Jeff Donofrio leads Business Leaders for Michigan after having served as Director of the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO), in charge of coordinating and streamlining the state’s workforce and economic development programs to meet business and labor needs. Prior to LEO, Donofrio served as the Executive Director of Workforce Development for the City of Detroit and as an executive at Ford Motor Company.
Jeff co-chairs Launch Michigan (Michigan’s K-12 education coalition) and serves as a director on the American Center for Mobility Board.
During his tenure at LEO, Jeff successfully implemented numerous workforce development programs designed to train Michiganders as skilled workers for in-demand jobs, including Sixty by 30, Michigan’s goal to increase the number of working-age adults with a skill certificate or college degree from 49% today to 60% by 2030. He also previously served as District Director for Congressman Sandy Levin and Congressman John D. Dingell and Transportation Policy Advisor to Governor Jennifer Granholm.
Jeff graduated from Georgetown University with a Master of Business Administration degree and Michigan State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He serves on the boards of United Way for Southeastern Michigan, the Michigan Educational Excellence Foundation and the [Detroit] Mayor’s Workforce Development Board. Jeff previously chaired the Michigan State Housing Development Authority and was on the board of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and U.S. Conference of Mayors. In 2018, he was appointed to Gov. Whitmer’s transition team as Special Advisor for Jobs and Economic Development and was named to Crain’s 40 under 40 class.