Event Calendar

Speaker

Sheila Ireland
Deputy Secretary, Workforce Development
Department of Labor & Industry for the Commonwealth of PA 

Sheila Ireland is the Deputy Secretary for Workforce Development at the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry. Sheila previously served as the Executive Director of the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Workforce Development. Her charge was to implement the City of Philadelphia’s citywide workforce development strategy – “Fueling Philadelphia’s Talent Engine”. This comprehensive plan leveraged the collaborative efforts of the city’s major education and workforce development entities to fill the human capital needs of employers and to create career pathways for the city’s most vulnerable populations. During her tenure Sheila created innovative and collaborative approaches that have effectively engaged employers, funders and the workforce development community in the fight against poverty and unemployment in Philadelphia.  

Sheila Ireland’s hallmark of success is her ability to translate the context organizational problems to effectively re-align people and processes with organizational objectives. Her ability to create tactical, innovative and strategic initiatives results in programs that drive performance improvement and produce bottom line results in intensely competitive and highly regulated markets.  

With more than 25 years of management experience, Sheila has been responsible for the successful leadership of the human resources, training and workforce development functions in the non-profit, healthcare, consulting, government and public utility fields. This includes her time as the Deputy Director of Workforce Development and Inclusion for Rebuild, the City of Philadelphia’s $500M investment in infrastructure improvements to Philadelphia’s park, libraries and recreation centers. Sheila’s role was to ensure the Kenney Administration’s promise of workforce diversity in the skilled trades and expanded access to contracting opportunities for minority and women owned businesses was realized.