Helen N. Parker has served as Regional Administrator for the Atlanta Region of the Employment and Training Administration since March 9, 2003. She oversees approximately $2.5 billion in federal grant resources to state and local grantees. She provides leadership and direction to the workforce system in the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
Dr. Parker began her career in workforce development in 1974 as a front-line worker in the North Carolina Employment Security Commission. She joined the
Georgia Department of Labor in 1976, and worked her way through the ranks, including a stint as a local service delivery area director under the Job Training Partnership Act. In 1984, she was appointed Assistant Commissioner for Employment Services with the Georgia Department of Labor and served in that capacity until her federal appointment in 2003.
Dr. Parker received Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, her PhD from Duke University, and a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Georgia. Her honors include the Secretary of Labor's Special Achievement Award (1990), National Performance Review "Hammer" Award (1996), and Interstate Conference of Employment Security Agencies (ICESA) President's Award (1999).
Her awards include Who's Who of American Women, International Who's Who of Professional and Business Women, U.S. Department of Labor Special Achievement Award, Miller Merit Award - International Association of Personnel in Employment Security, Vice President Gore's National Performance Review "Hammer" Award, and Interstate Conference of Employment Security Agencies (ICESA) President's Award.
