ACT Workforce Development Aligns Staff With Expanded Skills Credentialing Efforts

ACT Workforce Development has realigned its staff to help lead the development of a national skills credentialing system.

Earlier this year in a report titled Breaking New Ground: Building a National Workforce Skills Credentialing System, ACT called for such a system as a solution to the country’s workforce crisis. The report recommends intensifying national efforts to improve and validate the skills of the country’s current and prospective workforce. It provides a framework for discussion about a national skills credentialing system among educators, employers, workforce development officials, and other key stakeholders.

Debra Lyons

Debra Lyons joined ACT as vice president, community and economic development, to help drive dialogue among state and national leaders. She previously served as executive director, workforce development strategies for the Technical College System of Georgia, and as executive director of the Georgia Governor’s Office of Workforce Development.

Lyons was the architect of Georgia Work Ready, a systemic enterprise that links education and workforce development and aligns to the economic needs of the state, its regions, and its communities.

Paul Scianna

Paul Scianna has been promoted to vice president, business development, for the Workforce Development team. He oversees the development of business relationships, marketing communications, and workforce development research. Scianna, who joined ACT in July 2010 as assistant vice president of sales, previously worked at OneKC WIRED (Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development) in Kansas City, Missouri, where he was executive director for the Kansas and Missouri bi-state Department of Labor initiative.

Sheila Boyington

Sheila Boyington has assumed new responsibilities in her role as a Workforce Development vice president. In addition to continuing to lead the KeyTrain sales and outreach efforts for the curriculum component of ACT’s Work Readiness System, Boyington now also directs ACT’s WorkKeys field and inside sales teams and program managers. She joined the staff in December 2010, when ACT acquired the assets of Chattanooga, Tennessee-based Thinking Media, which developed and marketed KeyTrain skills gap training curricula.

“Our team is now fully equipped to guide the many advocates who are helping people gain the skills they need to meet employers’ demands,” said Martin Scaglione, ACT Workforce Development president. “Sheila, Debra, and Paul have worked in the environments that are as close as we can get to the markets we serve.”