Kayla Brossett is a visionary and strategic workforce development leader and expert who excels at initiating and managing collaborations with mission driven institutions, corporate stakeholders, government, and marginalized communities. Driven by a relentless passion to level the education playing field, she employs a holistic and data driven consultative approach with a focus on exceptional learner outcomes. With her extensive network in career technical and higher education, Kayla forges symbiotic partnerships with corporate allies and stakeholders at the forefront of driving inclusive and equitable economic advancement.
Kayla boasts a rich history of fostering the expansion of pivotal employer alliances with global organizations, directing career services teams and resources within technical training colleges, and orchestrating the stewardship of nationwide business development portfolios. Her exceptional leadership has propelled the growth and impact of numerous work-based learning models, creating transformative opportunities for students and forging pathways to sustained economic advancement.
During her time as US Head of Employer Partnerships with The Wadhwani Global Foundation, she collaborated within the ecosystem to identify high growth job sectors for Community Colleges to stand up foundation-backed, skills-based learning programs for underrepresented individuals earning less than a family sustaining wage. She engaged early partners such as Chase, Goldman Sachs, Google, Tesla, and Vinfast, and led the prototyping and iteration of educational content and curriculum for African-American and Hispanic learners in the US.
Prior to that, Kayla worked with ECMC Group’s non-profit subsidiary, ECMC Education, as Senior Director of Career Services and Corporate Alliances. During her tenure, Kayla collaborated across divisions and with external stakeholders to establish a diverse and inclusive, online video series comprised of employability skills and professional development courses. She increased corporate employer partnerships by 52%, improved entry-level student salary by $3.6M, increased work-based learning sites by 25%, and achieved an 11% job placement improvement by managing operations, setting strategy, and delivering on ambitious annual goals for the department.
At Meritize, Kayla was elected as the Series B start-up company’s first Chair of the Board of Director’s Committee on Diversity Equity and Inclusion. Under her leadership, the Board of Directors welcomed their first BIPOC member and the company became more transparent by imposing salary bands – leading to salary equity increases for BIPOC employees. To combat cronyism, Kayla collaborated with multiple stakeholders to create an internal professional development program leading to (7) internal promotions for BIPOC employees in one year. As Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships for the company, Kayla sourced, developed, negotiated, and executed multiple complex partnerships, resulting in $7M in revenue from new sales and addendums to partner agreements.
During the first 10 years of her career, Kayla led high performing Student Outcomes teams for postsecondary vocational colleges, notably at publicly held company, Lincoln Tech. Kayla built her diverse industry network, secured over $4M in corporate employer sponsorships, developed holistic work-based learning models, curated professional development centers and resources, and achieved high job placement rates. She has overseen operations budgets up to $5M and managed successful campus leadership teams.
Kayla was selected to the second cohort of the Postsecondary State Career Technical Education (CTE) Leaders Fellowship at Advance CTE and is working with state leaders to establish equity for African-American learners in registered apprenticeship programs. She has an MA in Corporate Communications from Grambling State University and a BA in Journalism from Northwestern State University. A fitness enthusiast, Kayla enjoys Pilates, running, hiking, and cycling. She recently bought a 100-year-old historic home in her hometown of Shreveport, LA which she is actively renovating.
