Joe Barela (DistSt'06)

In December 2018, Governor Polis appointed Joe Barela as the Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, a 1900 person state agency housing the Divisions of Unemployment Insurance, Workers’ Compensation, Labor Standards and Statistics, Vocational Rehabilitation, Employment and Training and Oil and Public Safety. Joe has more than 25 years of experience in workforce and human capital development and is seen as a local and national leader in the field. Joe is passionate about creating more opportunities for better career pathways for working Coloradans/Americans. Under his leadership he has launched the Office of the Future of Work, The Office of New Americans, the Office of Just Transitions, the Colorado Disability Opportunity Office as well as the Colorado Family and Medical Leave Insurance Division. Before serving in the Polis administration, he was a Director for Skillful, a Markle Foundation Initiative. In 2015, Joe served at the U.S. Department of

Labor as a Senior Advisor during the Obama Administration; he helped coordinate the USDOL’s implementation of the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act (WIOA) at national, state and local levels. Mr. Barela is a Colorado native and a graduate of the University of Colorado, Boulder. Joe lives in Denver with his partner, Scott, of 23 years and their dog, Maya. Joe enjoys snowboarding, hiking and spending time in Durango (his family hometown).