Interested in more information on what the Advanced Workforce Center can offer your employees? Please reach out.
UMSL Advanced Workforce Center
University of Missouri-St. Louis
225 Millennium Student Center
One University Boulevard
St. Louis, MO 63121
Email: umslworkforce@umsl.edu
Phone: 314-516-4478
Fax: 314-516-4611
Barry Darnell
Executive Director, Advanced Workforce Center
bdarnell@umsl.edu
314-516-6567
Barry Darnell, M.Ed, MBA serves as the Executive Director of the Advanced Workforce Center with key responsibilities of overseeing partnerships with employers, industry groups, and community stakeholders to develop innovative solutions to workforce needs. Barry pays particular attention to the intersection of education solutions and employer skills gaps to improve upon employee retention, candidate hireability, and socioeconomic mobility for job seekers and career changers/advancers. His areas of expertise include developing career pathways, credit for prior learning process and policy, excellence in operations, and building workforce solutions inclusive of the talent and needs of the communities served.
Previously, Barry was the senior director for higher education initiatives at the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL). In this role, he managed a team of seven project managers and directors, was the lead on designing and implementing CAEL’s Adult Learner 360 survey toolkit, and was the lead author and principal investigator of the Adult Learner Leaders for Institutional Effectiveness (2022) research study and parallel reports. Barry also managed operations and initiatives for the United Nurses and Allied Professionals / Rhode Island Hospital Education Trust—a workforce skilling program and the Healthcare Industry Partner for Rhode Island’s Governors Workforce Board.
Barry earned his undergraduate degree in Human Resources Management from Rhode Island College, a Master of Business Administration degree from Providence College, and a Master of Education degree in Higher Education Leadership and Administration from the University of Massachusetts – Amherst. He is a member of the Missouri Association of Workforce Development, the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development’s Adult Learner Network, and the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning. Outside of work, Barry is passionate about inclusivity in athletics for "everybody and every body" and plays rugby.
Kyle Lackey, M.Ed.
Workforce Integration Program Coordinator
kyle.lackey@umsl.edu
314-516-4478
Kyle Lackey serves as a Coordinator in the Advanced Workforce Center with key responsibilities of working directly to support and engage learners through various workforce initiatives. He earned undergraduate degrees in General Transfer Studies from St. Louis Community College, Business Administration, and a Master in Adult and Higher Education from UMSL. Kyle is passionate about serving as a workforce integration coordinator while working directly to provide support to student learners to promote professional and lifelong success. He is a member of the Missouri Association of Workforce Development, and the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development Adult Learner Network, where he is currently serving as Co-chair of the Workforce Alignment Subcommittee. Kyle has participated in fellowship programs such as the New Leaders Council, Neighborhood Leadership Fellow, and as a Strategic Data Fellow with The Scholarship Foundation.
