World Workplace Keynote Announced: Alexis Herman

The International Facility Management Association is pleased to announce the selection of the honorable Alexis M. Herman — esteemed workforce expert and former secretary of labor — as the keynote speaker for the World Workplace 2010 Conference Expo. Held October 27 to 29 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, GA, World Workplace 2010 will bring leaders from business and government organizations together with educators and exhibitors to focus on the future of the built environment.

Herman will deliver the conference’s keynote presentation, “The Changing Global Workforce: Ways to Understand it and Leverage It” on Wednesday, October 27. She will discuss how technology and information are fueling the new economy and how increased global competition is creating a demand for high skilled jobs and lessening demand for low skilled work. Herman will also explore how sectors hit hard by the economic recession can boost job creation in the future, and discuss the biggest challenges employers must address to stay competitive and productive.

Herman began her career working for Catholic Charities helping the unemployed find work. At 29, her appointment by President Jimmy Carter made her the youngest director of the Women’s Bureau in the history of the U.S. Department of Labor. In 1997, she became America’s 23rd secretary of labor, appointed by President Bill Clinton. Under her tenure, the country’s unemployment reached a 30-year low and the nation witnessed the safest workplace record in the history of the Department of Labor.

Herman currently serves as chair and CEO of New Ventures LLC, a corporate consulting company. She chairs the Toyota Diversity Advisory Board and the Sodexho Business Advisory Board, and is a member of the boards of directors of The Coca-Cola Company, MGM Mirage, Entergy and Cummins. She is a recipient of more than 20 honorary doctorate degrees from major colleges and universities around the United States.