Ray Prendergast
Ray Prendergast is the Midwest Region Employment and Training Analyst for the USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP Employment and Training is a workforce program that helps food stamp recipients gain economic self-sufficiency through job skills training and support services. Mr. Prendergast provides technical assistance and expertise in workforce development to the state agencies that administer SNAP E&T programs in Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio.
Ray has 20 years of experience designing, implementing and administering workforce development programs and policies. As the Dean of College to Careers at Richard J. Daley College he restructured the Manufacturing Technology program, building stackable short certificates into the Associate’s degree program. Under Dean Prendergast, Daley College added over 40 employer-partners and achieved accreditation from the National Institute of Metalworking Skills. With a well-developed career pathway for low-income students, Daley College’s manufacturing program grew dramatically. In 2012 Daley College was designated by Mayor Rahm Emmanuel and Chancellor Cheryl Hyman as “The Center of Excellence for Advanced Manufacturing Education.”
Mr. Prendergast has also served as Executive Director of the Jane Adams Resource Corporation (JARC), a nonprofit WIOA training provider. In this capacity, he expanded Adult Basic Education programs that served low skilled workers, including the creation of “bridge” programs where remediation in reading and math was cleverly disguised as vocational skills training. Students completing bridge programs earned industry credentials and were able to obtain jobs or move to more advanced training programs. Under Ray’s leadership, JARC became a leader in sector-based strategies for workforce development. This strategy blends skills training and support services to help low-income people get jobs with family-supporting wages and benefits, which, coincidentally, is also the primary goal of SNAP Employment and Training.
Ray Prendergast is the Midwest Region Employment and Training Analyst for the USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP Employment and Training is a workforce program that helps food stamp recipients gain economic self-sufficiency through job skills training and support services. Mr. Prendergast provides technical assistance and expertise in workforce development to the state agencies that administer SNAP E&T programs in Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio.
Ray has 20 years of experience designing, implementing and administering workforce development programs and policies. As the Dean of College to Careers at Richard J. Daley College he restructured the Manufacturing Technology program, building stackable short certificates into the Associate’s degree program. Under Dean Prendergast, Daley College added over 40 employer-partners and achieved accreditation from the National Institute of Metalworking Skills. With a well-developed career pathway for low-income students, Daley College’s manufacturing program grew dramatically. In 2012 Daley College was designated by Mayor Rahm Emmanuel and Chancellor Cheryl Hyman as “The Center of Excellence for Advanced Manufacturing Education.”
Mr. Prendergast has also served as Executive Director of the Jane Adams Resource Corporation (JARC), a nonprofit WIOA training provider. In this capacity, he expanded Adult Basic Education programs that served low skilled workers, including the creation of “bridge” programs where remediation in reading and math was cleverly disguised as vocational skills training. Students completing bridge programs earned industry credentials and were able to obtain jobs or move to more advanced training programs. Under Ray’s leadership, JARC became a leader in sector-based strategies for workforce development. This strategy blends skills training and support services to help low-income people get jobs with family-supporting wages and benefits, which, coincidentally, is also the primary goal of SNAP Employment and Training.