Common Thread: A Conversation with Tad Hildebrand and Michelle Price

The Value of Human Connection  

March 2026 – Who was your 6th grade teacher? That wasn’t a question that was asked directly, but it was one of the common threads that emerged in our recent conversation with SkillSource board members, Tad Hildebrand and Michelle Price. 

Both Michelle and Tad could trace their professional spark back to the influence of their 6th grade teacher. For Michelle, it cemented a lifelong commitment to service in education, who today serves as the Superintendent for North Central Educational Service District 171, covering Chelan, Douglas, Grant, and Okanogan counties. And for Tad, it instilled a desire to teach, which eventually took its own path toward Human Resources and organizational consulting in his own firm, Pilot Rock Consulting. 

Throughout the conversation, the common threads kept showing up: teachers who inspire pathways, communities that care deeply about their young people, and the relationships that quietly shape careers long before anyone calls it “workforce development.”

They also talked about what today’s students are walking into — a world where technology is accelerating change almost daily, careers that will shift multiple times throughout one’s life, and how the ability to listen well, build trust, and work with others will continue to matter just as much today as any technical skill. And in this era of automation, the value of human connection remains priceless, and must be modeled and prioritized in education and in the workplace.

Workforce development can sound like a policy term.

In practice, though, it’s humans connecting with other humans, addressing barriers, creating opportunities, and lifting up one another.

Thank you so much to Tad and Michelle for sharing your time, your hearts, and your stories with us. It’s these common threads of our personal histories and local partnerships that form the fabric of our regional workforce system.