Conversation with MA Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development Ronald Walker

About Secretary Ronald L. Walker, II

Secretary Ronald L. Walker, II oversees five labor and workforce development regulatory agencies: the Departments of Unemployment Assistance, Career Services, Labor Standards, Industrial Accidents, and Labor Relations. In addition, Secretary Walker manages Commonwealth Corporation—the Secretariat’s quasi-public state agency charged with administering Workforce Training Funds and the Council on the Underground Economy, which coordinates the efforts of multiple state agencies to eliminate fraudulent employment activities and level the playing field for all employers.

Secretary Walker is responsible for directing and executing Governor Charles D. Baker’s agenda on workforce development and unemployment assistance, job creation, business services, and labor. The Governor has appointed Secretary Walker to lead two initiatives that will advise him on meeting the needs of employers and targeted populations of unemployed residents. As chair of the Workforce Skills Cabinet, Secretary Walker will join his counterparts in Education and Economic Development in examining the state’s workforce development system and aligning economic and educational resources to the labor needs of employers. Secretary Walker will also lead a task force that is charged with improving access to jobs and training by populations that experience chronic rates of high unemployment.

Prior to his appointment to the Baker Cabinet, Secretary Walker was Managing Partner and President of Next Street, the merchant bank he co-founded to offer financial and business advisory services to underserved small businesses and entrepreneurs in urban areas. Secretary Walker brings to the Baker Administration extensive experience in retail and commercial banking where he served in several senior executive roles at Sovereign Bank, Fleet Financial Group, and Bank of New England beginning in 1990.

The Mattapan native holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and Finance from Prairie View A&M University of Texas and completed the Finance for Senior Executive Program at Harvard Business School.

Secretary Walker has served on a number of boards for non-profits including The BASE, the mentoring and access program for African-American and Latino student athletes and is an overseer for the Boston YMCA. He has received a number of recognitions for his business and community contributions—“CEO of the Year Social Leadership Award” from the Boston Business Journal, the 2013 Harry Dowd Community Service Award from Central Boston Elder Services, “Heroes in Health Care Award” from the Visiting Nurse Association of Boston, and the Boston Chamber of Commerce’s “Under 40 Leadership Award.”