Smart Cities Connect

Fall Event Article

By Chelsea McCullough, Strategic Advisor

November 12, 2025

Building a Smart Workforce

The term “people-centered smart cities” often conjures images of residents moving about a city, traversing its various systems. We can often take for granted the critical human workforce who powers all of this connected activity including those who build the infrastructure in which we all depend!

At the Smart Cities Connect Conference & Expo this Fall (Nov 19-21), four senior experts will offer their experience and insights for how to build a smart workforce. Attendees will benefit from deep knowledge gathered from decades of leadership in public service, workforce development, and community development. 

This panel centers on innovative approaches, programs, and technologies designed to encourage investment in people. This panel is a not-to-miss-discussion between city leaders, technologists, and workforce development practitioners. From highlighting the importance of the skilled trades to encouraging engagement across the workforce spectrum, this panel will cover important ground for how to ready the workforce.

Attendees will walk away with practical guidance and new information for how to break down barriers, expand opportunities, and foster a more inclusive, future-ready workforce. At Smart Cities Connect, we are always striving to bring the most relevant, applicable, timely topics to inspire, connect, and share information! See you all next week!

Baby Steps: Building a Smart Workforce

Wednesday, November 19 | 1:15 PM – 2:05 PM – Annapolis 3 

Meet Our Speakers:

John Holden, Smart City Manager, City of Raleigh, NC (Moderator)

  • Expert in community economic development with more than 25 years of experience
  • Experienced in organizing and developing new initiatives and projects around tourism, downtown, and business development.  
  • Previous Experience:
  • Director, Economic Development and Tourism in Stafford County, Virginia,
  • Co-founder, Virginia Smart Community Testbed
  • Raleigh’s first Smart City Manger, Office of Strategy and Innovation 

Johnnie-Lynn Crosby, Government Engagement Manager, East, Transfr Inc.

  • More than 21 years of workforce development experience 
  • Actively involved in several workforce initiatives across the eastern U.S.
  • Previous Experience:
  • Led a 14-county regional team through the development of sector partnerships for Diversified Manufacturing 
  • Led a regional multi-agency business solutions team across Cherokee, Greenville, Spartanburg, and Union counties. 
  • Authorized WorkKeys job profiler 
  • Career Development Facilitator 

Aiisha Herring, Project Director, Business and Workforce Development, City of Philadelphia, PA

  • Experienced public servant with more than 23 years of experience working for the City of Philadelphia.  
  • Expert leader of economic and community development initiatives designed to revitalize business districts, increase minority participation in contracting, and drive equitable employment in the skilled trades industry.  
  • Previous Experience:
  • Deputy Director, Business and Workforce Development, City of Philadelphia where she led a team for the City’s Capital Program’s Rebuild Initiative 
  • Senior Director, Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) 
  • Managed a $38 endowment at the Philadelphia Department of Commerce providing grants to small businesses to increase their business capacity

Mel Arsenault, Principal, Arsenault & Associates 

  • More than 25 years of experience in workforce development, human resources, and talent development pipelines.
  • Recognized by multiple organizations including L. L. Bean, Inc., American Association of Port Authorities, The Gulfport, MS NAACP, the Southern Public Relations Federation, the Job Corps, and the Gulfport, MS school district.
  • Previous Experience:
  • ICF leading workforce development initiatives with a focus on apprenticeships, youth engagement, IT sector development, and state workforce system redesign
  • Led post Katrina restoration of the Port of Gulfport, MS leading external affairs, workforce development, community engagement, and compliance programs while also creating multiple innovative partnerships. 
  • Other roles as Executive Director, local workforce board, Legislative Liaison and Director of the Bureau of Employment Services, Maine Department of Labor