Andrew J. Wells
Vice-President of Workforce Development at the Chicago Urban League.
Andrew J. Wells is Vice-President of Workforce Development at the Chicago Urban League. He has proven to be an excellent leader and a valuable asset to Chicago’s underserved communities by forging strategic partnerships that resulted in scale, expansion, and innovation on all levels in the Workforce Development Center.
He received his undergraduate degree with honors from Roosevelt University and his MBA from Walden University. He was inducted into the “Men of Excellence” society in 2017. He is acknowledged for his remarkable contributions in workforce development with the “Excellence In Workforce Development Award” from the National Urban League in 2016, the “Impact Award” from United Way of Metro Chicago in 2018, and the “Champion Award” from Skills for Chicagoland’s Future in 2020. His work is celebrated amongst his friends, family, colleagues, and peers.
Mr. Wells is also a successful entrepreneur, writer, publisher, and blogger. He founded three for-profit businesses, wrote several articles on numerous subjects, publisher of Aplomb (a WordPress website documenting travel and cultural experiences in the Dominican Republic). He created Métier (a blog for coaching emerging leaders), Frontline U.S.A. (a blog to discuss social and political issues that matters to Black and Hispanic voters), and Future of Work (a workforce technology blog.). Mr. Wells served three and a half years as co-host of the “Let’s Get To Work Show” on the WVON 1690 AM radio show.
From 2019 to 2022, Mr. Wells grew the Workforce Development Center’s revenues more than 8 times over, which became nearly have of the overall agency budget. He redesigned, expanded, and scaled programs in areas such as Supply Chain Management, Information Technology, Clean Energy, Community Trades and Apprenticeships, Social Justice, and Second Chance for returning citizens. He was the first to launch a Drone Academy in Chicago.
In 2017, Mr. Wells launched clean energy and environmental justice initiatives under the Illinois Future Energy Jobs Act. The Solar Energy Jobs Training Program collaborates with leading solar workforce development and training organizations to connect people interested in solar careers with the training they need to enter the industry and the solar employers who need skilled workers. Under Mr. Wells’ leadership, CUL has become a formidable community leader for clean energy in Chicago by spearheading and installing the largest solar array in the city. Located at CUL’s main office in Bronzeville are four hundred and thirty-six solar panels (210kwdc total: 49kwdc on the rooftop and 161kwdc stretching across two solar carports.) CUL solar installer graduates worked alongside journeymen, while solar trainees at the time received on-the-job experience.
As described above, Mr. Wells currently performs multiple roles inside and outside the Chicago Urban League. In March 2020, Mayor Lori Lightfoot appointed Mr. Wells as co-chair of the city’s Digital Equity Council. Since 2017, he has served as the South Chicago Community Justice Initiative chair. Mr. Wells is a former board member of The Renaissance Collaborative, a not-for-profit organization. He is a former Real Estate and Construction Collaboration, LLC board member. Mr. Wells is the past Chairman of the Board of The Kindness Campaign, a not-for-profit organization that focuses on the social needs of families. He is a former chair of the Urban Tech Advisory Board, a board of corporate and community leaders dedicated to increasing African American influence in STEM. Mr. Wells was one of the original founding advisors of the Community Based Organization Collective (CBOC). He is a member of the Collective Impact and actively participates in several state and city working groups, focusing on workforce development, education, culture, and the arts. Mr. Wells is an active participant in several public and private collaborations throughout the state of Illinois.