Amy Landesman
Ms. Landesman joined WPTI as the Director of Training in April of 2005. In this capacity, she creates curriculum and manages all the training initiatives at Workforce Professionals. Previously, she was the Director of Training & Technical Assistance at NADAP, where she coordinated and implemented the OASAS-funded Technical Assistance Project, providing individual and group training for the Project's substance abuse treatment vocational programs. Ms. Landesman has over 15 years experience in training, technical assistance, program development and direct service provision. While at the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA), she developed and conducted trainings for BizLink--a national project that linked employers with social service providers. Also at CASA, she co-authored a series of training manuals for employers who have hired individuals in recovery and produced a video that interviewed employers who successfully hired employees in recovery. While working at the Postgraduate Center for Mental Health, Center for Urban Community Services and Veritas, she was the Director of several housing and employment programs for individuals with mental illness, substance abuse and homelessness. Ms. Landesman has developed additional workshops for The Corporation of Supportive Housing, The Neighborhood Coalition for Shelter, The Welfare to Work Partnership and the Hunter School of Social Work Case Management Program. She is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC) and received her Bachelors degree in Psychology from SUNY-Albany and her Masters degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from New York University.
Christina Boardman
Christina is a National Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC) and a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) in New York State. She has been in the field since the late 1980’s working in Sydney, Australia in a homeless shelter for men who mostly were sea merchants from all over the world. Since she has been working in New York City, she works with people with mental health needs, people who live with chemical dependency as well as with those who experience dual diagnoses where other disabilities may co-occur such as Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). As a staff member of the graduate program in Educational Foundations at Hunter College employed as an Associate Site Supervisor with the Work Study Project in Chemical Dependency, she works in the diversity of the NYC community and its program services where internship sites are developed.
Dan Salemson
Dan Salemson joined WPTI as Training & Projects Manager in March 2006, bringing a strong interest in Workforce Development issues surrounding Criminal Justice and Welfare Reform. Prior to WPTI, Dan served as Director of Workforce Development for Midtown Community Court, a joint venture of the New York State Unified Court System and the non-profit Center for Court Innovation. There he oversaw day-to-day operations of a job training and placement program for ex-offenders, recovering substance abusers and others with significant barriers to employment, and administered performance-based contracts with the New York City Human Resources Administration and the New York State Division of Probation and Correctional Alternatives. Dan has taught job training skills to hundreds of low-income job seekers in New York City, performed data analysis around welfare reform issues, and helped to integrate technology into teaching on the university level. He graduated magna cum laude from North Carolina State University with degrees in History and Political Science.
James Kearney
James is Principal Consultant of JHK Consultants, Inc. He has over 15 years of experience in the field of Human Resources and Organizational Development. His consulting firm provides human resources and organizational development consulting services primarily to the not-for-profit industry. Useful models with proven track records are specifically tailored to individual client needs and situations. From process consultation and facilitation services for strategic planning, organizational effectiveness initiatives, team development, or managing change; to skill building in best practices for leadership and management development programs; to human resource planning and development aligning human systems to organizational goals: the tools and applied models utilized help organizations and individuals achieve more clarity, work more effectively, and perform more efficiently.
Jim Brown
Mr. Brown has been the New York State Department of Labor's Labor Market Analyst for New York City since 1987. His economic analyses of the city's job market emphasize labor issues. Mr. Brown's activities include writing articles for state publications summarizing economic trends in New York City, preparing demand lists and occupational projections used by many of the City's training programs and schools; conducting workshops for college or high school students, displaced workers, welfare recipients and counselors stressing employer requirements and the changing world of work; speaking at meetings of business owners and placement professionals about growing industries, demographic trends and the changing nature of work. He has an MBA from St. John's University and a B.S. from City College.
Judy Whiting Judy Whiting joined the LegalActionCenter in February, 2006 as Senior Staff Attorney. Before coming to LAC, Judy worked for several years as an Assistant Attorney General in the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, where she handled pharmaceutical pricing, healthcare, antitrust and predatory lending cases. She also taught Antitrust Law at SuffolkUniversityLawSchool, and worked as researcher with the NationalConsumerLawCenter. Prior to her time in Massachusetts, Judy spent almost ten years as staff attorney with the Criminal, Civil and Volunteer Divisions of The Legal Aid Society in New York, specializing in representing the elderly and mentally impaired persons charged with crimes. She also worked as clinical instructor at HofstraLawSchool’s Housing Law Clinic. Judy is a graduate of BarnardCollege, and CornellLawSchool, where she received the first Freeman Civil Rights/Civil Liberties Award.She is recipient of the New York City Bar Association’s 2008 Legal Services Award, and currently chairs the Association’s Corrections Committee.
Kim Berman Kim Berman is an independent consultant who has worked for over 13 years in the nonprofit sector. Prior to working with P/PV’s Working Ventures, she was at SEEDCO, first as a liaison between business clients and SEEDCO’s Earnfair program and later as a trainer of its Earnfair Alliance job developers. She also developed curricula aimed at strengthening the capacity of community-based organizations in the areas of workforce development and housing. In addition, she brings experience as a job developer for America Works/WHEDCO. Previously, she served as a long-term consultant to Save The Children’s International Economic Opportunities unit, designing training materials to strengthen community-based organizations’ ability to support women’s micro-enterprises. She received her B.A. from Columbia University and her M.A. in economic and political development from the School of International Affairs at Columbia University.
Laurie Parise
Laurie Parise founded Youth Represent in 2006 to provide a new model for juvenile justice in NYC. This organization builds on her work as an Equal Justice Works Fellow with the Legal Action Center’s National H.I.R.E. Network to create and implement a youth reentry project. She is also the author of the Legal Action Center’s publication Know Your Rights: Understanding Juvenile & Criminal Records and Their Impact on Employment in New York State (2006). Prior to LAC, Ms. Parise spent eleven years with The Rainforest Foundation, the last five as its Executive Director. Ms. Parise earned degrees from Columbia University and Brooklyn Law School, and is a member of the New York City Bar Association’s reentry working group and the Brennan Center for Justice’s Community Based Defender Network.
Lou Miceli
Lou Miceli founded the Workforce Professionals Training Institute in December of 2003. The organization – the first of its kind in the country – trains front line, managerial, and senior staff in the workforce development field, focusing on curriculum and activities that improve organizational capacity and performance. Since WPTI’s inception, 4000+ people have been trained through fifty different training programs. Within its first five years, the organization has grown to a multi-service training organization with a $1 million+ annual budget employing a team of 7 staff and multiple consultants.
Lou’s career has been at the nexus of adult education, workforce development, capacity building, and program management. Early in his career, he was an employment readiness trainer, a vocational counselor, and a job developer, and managed several employment programs for youth and adults.
As a trainer for practitioners, Lou has provided front line, managerial, and executive staff within the public, private, and non-profit sectors. In the non-profit sector, he has trained substance abuse counselors, adult educators, public school teachers, workforce development staff, and front-line family workers. Through WPTI, he has trained staff across the public sector in New York City, including: The New York State Department of Labor, the New York City Department of Small Business Services, the New York City Housing Authority, the New York City Department of Human Resources Administration, and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.
Through WPTI, Lou has also created training programs, leadership institutes, and change management programs. As a consultant and adjunct, he has taught public interest and human service courses at the City University of New York and Marymount Manhattan College, and has developed college access curriculum for public high schools.
In the private sector, Lou has trained human resource professionals, account and sales executives, and senior executive staff concerning a variety of leadership development, employment law, and performance management topics. This work has included the financial sector, the health care sector and the education sector.
WPTI also works closely with philanthropy, partnering with foundations to provide customized training initiatives designed to support organizational performance and to build overall capacity of programs funded through performance-based grants and contracts. Lou’s work has focused on multi-sector partnerships in order to build the reputation and reach of the workforce development field.
Lou acquired a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Connecticut, a Master of Social Work degree for the Silver School of Social Work at New York University, and a Master of Science in Management degree from the Wagner School of Public Service at New York University.
Marty Miles
Martha Miles, Training, Inc. National Association
Consultant, Public/Private Ventures
Marty is Director of the Training, Inc. National Association, a nationally-recognized network of community-based job training organizations with 30 years experience building the job seeker skills and employer partnerships that lead to long-term workplace success. She coordinates staff training and technical assistance for Training, Inc. affiliate sites, and also serves as a consultant for Public/Private Ventures providing training and assistance for other workforce development organizations. Marty has more than 25 years experience helping low-income, at-risk individuals find employment, with a focus on building strong employer relationships, improving job seeker soft skills by integrating the culture of work into training, and using data to improve performance. She has held positions as trainer, job placement coordinator and program executive director, as well as training and development positions in the banking industry. Marty has a BA in Sociology from Case Western Reserve University and a MS in Adult Education from Indiana University. She is the author of a report soon to be published by Public/Private Ventures on using data to improve program performance.
Peter Bushyeager
Peter Bushyeager has more than 25 years experience in corporate philanthropy, corporate and non-profit communications, and government program management. He is currently an independent consultant sharing his wide range of expertise with non-profit organizations and foundations.
From 2000 to 2007, he was President of the New York Life Foundation and Vice President of New York Life Insurance’s corporate responsibility program. In these positions, he oversaw the foundation’s grant making and New York Life’s national volunteer program. He also served as the external spokesperson on behalf of New York Life’s philanthropic and community outreach activities.
From 1992 to 2000, Peter was with the Prudential Foundation. As Vice President, he supervised the grant-making efforts of program officers and regional foundation representatives. He also managed the foundation’s health and human services grant portfolio, which focused on community-based healthcare, youth development, ancillary Headstart services and HIV/AIDS; and coordinated the efforts of public relations staff.
Peter has had senior communications positions with Prudential Insurance and the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and was Director of Special Services within the Camden County, New Jersey court system where he implemented and managed a federally funded two-county juvenile restitution program.
Non-profit board and volunteer service includes the Council on Foundations’ Committee on Corporate Grantmaking, Corporate Advisory Group (Chair), Funders Concerned About AIDS (Board member) and New Jersey AIDS Partnership (Co-Chair).
Roberta Meyers-Peeples
Roberta Meyers-Peeples is Director of the Legal Action Center's National H.I.R.E. (Helping Individuals with criminal records Reenter through Employment) Network, a project aimed at increasing the number and quality of job opportunities available to people with criminal records by changing public policies, employment practices and public opinion. Prior to assuming this position, Ms. Meyers-Peeples served as Co-Director of HIRE for two years, Co-Deputy Director for one year and as the Field Educator and Organizer for two years while dramatically expanding the outreach of the Network. She has worked directly with policy makers and advocates around the country to identify public policy priorities that directly affect employment opportunities for people with criminal records as well as helped develop appropriate advocacy strategies in strengthening or challenging existing legislation in those states. Ms. Meyers-Peeples has also served as a Legal Assistant at the Legal Action Center for 10 years.
Ms. Meyers-Peeples has accepted invitations to present at dozens of national, regional, and local criminal justice and workforce development conferences around the country. She has trained hundreds of workforce development and corrections staff on employment strategies that best serve job seekers who have criminal histories. She is the author of the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) newly released primer entitled Serving the Employment Needs of Justice-Involved Juveniles and Adults: A Primer for Treatment and Recovery Support Service Providers (May 2008), is a contributing author for the U.S. Department of Labor guidebook, Working Ahead: A Guide for Connecting Youth Offenders with Employment Opportunities (July 2004) and is author of the “Completing Employment Applications” section of Legal Action Center’s How to Get and Clean Up Your New York State Rap Sheet, Sixth Edition 2003.
Roberta has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business, Management, and Economics with a concentration in Management from the State University of New York/Empire State College. Additionally, she serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of Youth Represent, a non-profit legal advocacy organization for juveniles in New York City.
Sheila Maguire
At P/PV, Ms. Maguire has responsibility for Working Ventures, an initiative aimed at improving the practice of workforce development by creating accessible reports on effective practice and offering training workshops and conferences. In this capacity, Ms. Maguire works in various cities with practitioners from community based organizations and community colleges, to increase their effectiveness in delivering workforce development services. She is the author of the Working Ventures report, Surviving, and Maybe Thriving, on Vouchers as well as the video and staff training guide, Hard Work on Soft Skills: Creating a Culture of Work. Prior to coming to PPV, Ms. Maguire worked for Essex County College - a community college serving downtown Newark and the surrounding Essex County towns; where she was responsible for developing such workforce programs as including customized training for employers, short-term job training programs, and welfare to work initiatives.
Ms. Maguire founded and directed the Training, Inc., program in Newark, one of a consortium of employment and training programs operating in seven cities. Before coming to the United States, Ms. Maguire worked in community development in India, Italy, and Britain. She holds a B.A. in Adult Learning from the Gallatin Division at New York University and a Masters of Science in Organizational Development from American University.
Tirza Barnes- griffith
Tirza Barnes-Griffith, Training & Projects Manager
Workforce Professionals Training Institute
Tirza Barnes-Griffith joined WPTI in July 2008 as a Training & Projects Manager. Tirza has over six years of experience in workforce development, working with the Welfare-to-Work and TANF populations. Prior to WPTI, Tirza worked for the SUNY-Brooklyn Educational Opportunity Center (BEOC) - Bridge Program as a Career Advisor and Workshop Facilitator. In this capacity Tirza trained adults to prepare for and seek employment, gain skills for the workplace, and start a new career. Tirza also worked as a consultant. She presented customized workshops that improve team-work effectiveness and leadership development among staff and managers of various non-profit and educational organizations, including MetroPlus Health Plan, The City University of New York, and the Human Resource Administration POISED and Cope Programs.
Tirza has published articles on career development and wrote a monthly column called “Career Focused” in Moving Forward Magazine. She is also an active member of the National Speakers Association (NSA), the leading organization for experts who speak professionally. Tirza earned her Bachelors degree in Corporate Communications from Bernard M. Baruch College.
Vicki Gray
For the past 12 years, Victoria Gray has worked as part of a team at the Department of Labor to develop innovative and nationally acclaimed career resources such as CareerZone (www.nycareerzone.org) for youth and JobZone (www.nyjobzone.org) for adults. She supports the technology and markets the online products statewide to school districts, community organizations and workforce agencies. Victoria has helped hundreds of organizations integrate these career tools into existing programs through traditional and distance learning methods. She is a nationally certified Instructor of the Global Career Development Facilitator Program, the Real Game Series and most recently, was certified as a National Instructor of Trainers for the Girl Scouts of the USA. She is a passionate advocate of using technology to connect, communicate and collaborate with youth.
WPTI thanks its many current and past trainers, consultants, and guest presenters for strengthening our training programs and ensuring that we avail to the field training of the highest quality.
