Program Details
Turning an Invention into an HR Innovation
As part of C-Suite leadership, HR can play a key role in transforming people strategy through apprenticeships, once limited to trades but now vital across all occupations. Leading collaborative strategies for talent acquisition, development, retention, and succession—HR impact is financially and operationally value added. Discover how education, industry, and community partnerships are building ecosystems that help employers fully leverage apprenticeships for workforce innovation and growth. The benefits to decision makers and HR staff:
Key Objectives
Strategically – You'll learn how to integrate the apprenticeship strategy into an overall talent architecture Financially – You'll learn how to take advantage of incentives, tax credits and supplemental free resources Operationally – You'll learn how to focus on hiring the right people who become productive quickly and want to stay, while handling necessary operational steps through partnerships at no cost.
Lonnie Emard
National Apprenticeship Director at Apprenticely
As a national workforce leader and subject matter expert, Lonnie Emard is changing the way organizations do workforce. Through the implementation of the Apprenticely model that he spearheaded, Lonnie is helping leaders and their HR teams build a skilled workforce and fill their critical skills gaps. Lonnie worked for 18 years in the Information Technology organization for Amoco and 15 years for BlueCross BlueShield South Carolina Information Systems combining his technical knowledge with a unique set of leadership, organizational design, human capital and business strategy capabilities to become one of the national leaders in the field. His background and experience, coupled with an ever-growing national skills gap, lead to his founding of a non-profit organization called IT-oLogy, where Lonnie served as President for eight years. In running this collaborative, Lonnie brought academia, business, economic development, and government partners together to address the skills gap in the Information Technology profession. As the Director of Shared Services (Deputy CIO) for BlueCross BlueShield South Carolina, he initiated the apprenticeship program that delivered over 450 registered apprentices in IT, the largest number of any company in the US back in 2018. From 2016-2020, Lonnie assisted the US Department of Labor as a Subject Matter Expert in its expansion of Registered Apprenticeships, including assistance to over 10 American Apprenticeship Initiative grantees and the National Governor’s Association. He worked with the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services to stimulate tremendous growth of apprenticeships in non-traditional occupations and worked with the state of North Carolina on cyber security apprenticeships for transitioning veterans from FT. Bragg. Lonnie moved to Arkansas in 2020 and served in two roles - 1) to help shape the direction of the Office of Skills Development as a single apprenticeship organization in the state and 2) to serve as the National Director of Apprenticeship for Apprenticely, formerly known as the Arkansas Center for Data Sciences. In its first five years, Apprenticely has helped Arkansas become one of the leading states in the country for the number of IT Registered Apprenticeships. As of May 2025, Apprenticely has established over 2000 new apprenticeships in IT, engaging 204 different companies across Arkansas. His efforts have helped add over $80 million dollars to the Arkansas economy. Lonnie is now leading the effort to leverage the Apprenticely model across additional industry sectors like manufacturing, energy, healthcare, transportation and broadband, working closely with Executive and HR Leaders across the state. He has had the privilege of speaking at events to thousands of leaders and their teams throughout the nation.
Please Note: Speakers and topics are subject to change without notice.