Brooke Lucas, the Chief of Staff for State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler
Brooke Lucas joined the Georgia Department of Labor in January of 2011 as Deputy Commissioner of Workforce Solutions. She was hired by then newly elected Labor Commissioner Mark Butler to lead the process of improving the Labor Department’s contributions and connectivity to Georgia’s economic development efforts.
In January of 2012, Brooke was promoted to Chief of Staff. In addition to managing oversight of daily operations at the Department, Brooke also serves as liaison between the Commissioner’s office, the Georgia General Assembly, the Governor’s Office, 47 Labor Department Career Centers, multiple state agencies and private industry on labor and workforce issues.
In the fall of 2012, SWAT (Special Workforce Assistance Team) was created to identify workforce system improvement opportunities across Georgia. SWAT is a grassroots approach to full employment in Georgia’s most threatened communities – economically depressed areas with high unemployment rates. SWAT works with communities to raise awareness of economic realities, develop and employ effective response strategies, and gain support for Georgia Department of Labor and its workforce partners.
In the spring of 2013, the Business Services Unit was created to strengthen GDOL labor exchange activities through an innovative combination of new computer efficiencies and personal attention from specialized front-line staff. This combination ensures GDOL labor exchange is a smoothly functioning job matching system, making connections between the business community’s varied workforce needs and fully trained job-seekers with skillsets that match those needs. By proactively working with workforce partners to help job-seekers build those specific skill sets, Georgia’s businesses will continue to keep pace with emerging technologies and successfully compete in our global economy.
A native of Metro Atlanta, Brooke is a graduate of Mercer University, where she received her Bachelor of Arts. Brooke is currently enrolled at the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia in Atlanta. She is scheduled to receive her MBA in May of 2014.