December In-Person Systemwide Gathering
Thank you to everyone who attended the December 2025 Systemwide Meeting. ScaleLIT, as the One-Stop Operator (OSO) serving Local Workforce Innovation Area (LWIA) 7 through the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership network, hosts these quarterly meetings to share American Job Center updates, highlight relevant campaigns, and strengthen coordination across our workforce system.
We’re especially grateful to our Cross-Training Spotlight speakers for sharing timely insights and practical strategies that strengthen accessibility and service alignment across the public workforce system. The session was moderated by scaleLIT staff member Ema Mailhot-Beutel, who guided the conversation and connected the discussion to on-the-ground system operations:
Sheena Panoor, Associate Director, Office of Workforce Development, Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS)
Biswa Phuyal, Manager of Business and Workforce Development, IDHS
Lisa Maentz, Executive Director of Business and Career Services, Wheeling American Job Center
Sheena shared important information on supports available for SNAP recipients impacted by the return of ABAWD requirements, along with insights into the challenges SNAP E&T providers face when supporting low-income job seekers as they navigate employment and training pathways.
Biswa spoke to the unique barriers individuals with disabilities experience when accessing the public workforce system and emphasized the importance of accessible services, inclusive design, and strong coordination across agencies to better meet job seeker needs.
Lisa highlighted best practices that have strengthened job seeker accessibility at the Wheeling American Job Center, offering practical, replicable strategies that any center can implement to enhance customer experience and improve service flow.
Resources and Materials
All materials shared during the meeting are available on Disco for partners to review and reference.
Click here to download the presentation and review the updates shared
The Panel, from left to right: Becky Raymond, Biswa Phuyal, Lisa Maentz, Sheena Panoor and Ema Mailhot-Beutel.
In addition to the panel, we celebrated some well-deserved recognitions. OSO navigators shared the leaderboard results from the last quarter and gave shoutouts to:
★ Airtable All-Star Leader: SERCO
★ Survey All-Star: American Job Center in Pilsen
Stay Connected
If you have questions or would like to follow up, please contact the OSO team at your local American Job Center:
AJC in Wheeling: mandeep@scalelit.org
AJC in Pilsen: germania@scalelit.org
AJC at Prairie State College: candace@scalelit.org
AJC at the King Center: carla@scalelit.org
Thank you again to all our partners for your participation and engagement. Your collaboration continues to strengthen service delivery, accessibility, and outcomes for job seekers across Cook County.
If you want to learn more about Systemwide meetings or propose future topics:
