Dr. Danielle Harrison was appointed as the Interim Executive Director of GuilfordWorks (the Guilford County Workforce Development Board), effective October 16, following the departure of Chris Rivera.

Having served as the Deputy Director since 2020, Harrison will now provide executive and administrative leadership. Additionally, she will continue implementing the GuilforWorks’ mission, vision, and strategies, including promoting and supporting the Board’s advancement of economic development and workforce strategies and programs.

“Dr. Harrison’s extensive background makes her a natural fit to make the transition to Interim Executive Director. She has more than 16 years of experience in workforce and people development, including managing education programs, vocational training, and employment contracts for adult offenders. I welcome the energy and leadership Dr. Harrison brings to this role.” — Assistant City Manager Nasha McCray.

Harrison earned an Associate’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Guilford Technical Community College, a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice, with a minor in psychology, from Guilford College, a Master’s Degree in Adult Education from NC A&T State University, and a Doctoral Degree in Education from Northcentral University.

Harrison started her career working for the NC Department of Public Safety and has taught career-oriented curricula at both Davidson-Davie Community College and Virginia College. As a Praxis Facilitator and Coordinator of Field and Clinical Work Experiences at NC A&T State University, Harrison worked with future K-12 educators. She trained hundreds of staff as a Health and Human Services Training Manager and served as the Work-based Learning Coordinator at Guilford Technical College.

Dr. Harrison joined GuilfordWorks in 2020, in the throws of the pandemic. In her role as Assistant Director, she improved many of our system’s internal practices and processes, something she integrated from her previous 16 years of experience.

As Interim Executive Director, Danielle intends to continue improving internal processes, accountability measures and service quality within our system. More importantly, she plans to continue creating equitable opportunities for job seekers and employers by increasing access to our services. And she strives to eliminate systemic barriers through strategic outreach and community partnerships to impact all of Guilford County positively.

I look forward to enhancing what we do as the public workforce entity in Guilford County.

— Danielle A. Harrison, Ed.D., Interim Executive Director