Shonda Anderson

Shonda Anderson serves as the director of the Kansas Office of Apprenticeship for the Kansas Department of Commerce. She creates high-quality earn-and-learn opportunities that fundamentally change how people enter the workforce, helping them to start with a job rather than train to get a job. Anderson leads statewide efforts to expand registered apprenticeship opportunities for employers and individuals. Under hear leadership, Kansas has become a leader in apprenticeship growth, ranking among the top five states in apprenticeship growth outside of construction and ninth in new apprenticeship growth over the last 15 years. 

A Colorado native, Shonda earned degrees in agricultural business and education from Colorado State University before earning a master’s degree in agricultural economics from Kansas State University. With more than 20 years of experience in workforce development, education, and industry partnerships, she is passionate about creating pathways that allow people to learn by doing. A lifelong advocate for hands-on learning and proud mother of two, Shonda’s roots in 4-H and her early career driving dump trucks for her father’s asphalt business shaped her belief in the power of skilled careers.

Anderson believes that you shouldn’t have to leave home to build a career. In her family, her father learned through decades of experience and mentoring working alongside his father. She sees apprenticeship as a way to model a kind of learning for the next generation, especially Kansas youth who want a career and a degree but don’t want to leave their communities or take on student debt.

Anderson loves Kansas for its communities where people know each other, work with their hands, take pride in what they build, and pass knowledge from one generation to the next. Here in Kansas, if you work hard, learn from others, and contribute to your community, you can build a good life right where you are.