The Local Economic and Employment Development Council’s Workforce Development program not only provides job training; it provides training for trainers. Our Associate Director of Computer Skills, Danny Shields, has been working with two of his former students on just that. We are employing Angelic Phillips as a facilitator for various workshops we have been commissioned to teach at Marshall Field Garden Apartments.

Kathy Price has been employed to work with TranSteps, Step Out USA, an organization that empowers learning disable adults. Danny has been teaching the group for about a year, but now he’s pushing Kathy to apply the skills she learned to make her more employable. Danny believes that there is a critical market for effective trainers in today’s knowledge-based economy, which makes digital literacy an important tool for any employer.

We asked both Kathy and Angelic to share their experiences learning, growing and developing with LEED Council’s workforce training programs.

Kathy Price

• What brought me to LEED Council is the fact that I was in desperate need of knowing how to work a computer. I saw this flyer at the unemployment office and called to find out about (LEED Council). I actually went to an interview to take a test for Microsoft Word and I had no idea what I was doing. That was a wake up call for me.
• The classes that I’ve taken are Basic Computer Skills, MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint for 2010. I have learned so much and have enjoyed taking each class.
• I would like to become a trainer because I enjoy going through the lessons and projects, and also I enjoy helping others. It would also reinforce everything that I had learned, so that months down the road I won’t forget. I want to work in an environment where these skills will be used all the time.
• My technology goals are to get certified in Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, and to move forward in the technology industry. Afterwards, I will move toward the A+ Certification.

• I’ve taken Microsoft Office classes in Word, Excel 2003 and Word, Excel and Powerpoint 2010.
• I have a certification in MOS Word, Excel 2003, and IC3 Key Applications.
• I am passionate about becoming a trainer because I like educating students and myself about technology.
• My goals are to become certified in MOS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2010 within the next few months. I’m currently enrolled in a A+ certification class at Wilbur Wright College.

Danny holds certifications in IC3, E-Business Train-the-Trainer, Business Architect, and Microsoft Office Specialist and has been developing curricula and providing computer skills training and leadership development training for the last 10 years, with a particular focus in not-for-profit communities.