Memphis workforce development leader refuses resignation requests
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris and a board of business leaders who oversee federal workforce development funds in West Tennessee have asked the executive director to resign.
And the board could soon vote to remove the director, Amber Covington, from her role, according to documents obtained by The Daily Memphian.
The leadership change would be another shakeup for the area’s federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) program, which in recent years has moved through several iterations and swapped from City of Memphis to Shelby County oversight.
These workforce program funds are meant to support programs that match the needs and skills of job seekers and employers.
helby County Mayor Lee Harris and a board of business leaders who oversee federal workforce development funds in West Tennessee have asked the executive director to resign.
And the board could soon vote to remove the director, Amber Covington, from her role, according to documents obtained by The Daily Memphian.
The leadership change would be another shakeup for the area’s federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) program, which in recent years has moved through several iterations and swapped from City of Memphis to Shelby County oversight.
These workforce program funds are meant to support programs that match the needs and skills of job seekers and employers.
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Laura Testino
Laura Testino is an enterprise reporter on The Daily Memphian’s metro team who writes most often about how education policies shape the lives of children and families. She regularly contributes to coverage of breaking news events and actions of the Tennessee General Assembly. Testino’s journalism career in Memphis began six years ago at The Commercial Appeal, where she began chronicling learning disruptions associated with the pandemic, and continued with Chalkbeat, where she dug into education administration in Memphis. Her reporting has appeared in The New York Times, The Times-Picayune, The Tuscaloosa News and USA Today.
Sophia Surrett
Sophia Surrett is a University of Alabama graduate, where she received her B.A. in news media and M.A. in journalism and media studies. She covers small business, nonprofits, restaurant real estate, hospitality and tourism, manufacturing, and transportation and logistics.
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