National Association of Governmental Labor Officials

Gary Pan, President

Virginia Department of Labor and Industry, Commissioner
6006 West Broad Street | Richmond, VA 23230 | Phone: 804-786-9791

Gary G. Pan was appointed Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry by Governor Glenn Youngkin in January 2022. As Commissioner, Gary supports the agency’s mission to make Virginia a safer place to work and live by collaborating with businesses to develop robust occupational safety and health practices, recognizing employers who demonstrate excellence in workplace safety, safeguarding employees’ rights through labor and employment laws, expanding job training opportunities through the Virginia Registered Apprenticeship program, and ensuring the certification and safe operation of commercial boilers and pressure vessels.

He has led two successful government consulting and modernization small businesses, Panacea Consulting, Inc. and Lucid Technology, Inc., which have been recognized by Inc. Magazine as among the 100 fastest growing private companies in America. His clients have included the Department of Labor, Social Security Administration, and the Department of Defense. Gary graduated from Weston High School in Weston, Massachusetts. He holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Lehigh University and an MBA from Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business. Additionally, Gary has completed his doctoral coursework (ABD) in Organizational Leadership at the University of Phoenix.

Throughout Gary’s career, he has been passionate about supporting his community, especially in helping youth develop leadership skills, integrity, and a commitment to service. He has served as a Boy Scouts of America Scoutmaster, Rotarian (past president), board member of the Northern Virginia Technology Council, the Junior Achievement of the National Capital Area, and the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts.

Joel Sacks, First Vice President

Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, Director
PO Box 44000 | Olympia WA 98504-4000 | Phone: 360-902-5800

Joel Sacks was appointed Director of the Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) in
January 2013 by Governor Jay Inslee, making him one of three ex-officio members serving on the Washington State Investment Board (WSIB). He is the Vice-Chair of the WSIB Committee and a member of the Private Markets, Audit and Administrative Committees. L&I’s mission is to “keep Washington safe and working.” The agency administers a number of critical programs including the state’s workers’ compensation system and its occupational safety and health program.

Previously he worked at the state Employment Security Department for nearly eight years serving as Deputy Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner for the Budget, Policy and Communications Division.

Prior to joining Employment Security, he was Deputy Director of Field Services at L&I. He also served four years at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in the U.S. Department of Labor.

Joel holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Haverford College and a master’s degree in public administration from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Public Affairs. He lives in Olympia with his wife and two daughters.

Ethel Belfon, Second Vice President

Delaware Department of Labor, Division of Industrial Affairs, Deputy Director
4425 North Market St. | Wilmington, DE 19802 | Phone: 302-761-8180

Ethel Belfon currently serves as the Deputy Director for the Delaware Department of Labor, Division of Industrial Affairs. The Division of Industrial Affairs is composed of the offices of Wage and Hour Enforcement, Anti-Discrimination, OSHA Consultation, Worker’s Compensation, and Construction Enforcement. 

Previously, she served as the Wage and Hour Administrator where she managed initiatives designed to foster and promote the welfare of the wage earners in Delaware by ensuring compliance with Delaware labor laws. Some of the enforcement areas included Child Labor, Clean Indoor Air Act, the Wage Payment and Collection Act, Minimum Wage and Wage Theft. 

Ethel has a long-established history of public service with over 28 years of service in state government. Most of her career has been spent in various positions throughout the Delaware Department of Labor including positions with the Divisions of Unemployment Insurance, Employment and Training, Vocational Rehabilitation, and Industrial Affairs. She has also served as the Medicaid Surveillance Administrator for the Division of Medicaid and Medical Assistance where she was instrumental in helping to recover over 1.1 million taxpayer dollars. 

Ethel was recently appointed to represent the Delaware Department of Labor on the Delaware EARNS program board; a new initiative designed to help Delawareans save for retirement. 

She holds a B.S. in Organizational Dynamics as well as a M.P.A. from Wilmington University. In her career and as well as her personal life, Ethel is committed to the service of others. 

She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., currently serving as the President-elect of the Wilmington, Delaware graduate chapter and she also serves on the Board of Directors for the Pearls of Hope Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to service and scholarships benefiting the citizens of Delaware. Ethel lives with her family in Delaware.

Anna Hui, Secretary/Treasurer

Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, Director
421 E. Dunklin St. P.O. Box 504 | Jefferson City, MO 65102-0504 | Phone: 573-751-4091

Anna Hui was appointed as Director of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations in March 2017, making her the first Asian-American to serve in the governor’s cabinet in Missouri history. For more than two decades, Anna has worked in numerous senior positions in both state and federal government. Anna started her public service career working for Illinois Governor Jim Edgar as the Special Assistant to the Governor for Asian-American affairs and then for Governor George Ryan, as a senior-member of the Washington, D.C. policy management team.

In President George W. Bush's Administration, Anna served as Associate Deputy Secretary of Labor at the U.S. Department of Labor, where she coordinated major domestic and international programs and activities on labor and workforce safety and standards issue. In that position, Anna spearheaded efforts to encourage diversity and the inclusion of historically underserved communities in the department’s programs and federal government management.

After leaving federal service in 2009 and until she returned to Illinois in 2015, she was Chief of Staff to former U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Elaine Chao at the Heritage Foundation.

From 2015 to 2017, Anna served as Assistant Director and later as Acting Director of the Illinois Department of Labor. There, she delivered results for workers and employers by enacting much-needed reforms, eliminating costly inefficacies, and modernizing services and technology.

Anna received a J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law, a M.S.M. and a M.B.A. from the University of Maryland University College and B.S. in Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She currently lives with her family in Columbia.

Vacant, Eastern Regional Coordinator

Eastern Region
Representing: Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia

Vacant, Southern Regional Coordinator

Southern Region
Representing: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Virginia

Vacant, Midwestern Regional Coordinator

Mid-Western Region
Representing:  Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin

Katie Hagen, Western Regional Coordinator

California Department of Industrial Relations, Director
1515 Clay Street, 17th Floor | Oakland, CA 94612 | Phone: 510-286-7087

Western Region
Representing: Alaska, America Samoa Trust Territories, Arizona, California, Colorado, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming

Katie Hagen was appointed to the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) by Governor Gavin Newsom in March 2020. Director Hagen has a long civil service career, spanning 25 years in various leadership capacities where she held a variety of roles – but with a consistent focus of supporting and educating employers and workers on their obligations and rights in the workplace.

Director Hagen served as chief deputy director at the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, deputy director of operations at the California Department of Human Resources, chief of human resources at the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, deputy director at California Correctional Healthcare Services and assistant deputy director at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Director Hagen also served as adjunct faculty at the University of San Francisco for more than a decade teaching public administration, leadership communication and human resources administration. She earned a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of San Francisco.

Fitzgerald Washington, Immediate past NAGLO President

Former Alabama Department of Labor Secretary