Les Range
Independent Consultant, Workforce Development
Les Range, Advisory Board, is an independent workforce and economic development consultant. He served as the Regional Administrator for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration in Atlanta for five years.
Prior to this position he was the Cabinet level State Workforce Administrator in Mississippi. In these roles he specialized in working with local, state, regional and national leaders to develop workforce solutions to meet the needs of employers, workers and communities. As the ETA Regional Administrator, he assisted with efforts to transform workforce boards in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and Kentucky. He was actively involved at the national level in developing the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Network (WIOA) regulations. He also served as the Senior Executive Champion for the Innovation and Opportunity Network, (ION) which has become a major source of training and technical assistance tools for successful WIOA implementation.
He is an experienced trainer and executive having been a business owner working with local and regional economic and community development organizations and colleges and universities.
Les has served as an adviser to The Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta, the National Governors Association Policy Academy on State Sector Strategies, the Southern Growth Policies Board Council for a New Economy Workforce and the National Association of State Workforce Agencies.
He attended Northeastern University in Boston, Mass. where he earned a B.A. in English/Journalism. He later earned an M.B.A. From Delta State University in Cleveland, Miss. He also completed the Senior Managers in Government Program at the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government.