Karen Dell-Smith has been a leader in workforce and economic development for the last 12 years assisting organizations with developing, promoting and delivering training solutions designed to increase productivity, improve efficiency, and retain and create jobs.  Krista has assisted companies and organizations in securing over $30,000,000 in grant funds to assist with training and workforce development needs.  She has provided consulting services and designed customized training programs for companies of all sizes and industries.

 

Her client list includes companies such as Coca Cola, Walgreen's, Walmart, Toys R Us, Maersk, Frito Lay, Amazon, Leap Frog, NFL, MiLB, and Kaiser Permanente, to name a few.  A few years ago, Krista assisted Kaiser Permanente in becoming one of the first health care organizations in southern California to implement a Lean/Five S culture in their industry.  This continuous improvement training program resulted in reduced patient wait times, improved patient outcomes and higher patient satisfaction numbers. 

 

In an effort to stay current on workforce development needs of various industries, Karen has been successful in bringing multiple organizations together to build industry advisory boards to provide continuous feedback and input on the training and development needs of their workforce.

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In addition to training incumbent workers, Karen has partnered with several organizations to development industry-driven training programs to assist in putting Veterans, dislocated workers, and individuals facing multiple barriers to employment back to work.  During tough economic times when unemployment rates were rising, Krista assisted in retraining over 2,000 individuals and placing 95% in employment within 90 days upon completion of  training.

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As a small business owner herself, Karen has asssisted many entrepreneurs with developing their business plan, launching and growing their business.  She has consulted for businesses large and small to develop marketing strategies and increase sales revenue.  Krista is often requested as a special speaker for the Small Business Development Center and Small Business Veterans Association to share her expertise and best practices.

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Karen has a Bachelors of Science from Pitzer College in Organizational Studies and a Masters in Organizational Leadership from Claremont Graduate University.  While Krista is proud of her successes and is passionate about her work, her greatest accomplishment is her three daughters. Although her oldest daughter is attending college at BYU-Provo,  she enjoys spending her free time with the other two watching movies, traveling, and coaching their soccer teams.