Betty Sparrow-Doris, Secretary

Department of Workforce Solutions

“Living to help others help themselves” fuels the personal and professional energy of newly appointed Secretary of the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions, Betty Sparrow Doris. Described as “Servant-Leader” by colleagues who have watched her prevail against apparently insurmountable challenges, Ms. Doris is quick to underscore the guiding principles of respect, trust, and truth as she solves problems and works with others to get the job done.

Ms. Doris began her tenure in the workforce development area during the era of nationally directed employment and training programs. As Director of Youth and Categorical Programs, she managed programs designed to keep at-risk Denver youth in school through on-the-job training, mentoring, job shadowing, and internship opportunities. These tailored interventions connected at-risk students with school-and work-based learning venues through community and business involvement.

Ms. Doris was subsequently promoted to manage all of Denver’s public workforce system programs and services. She developed a decentralized workforce system that enhanced access to the City’s workforce services for job seekers and businesses. Program accountability and performance outcomes were significantly improved as she launched a comprehensive program monitoring and contracts management system.

The path that she took next led Ms. Doris to the Commonwealth of Virginia where as senior strategic planner and policy analyst, and through the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), she addressed the pressing needs of a segment of the workforce that had been woefully under represented. Appointed during the administration of then-Governor Doug

Wilder, Ms. Doris developed innovative strategies which resulted in the first-ever State-Wide Disabilities Services conference, “Pathways to Progress: The Future Before Us.”

Subsequently, stakeholders, including mayors, managers, and boards of supervisors, among others, joined together in “win-win” collaborations that benefited Virginia’s ADA customers.

Ms. Doris returned to Denver to launch the employment and training component of the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) Program in the Department of Human

Services. While managing the TANF initiative, she also served on a task force, jointly commissioned by Governor Roy Romer and Mayor Wellington Webb. The Task Force was charged with moving state-level labor exchange programs and staff to local government, and for integrating existing state and local workforce development services into a single agency, the Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development.

Prior to appointment by Governor Bill Richardson as the Executive Director of the Office of Workforce Training and Development for the state of New Mexico, Mayor John Hickenlooper of Denver appointed Ms. Doris as interim Executive Director of the Division of Workforce Development. Ms. Doris dispensed more than $40,000,000 annually for workforce preparation and development.

Ms. Doris has a Bachelor of Science in Organizational Management. She completed her Masters Degree in Curriculum and Instruction at Colorado Christian University in Lakewood, Colorado. She has two adult children and three grandchildren who reside in Colorado.

Ms. Doris and her husband Bobby live in Albuquerque, New Mexico.