Sharon is a principal consultant with Wargo-Brock and is also President of Real Workforce Solutions, based in Austin, Texas.

Prior to her career as a consultant, Sharon was Executive Director for The Employment Source, the local workforce board in Canton, Ohio. Through her innovative leadership, she has received national acclaim for her organization as well as herself, including:

• Margaret Mead Award of Excellence, National Association of Workforce Boards
• Director of the Year, National Workforce Association
• Award for Workforce Excellence, National Association of Counties
• Cited as One of Best in Nation, US Department of Labor

And as a result of her twenty year record of excellence, Sharon has most recently worked as the lead consultant for the Office of Workforce Development (OWD) and the Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation (OWT) in developing Ohio’s unified state plan for WIOA, ABLE, and Perkins workforce development services.

Sharon’s rich experience enables her to assist workforce agencies and professionals with a wide range of technical assistance services.

Workforce Board Strategy and Policy – build strong relationships between workforce agencies and employers, work with the Ohio Governor’s Workforce Policy Advisory Board, advise clients regarding key policy issues, assess strategic planning needs, explore funding streams and priorities, align services to meet community needs, resolve implementation issues.

Operations – implement federal/state laws and regulations, build relationships between state and local areas, identify MOU criteria, analyze administrative functions, manage the One-Stop certification process, establish best practices and new innovations, develop regionalized planning approaches, and streamline procurement services.

Grant writing – write competitive grant proposals and secure alternative funding sources for state and local customers (over $50 million awarded),  manage all phases of the proposal process, including project research, assessment of strategic opportunities, proposal planning, identifying deliverables and responsibilities, compliance check, draft and review, budget, final preparation and editing.

Training and Group Facilitation – present programs on a variety of topics, including Overview of WIOA, One Stop Operations, Business Services in the One-Stop, Fee-for Service and Program Income, Marketing Your One-Stop Services to Businesses, One Stop Transitional Services, Strategic Planning in the Public Workforce System, Real-Time Labor Market Information, Conducting an Administrative Review, and Connecting Workforce Development with Economic Development.

Marketing and Public Relations – helped CNN produce a one-hour documentary, worked with TV Tokyo on its coverage of unemployment. Prepare detailed outreach plans for workforce areas and vendors, create brochures and radio advertisements, and prepare monthly newsletters, press releases, and public service announcements to inform customers about workforce center services and activities.

Evaluation – Assess the effectiveness of an organization’s programs and services through methods such as online surveys, individual and focus group interviews, risk analysis, customer feedback analysis, comprehensive data records review, process analysis, benchmarking best practices, and others.

Sharon’s work experience also includes a key management position in financial analysis at Tenneco Gas, a Fortune 500 company located in Houston.  She has a Bachelor’s of Business Administration in Accounting from Sam Houston State University in Texas. She is currently completing her Master’s of Business Administration from Walsh University in Ohio.