Katherine Pappas

Director of Workforce Strategy
Pipeline AZ
Phoenix, AZ

As Director of Workforce Strategy for the Partnership for Economic Innovation (PEI), Katherine Pappas manages the deployment, adoption, and ongoing enhancement of Pipeline AZ, the community workforce platform funded by the Maricopa County Industrial Development Authority (MCIDA) and built by and for the Greater Phoenix community. She manages the overall workforce platform project, oversees engagement with key stakeholders, while ensuring long-term sustainability of the effort so it continues to be offered at no cost to users.

As an executive leader, she is a dynamic collaborator focused on solutions that drive measured and durable outcomes. Katherine’s most dynamic role with Pipeline AZ is being the strategic liaison between corporate clients, government officials, education and business leaders as she has both an empathetic and a tactical understanding of translating the requirements of all ecosystem partners. Drawing upon a comprehensive understanding of higher education, professional development, operations, and as an executor of large-scale initiatives, Katherine specialized in guiding clients through a human capital and agile process to build and maximize our local talent pipeline.

In addition to implementing Pipeline AZ across all community-based organizations in the local workforce ecosystem, Katherine is working to adapt gathered business requirements and translate these into technology development phases that best represents the needs of the Greater Phoenix. In parallel, Katherine oversees the marketing and communications plan that is focused on strategic outreach through multiple channels aligned to drive engagement and user acquisition.

Prior to joining PEI, she spent over 14 years designing workforce strategies within Apollo Education Group, as Vice President, Professional Services. During her tenure at Apollo, Katherine helped launch and implement an enterprise-wide business-to-business division. In this effort, Apollo sought to sustain new growth by designing solutions addressing the national skills gap in the workforce through business to business client just in time training services.

Katherine earned her dual Bachelor of Consumer Behavior and International Business Administration degree from the University of Arizona. She also earned her Masters of Business Administration/GM from University of Phoenix. She was born and raised in Carmel, Indiana and currently resides in Phoenix and enjoys wellness, cooking, outdoor and creative endeavors.