Sharon Calabrese Director, Management Leadership Institute

With nearly three decades of management experience in the field of human services delivery, Sharon Calabrese brings a broad range of expertise to her post as director of the CDHS Management Leadership Institute (MLI). In that capacity she is responsible for overseeing MLI sponsored training, managing multiple contract projects, and writing consulting contracts, in addition to supervising MLI trainers, outstation staff, and in-house support staff. She also conducts trainings, writes curriculum modules, and facilitates various focus groups. Under her direction the MLI works with the New York State Department of Health (DOH), the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) and the Office of Children and Family Services (OFS) of the New York State Department of Family Assistance, and the New York City Human Resources Administration (HRA) to provide state and local district social services staff with specialized training and technical assistance to improve the quality and efficiency of client Services.

Before joining CDHS she served as Deputy Commissioner of the Niagara County Department of Social services (NCDSS). In addition to her administrative duties and personnel responsibilities she also assumed the role of staff development coordinator for the NCDSS. In that capacity she conducted needs assessments, developed training programs to address identified needs, coordinated training offerings, and reviewed training evaluations. During her tenure with NCDSS she also initiated the Total Quality Management (TQM) project in Niagara County and had maintained sole administrative responsibility for the TQM project continuously since its inception.