Speaker Spotlight: Claire Bakalars, Interim Director, Western Wisconsin Workforce Development Board
Monday–Tuesday, March 30–31, 2026 | Havenwood Event Center | Sparta, WI
Claire Bakalars
Interim Director
Western Wisconsin Workforce Development Board
Claire Bakalars is an advocate, a mother of 11- and 12-year-olds, and a hands-on learner who believes the best way to understand systems is by doing the work. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Communications and Sociology from the University of Minnesota Duluth and joined Western Wisconsin Workforce Development Board in spring 2023. In September 2025, she stepped into the role of Interim Director.
Claire has served in both monitoring and career planner roles, learning workforce development from the ground up while asking the questions that drive clarity and strengthen systems. After spending two years out of the workforce raising her children, she understands firsthand how life transitions impact careers. That experience fuels her commitment to Western Wisconsin Workforce Development’s mission of connecting people to meaningful, self-sustaining employment while supporting local businesses through tools such as subsidized wages.
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