Mardia Shands

Mardia Shands

Job Quality Fellow, Class of 2018-19, Economic Opportunities Program

Executive Director, Partners for a Competitive Workforce, Cincinnati, OH

Mardia Shands leads Partners for a Competitive Workforce, which is a regional collaborative that leads the efforts to grow the skills of the regional workforce and create a talent pipeline to meet employers’ needs for labor.

Shands has more than 20 years of human resources and workforce development experience across multiple industries including manufacturing, supply chain, retail, healthcare, construction, service, and IT.

Shands earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics at the University of Cincinnati and a master’s degree in Labor and Employment Relations from the University of Cincinnati. She holds the Senior Professional in Human Resources designation from the Human Resources Certification Institute and the Senior Certified Professional certificate from the Society of Human Resources Management.

Mardia Shands is a member of the Job Quality Fellowship Class of 2018-19. To learn more about the Job Quality Fellows, visit as.pn/jobquality.

The Job Quality Fellowship is part of the Economic Opportunity Fellows Network, a network of leadership and fellowship programs run by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program. Within this Network, EOP connects national and local leaders from across sectors — nonprofit, government, business, philanthropy, academia, and more — to advance policies and practices with the potential to help low- and moderate-income Americans thrive in today’s economy. Learn more at as.pn/eofn.

Bio updated September 2018.