Gregg Weltz, MMHS '97
Helping Kids Connect
As a teenage camp counselor mentoring kids and leading activities, Gregg Weltz didn’t foresee the day when he would oversee nearly a billion dollars in federal youth workforce development grants in all fifty states. He just knew he always wanted to work with kids.
But his dream – and dream job – have both come true. As director of the Office for Youth Services (OYS) at the Department of Labor (DOL) - the highest youth development post in the agency - Weltz now works on behalf of countless kids. He is dedicated to the proposition that youth employment can mitigate or even solve, many of the social ills affecting teens today.
"Disconnected youth are the most vulnerable," says Weltz. "These are the kids who are not successful in school, may have little support from family or community to keep them on the right path, and consequently they have trouble finding jobs even though they have tremendous potential. At DOL, we believe that the best social program is a job."
The Heller School played no small part in Weltz’s own professional success. When graduation came and it was time to reenter the workforce, Weltz drew on his strong Heller network -- a job hunting strategy that he tries to promote at every opportunity. "Professor Andy Hahn had strong connections at DOL and with his encouragement, I applied for and was accepted for a Presidential Management Internship," says Weltz. It is just this kind of network that many youth lack, making a job search especially difficult, he points out.
Because job hunting is so challenging for the kids who often need the work and social structure the most, Weltz’s office funds programs that help teens and young adults overcome barriers to employment, such as a lack of basic reading and writing skills and work experience, and little understanding of workplace expectations and culture. "These skills are often more important to employers than technical skills," says Weltz. OYS also supports programs that partner with businesses to offer internships or job opportunities so young people can overcome that Catch-22 of needing work experience before they can land a job.
Weltz often collaborates with other federal agencies, such as the Departments of Education and Justice. "Although we are all driven by our own missions – for example at the Department of Labor we are committed to connecting young people to the job market - we all are focused on the same young person," says Weltz. "We understand each other’s self-interest, but also appreciate that by working together we can ensure the best outcomes for youth."
In addition to the nine years Weltz has worked for the federal government, his career has been studded with numerous highlights, including building a basketball court with high school students he taught in Zimbabwe and successfully directing a YMCA youth program in the San Francisco Bay Area at a time of shrinking services and growing street violence.
But eventually, knowing he needed not only great on the job training, but a rigorous academic experience to validate and expand his skill set, Weltz enrolled at The Heller School. Weltz’s Heller education taught him to evaluate programs based on sound management and research, and the pace of the Heller master’s program prepared him well for a career in the federal government, where thinking on your feet and being able to quickly reprioritize are all in a day’s work
Weltz credits his Heller education for his greatest achievement in his current job. "I think I will be remembered as someone who built a culture where people are focused on serving young people and the community using quality management techniques. It is no longer a matter of saying ‘Hey, what we’re doing feels good’," says Weltz. "Great outcomes are more likely when you operate this way."