Krista McKinney-King is the Director of Workforce Development at Wayne RESA. In Wayne County, she leads the work of Adult Education, Career Technical Education, and Career Counseling to EDUCATE and EQUIP learners, post-secondary institutions, and industry leaders that ELEVATE success in the workforce community. Having been a teacher, counselor, Assistant Principal at Renaissance High School and Principal of Randolph Career Technical Center, she knew early on the importance of exposing students to post-secondary pathways that lead to high skill, high wage, and high demand careers. She is mostly recognized for her role in influencing the resurgence of Randolph Career Tech in partnership with the city of Detroit Workforce Development Board from July 2016 to July 2021. Changing the perception of the skilled trades industry, uncovering the value in career technical education while exposing youth to dual enrollment opportunities, apprenticeships, work-based learning experiences and mentorship to support the workforce initiative in southeastern Michigan.
As an advocate for the professional role of school counselors, she has participated in and led several prominent panel discussions, podcasts, and presented at community and school district events. In 2019, Krista was awarded the Spirit of Detroit from the Detroit City Council for her dedication to improving the quality of life of youth in addition to the IMPACT Award from Michigan Works (2019), 1 of 24 fellows for Detroit Workforce Leadership Academy (2020), honored by the Michigan Chronicle as a Women of Excellence (2021), trained with both the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for Youth Systems Building and Talent Pipeline Management (2022 and 2023), in 2024 completed Leadership Detroit (Cohort 44) led by the Detroit Regional Chamber. She currently serves as a member of the Michigan Apprenticeship Steering Committee (MASCI), the Leadership Council for WCCAN (Wayne County College Access Network), Detroit Drives Degrees Leadership Council for the Detroit Chamber, SEMCOG/MAC Advisory Team for Career Awareness, and thrives on the connections that she’s made thus far with education, business, industry, philanthropy, and community across Wayne County. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and holds graduate degrees from both Wayne State University and Eastern Michigan University. She is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.
