Tara Johnson-Noem will step down as executive director of the Northern Kentucky Area Development District later this year.
“I plan to finish out my time fully at the Northern Kentucky Area Development District and make sure there is a smooth transition of leadership,” Johnson-Noem said, adding that it had been “the honor of my career to be able to lead” an agency that has had such an “incredible and expansive impact on people’s lives.”
The Northern Kentucky Area Development District provides various public services for Kentucky’s eight northernmost counties. Services include workforce development, aging and disability services and financial management, among other services. The state has 15 area development districts.
Johnson-Noem first joined the district in 2004 as a public administration specialist. She later transitioned out of that role in 2007 to work with various community and economic development groups.
She returned to the district in 2020 as the director of the district’s workforce development division and director of the Northern Kentucky Workforce Investment Board. She became executive director in 2022, taking the reins from former Executive Director Lisa Cooper.
The district has already begun recruiting Johnson-Noem’s replacement — an ad for the executive director position is currently up on the agency’s website. Johnson-Noem said she plans to stay in the role until November. She said she would announce her plans after her departure at a later date.