Senior Director, Government Affairs
Cengage Group

Rosemary Lahasky serves as a senior director of government affairs at Cengage Group, a global education technology company providing affordable, quality digital products and services that equip students with the skills and competencies needed to be job ready. In this role she oversees all federal and state policy development and advocacy efforts. Prior to working at Cengage, Rosemary served in Congress, the Department of Labor and the White House. She has worked in federal education and workforce policy for the past 15 years. She most recently worked as the Director of Domestic Policy at the White House’s Office of Economic Initiatives, overseeing a portfolio of workforce-related policies including paid family leave and childcare. She also managed the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board, a 25-member task force with leaders in business, education, and government aimed at developing a national strategy for the future of work. Prior to this role, she served as the Acting Assistant Secretary for the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA), which managed over $9 billion annually in federal job training funding. At ETA she supervised the nation’s Unemployment Insurance program, the foreign non-immigrant visa programs, trade adjustment assistance, and workforce state grant programs.

Before joining the executive branch, Lahasky served as a professional staff member for both the U.S. House Committees on Ways and Means and Education and Labor. She led negotiations for the reauthorization of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act as well as managed many of the nation’s safety net programs. Prior to working in Congress, she worked at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, building, and implementing legislative and grassroots strategies on workforce development and education initiatives for the business community.