An individual searches job sites for employment possibilities at the Mississippi Department of Employment Security WIN Job Center in Jackson. Credit: 2012 AP file photo

Robin Stewart, an existing Mississippi Department of Employment Security head, will take over as the office’s interim director, Gov. Tate Reeves announced Wednesday. 

Stewart will replace Jackie Turner, whose retirement is effective Sept. 30. In Stewart’s current role as deputy director of workforce programs, she oversees staff across the state’s more than 40 WIN Job Centers. 

 “Her over 30 years of service at MDES overseeing workforce programs makes her well-qualified and demonstrates the dedication she has for helping Mississippians get jobs,” Reeves said in a statement. 

MDES handles the state’s unemployment payments and offers training and job placement services. 

“I look forward to continuing to fulfill the agency’s mission of ‘Helping Mississippians Get Jobs,” Stewart said in a statement. 

Stewart attended the University of Southern Mississippi, where she earned a degree in public administration. She has worked her way up through MDES, previously serving as a WIN Job Center manager and an area director for the centers.

Creative Commons License

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.

Sara, a native of Buffalo, N.Y., covers economic development and job creation in Mississippi. She investigates the inner workings of Mississippi’s economic development initiatives and regional economic development organizations, with an eye toward racial justice and equity. She is the newsroom’s first reporter based on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

DiNatale, a graduate of the University at Buffalo, was most recently a retail, tourism and workplace culture reporter at the Tampa Bay Times. Before that, she interned at The Boston Globe, The Oregonian, and The Buffalo News.