WASHINGTON, DC—Today, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty announced his picks for the director of the Department of Employment Services (DOES).

Summer Spencer
Director, Department of Employment Services

Summer Spencer has been nominated to serve as the director of the DC Department of Employment Services.  Ms. Spencer joins the city’s government after serving as executive director of the Center for Alexandria’s Children, a child advocacy center focused on the investigation, treatment and prevention of child abuse. Prior to that, she served for five years as the first executive director of the Workforce Organizations for Regional Collaboration (WORC).

Founded in 2000, WORC brings employers and service providers together to lead individuals in the Greater Washington, DC region to pathways to independence.  In April 2005, WORC became an affiliate of Goodwill of Greater Washington, an organization that educates, trains, employs people with disadvantages and disabilities, creating a stronger workforce and a more vital community.  Ms. Spencer served as the vice president of training and employment for Goodwill of Greater Washington, while still retaining her position as executive director of WORC until September 2006. 

Ms. Spencer graduated from the University of Richmond with a degree in accounting. While working as a CPA at Grant Thornton LLP, she realized that she had another passion. Ms. Spencer began volunteering at a homeless shelter in Northern Virginia, where she worked with the residents on a weekly basis to help them look for jobs, write resumes and prepare for interviews.  She enjoyed this volunteer activity so much that Ms. Spencer decided to make a full-time career of it.  She began working in the employment department of Community Family Life Services (CFLS) in Washington, DC, where she helped prepare individuals to reenter the workforce.  While at CFLS, Ms. Spencer also started working with other local providers who were meeting monthly to share information about the various activities in the workforce development field. Workforce Organizations for Regional Collaboration (WORC) was formed as a result of these monthly meetings and Ms. Spencer served as its first executive director.

Ms. Spencer is a member of the Board of Directors for Leadership Washington as well as the Jobs Coalition.  She has also served as chair of the Community Relations Committee of the Human Resource Association of the National Capital Area and co-chair of the Greater Washington Board of Trade Health Care Task Force's Regional Workforce Work Group.