HCC Southwest president’s role expands to lead workforce program
Houston Community College is embarking on a renewed focus on workforce training with the appointment of HCC Southwest President Madeline Burillo-Hopkins, Ed.D., to oversee the college system’s workforce instruction and development.
Burillo-Hopkins also has been tapped to serve on the executive committee of UpSkill Houston, an initiative focused on improving the skilled talent pipeline employers need to grow their businesses. The initiative also seeks to connect Houstonians to good careers that increase economic opportunity and stability.
HCC has stepped up its emphasis on workforce training in light of the monumental challenges brought on by COVID-19. As more people are looking for jobs amid the pandemic, Burillo-Hopkins led the college to have developed workforce training opportunities for Houstonians in partnerships with area nonprofits – at no cost to qualifying students.
“Last summer we anticipated that we would have a lot of people impacted by the loss of jobs,” said Burillo-Hopkins, who continues her duties as college president along with her new workforce roles. “We began exploring what kinds of grants we could pursue from state and federal agencies that would help our students to get back to work right away, and with the right skillset.”
Burillo-Hopkins also has been leading the college team in developing partnerships with corporations and organizations to provide free workforce training for the community.
