Cherie LaCour-Duckworth
Vice President, Center for Workforce Development Urban League of Louisiana
Cherie LaCour-Duckworth is Vice President of Urban League of Louisiana's Office Workforce Development. Urban League of Louisiana is an anchoring nonprofit that enables African Americans and other underserved communities seeking equity to secure economic self-reliance, parity, and civil rights. The organization strives toward its mission through services provided to citizens engaged in programs housed in its essential Centers of Excellence focused on education and youth development, workforce and economic development, and public policy and advocacy.
Cherie has over 30 years of experience in the field of workforce development, which began with the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA), Workforce Investment Act (WIA), and present-day Workforce Investment Opportunity Act (WIOA). She has a strong acumen in economic and workforce development, database development, executive leadership, and management. She has a particular focus on employment and training programs designed to support unemployed or under-employed working-age youth and adult career seekers, including those who are formally incarcerated, justice-involved, currently incarcerated individuals returning home from state and local prisons/jails, opportunity youth, and in-school youth seeking college and career pathways.
Under her leadership, LaCour-Duckworth designed TeleWorkforce, using virtual platforms to manage Urban League of Louisiana's virtual Workforce Center. This innovation allowed Urban League's Center for Workforce Development to remain connected to career seekers, education institutions, resource providers, and employers from across the state, as the organization pivoted through the global Covid-19 pandemic. She also pioneered the Urban League of Louisiana’s Registered Apprenticeships for Cybersecurity and Automotive Service Technician.
In 2014, LaCour-Duckworth received an award for Excellence in Workforce Development, presented by National Urban League's President Marc H. Morial, at the Whitney M. Young Jr. Leadership Development Conference. In 2016, she received recognition from the City of New Orleans Mayor, Mitchell J. Landrieu, for completing the City of New Orleans Civic Leadership Academy. In 2019, LaCour-Duckworth became a fellow and now alum of the Aspen Institute's inaugural New Orleans Workforce Leadership Academy, one of several Workforce Leadership Academies in localities across North America, and the 2023 recipient of the Knights of Peter Claver, Outstanding Service in Claverism award. LaCour-Duckworth has a Bachelor of Science in Business Information systems and a Master of Management from the University of Phoenix.