The Northwest Arkansas Council today announced the appointment of David Giesige as founding executive director of a new regional workforce intermediary that will align employers, educators and community partners around Northwest Arkansas’ workforce needs. Giesige, a Fulbright Scholar who most recently served as chief program officer at the Greater Cleveland Career Consortium, will lead the initiative as it develops a more coordinated approach to workforce development across the region.
The intermediary is being incubated by the Northwest Arkansas Council with support from the Walton Family Foundation. It will serve as a regional hub connecting education, training and employment opportunities while helping employers build the talent pipeline needed to support Northwest Arkansas’ continued growth.
Northwest Arkansas continues to add jobs faster than the region can supply talent. Employers increasingly require education and training beyond high school, while many graduates leave the region to begin their careers elsewhere. With approximately 50,000 projected job openings in the coming years, strengthening the education-to-workforce pipeline will help ensure more residents can access career opportunities, advance economically and remain in the region after graduation.
“Northwest Arkansas’ employers are creating tremendous opportunities, but we need stronger alignment between the skills they need and the education and training pathways that prepare people for those careers,” said Nelson Peacock, president and CEO of the Northwest Arkansas Council. “David brings a compelling vision for connecting employers, educators and community partners around a shared strategy to develop and retain more talent in Northwest Arkansas, creating clearer pathways to opportunity for residents across the region.”
As founding executive director, Giesige will lead the development of a career-connected learning system spanning early education through young adulthood. A central focus will be expanding internship, apprenticeship and other work-based learning opportunities while aligning education and training programs with the industries driving the region’s economy. He will also work to increase the number of graduates who stay and build careers in Northwest Arkansas.
At the Greater Cleveland Career Consortium, Giesige led the expansion of a regional career-connected learning system serving nearly 30,000 students across nine school districts. He coordinated more than 150 education, employer and public-sector partners and helped expand internships, work-based learning opportunities and career pathways aligned with workforce needs. Prior to Cleveland, Giesige worked with school districts, employers and workforce partners in Colorado to design and launch career and technical education and work-based learning programs across two dozen rural communities.
Giesige started his career as a high school English teacher and brings a perspective shaped by a rural community where programs connecting students to careers were essential to sustaining the local economy and workforce.
“My goal is to build this initiative as a formalized collective impact model, serving as a neutral convener, aligner and optimizer of the strong programs and partnerships that already exist in this region,” said Giesige. “By bringing the community together around a shared vision, we can develop a talent ecosystem that produces tangible outcomes for students, employers and the region while setting the foundation for a nationally recognized model.”
The initiative follows a 2024 assessment of Northwest Arkansas’ education-to-workforce system conducted by an advisory committee of regional leaders and partners. In May 2025, the committee recommended the creation of a formal regional intermediary to coordinate talent development efforts among education and training providers, employers and community partners.
Giesige holds a bachelor’s degree in English education from The Ohio State University, where he graduated with honors. A Fulbright Scholar, he studied vocational training models and workforce readiness systems in the Netherlands.
