Cindy Read named director at Wired65

Cindy Read of Louisville has been named Director, Sector Strategies for Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED65) Regional Workforce Partners. As director, she will work with businesses, education and training providers and the Workforce Investment Boards in 26 Kentucky and Indiana counties along the I-65 corridor to develop innovative workforce training approaches in three growing industry sectors.

Cindy Read

Over the next two years, Read will coordinate a grant from the National Fund for Workforce Solutions to provide training to increase skills of residents in the 26 counties to meet job requirements in the automotive, health care, and food and beverage manufacturing sectors. Six local foundations have provided matching funds for the grant: the James Graham Brown Foundation, The Gheens Foundation Inc., PNC Foundation, The Community Foundation of Louisville, JPMorgan Chase and Making Connections Network. 

 "She will be working with employers and employees in Breckinridge, Grayson, Hardin, Larue, Marion, Meade, Nelson and Washington counties to focus on developing ways for low-wage workers to increase their skills and earn higher wages," said Sherry Johnson, associate director of Employment and Training in the Lincoln Trail Area Development District. "This program also will help provide a strong pool of qualified workers to employers in automotive, health care, and food and beverage manufacturing." 

Read, a past chair of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS), worked previously as director of the Kentucky Institute for Family Literacy and as education liaison for UPS. Most recently, she worked as project manager for the Louisville-based museum media company, Donna Lawrence Productions. She holds a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Louisville and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University.

The KentuckianaWorks Foundation in Louisville is the fiscal agent for the National Fund for Workforce Solutions grant.

Read's office is located at 410 W. Chestnut St., Ste. 200, Louisville, KY 40202. She can be reached at 502-574-2543 or cindy.read@kentuckianaworks.org.