contact and expert for various software programs and applications.

Ba, Economics

Activities and Societies: Yale Gospel Choir Volunteer at Yale-New Haven Hospital's Women Center Theater production managerEconomics.

Mba, Marketing/E-Commerce

After starting my career in business, I decided to pursue an MBA to further develop my skillset as an executive and builder/manager.