Tri-C Names Executive Director to Guide Workforce Connect Healthcare Sector Partnership

Susan Krejci will work with hospital systems, job seekers to build employment pipeline

Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C^®) today announced that Susan Krejci will lead the Workforce Connect Healthcare Sector Partnership as executive director effective Aug. 3. 

Krejci and Tri-C will work closely with hospital systems in Cuyahoga County to create a robust talent pipeline while also ensuring that job seekers have clearly defined career pathways with family-sustaining wages. 

The initial group of hospitals includes Cleveland Clinic, The MetroHealth System, St. Vincent Charity Medical Center, University Hospitals and the Veterans Health Administration. 

“We have people in Northeast Ohio looking for jobs and health care providers with positions to fill,” Krejci said. “Our goal with the Workforce Connect Healthcare Sector Partnership is to build the bridge that connects and resolves those needs.” 

Krejci is a Tri-C graduate with more than a decade of experience working in various aspects of health care, including public health, workforce development and academic research.

Most recently, she served as an operations manager at Better Health Partnership. In that position, Krejci helped build and launch Cuyahoga County’s first Pathways Community HUB to address economic and social factors that impact overall health and access to medical care. 

Prior to that, she served The MetroHealth System as a program manager at the Center for Health Care Research and Policy as well as the Community Health Initiative. 

Krejci has also held a leadership role with Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities — where she focused on developing workforce programs — and contributed to research at Case Western Reserve University. 

“Susan Krejci has a tremendous background, and we are thrilled to bring her aboard,” said William Gary, executive vice president of Tri-C’s Workforce, Community and Economic Development division. 

Earlier this year, JPMorgan Chase made a $175,000 philanthropic investment to provide students with necessary education and skills to secure well-paying, high-demand jobs in healthcare-related fields. This investment supports the Workforce Connect Healthcare Sector Partnership to the Fund for our Economic Future, which serves as fiscal sponsor for the Workforce Connect. The Cuyahoga County Workforce Funders Group also supports the sector partnership through a grant to the Fund. 

“As a long-standing member of our community, we recognize our role in creating and supporting workforce solutions that keep our region growing and thriving for everyone,” said Rudy Bentlage, market executive for JPMorgan Chase Middle Market Banking in Northeast Ohio. “Through this joint effort with Workforce Connect, Tri-C and the Fund for our Economic Future, we’re connecting the next generation with the tools and skills they need for the jobs of tomorrow and putting more people on the path to success.” 

The hiring of Krejci and the generosity of JPMorgan Chase boost efforts to connect hardworking, talented jobseekers with hospital systems, said Deborah Vesy, chair of the Workforce Funders Group and president and CEO of the Deaconess Foundation. 

“With Sue’s leadership and this grant funding, we’re positioned to bolster our overall economy and region through this partnership,” she said. 

Krejci holds a master’s degree in business administration from Cleveland State University and a bachelor’s degree from Baldwin-Wallace College. She earned her associate degree from Tri-C before graduating from Brunswick High School. 

The lifelong Northeast Ohio resident continues to call Brunswick home.  

About Workforce Connect

Workforce Connect is an important building block in Cuyahoga County’s overall workforce development ecosystem that will help support employers in finding the right skilled talent through business-led sector intermediaries in manufacturing, health care and IT over the next three years. Workforce Connect is the result of partnership of public and private leaders including the City of Cleveland, Cleveland Foundation, Cuyahoga County, Deaconess Foundation, Fund for our Economic Future, Greater Cleveland Partnership, The George Gund Foundation, Cleveland/Cuyahoga County Workforce Development Board, Team NEO and United Way of Greater Cleveland.

July 30, 2020

John Horton, 216-987-4281 john.horton@tri-c.edu