About the WDC

The Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County (WDC) is a nonprofit workforce “think tank” and grant-making organization whose mission is to support a strong economy and ensure the ability of each person to achieve self-sufficiency.

Established in 2000 by the King County Executive and the Mayor of Seattle, the WDC is led by a board of directors with a private-sector majority. We oversee a wide range of employment-related programs and initiatives, serving thousands of King County youth, adults and businesses each year.

Marlena Sessions

Marléna Sessions, CEO

Marléna Sessions is the Chief Executive Officer of the Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County.

Marléna started her workforce development career at the age of 23 as a case manager for dropout youth and then moved on to managing the highly successful education, employment and training programs of Career Path Services in Spokane.

Marléna served as Chief Operations Officer of the Workforce Development Council from 2000 until taking the helm of the organization in April 2009. She has considerable expertise in the areas of organizational development and designing and implementing top-quality employment and training programs. Partnerships, sector initiatives and high-impact strategies for training and employing individuals are a few of her passions.

Marléna is an executive committee member of enterpriseSeattle, the area’s economic development agency, as well as a member of the Interagency Council of the Seattle-King County Committee to End Homelessness, the Seattle Community Colleges Chancellor’s Advisory Council, and the visiting committee of UW Educational Outreach.

On the national level, she is a member of the Leadership Council of the National Skills Coalition and of the High-Skills Consortium of Jobs for the Future. She is also on the board of trustees of the Workforce Development Council of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and serves as its Youth Committee National Chair.

Marléna holds a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Gonzaga University and a bachelor of arts in political science from Whitworth College. She lives in Issaquah, Wash., with her husband and two children.