HEY THERE, I’M TOM

I’ve always been drawn to rooms where strategic planning, good people, and big thinking intersect — because that’s where meaningful change starts.

My New Jersey State career started at entry-level operations. The “foot in the door,” as they say. Within about a year, I moved into people ops, leading employee engagement and culture change initiatives for the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission's 3,000-plus workforce: part training facilitation, part systemic fixes. That visible internal communications and information design work led me to the Office of Communications, which aligned more naturally with my degree and skillset. Around this time, I was also selected to join a small group tasked with solving the lingering, bureaucratic issues government often encounters.

In 2016, I came over to the Department of Labor and Workforce Development to streamline and modernize its communications operations, focused largely on its leading-edge workforce development programs. I've since had a few upward transitions — first to Deputy Director, then into a broader role supporting the Chief of Staff, then to Director of Communications and Marketing. In that executive position, I aligned cross-functional teams — policy, operations, IT, Legal, HR, and government relations — to move and message high-priority initiatives from concept through execution, developing messaging that engaged employer groups, advocacy organizations, legislative offices, the NJ Innovation Authority, and counterparts across all 53 states and territories.

That experience helped me land the role I'm now stepping into — Director of Apprenticeship and Business Services.

Here, I'll help our talented business outreach teams increase our programs' visibility, amplify outreach, and navigate red tape at a pivotal moment for New Jersey employers.

So the sleeves are happily rolling up as I'm motivated by work that spans the full lifecycle. Taking an initiative from concept to wide-scale operation that meets people where they are, earns real organizational buy-in, and truly makes a difference.

That’s how I approached my own businesses as well.

What best complements my state experience is the private sector thread running alongside my civil service record. Over the years, I’ve recognized opportunities in the market and built two successful companies from scratch — collaborating with small business owners and Fortune 100 clients, running national events, producing creative media, and doing the unglamorous work of building something from zero.

When I'm not scheming toward improvement, I can be found around a campfire, kayaking down the Delaware, or other places where the dress code is more flannel shirt than suit and tie.