Board of Directors

Scott Ellsworth is the Principal and Owner of Scott Ellsworth Consulting.  In this role he works with employers, community colleges, community based organizations, and other workforce organizations to more fully engage employers in developing effective programs.  It is no longer enough for employers to sit on the sidelines and hope that the workforce system will succeed at providing workers that meet their skill needs, instead they must play a key role in helping to make it successful.  In addition, he provides interim leadership and services to small and medium sized businesses whose owners are ready to transition to the next challenge in their lives.

Scott is the former Director of Business Leaders United for Workforce Partnerships (BLU).  BLU is Washington DC based advocacy and education organization that strives to bring employers into the workforce and skills gap discussion.  BLU has had significant impact on the workforce landscape and in 2014 Scott left his successful career in manufacturing to focus on closing the skills gap and making sure the US workforce system is more effective today and into the future.

Prior to BLU, for 12 years Scott was GM and Vice President of US operations for Tipco Punch, Inc, a Hamilton Ohio company.  Tipco is a multinational manufacturer and distributor of tooling components and special small lot, close tolerance machined parts.

Scott holds a BS in Industrial Engineering from the University of Louisville and has over 25 years of experience at a variety of manufacturing firms both large and small.  His career began as an Advance Manufacturing Engineer at GE Appliances and progressed to include management positions at a variety of companies including Danaher Tool Group, Elliott Turbomachinery, Siemens Energy and Automation, and Danly IEM.  Having spent his entire career in manufacturing companies first as an engineer, then working through the supervisory ranks to his role at Tipco, Scott has a keen interest in keeping American manufacturing strong.

As a founding member and Chairman of the Southwest Ohio Manufacturers Consortium, Scott has been heavily involved in working with local manufacturers to develop a program to improve the quality of entry level employees in Southwest Ohio.  This partnership between local Southwest Ohio Manufacturers and Butler Tech was successful in providing a pool of qualified workers to member companies.  This work earned Tipco a 2009 Investing in People Award from the Workforce One Investment Board of Southwest Ohio.  In addition, Scott is the past chairman of the Partners for a Competitive Workforce’s Advanced Manufacturing Career Pathway team.

Over the years, Scott has shown leadership in and been very involved with the community through work, church, and the chamber of commerce.  As a past interim president, board chairman and 10 year board member of the Greater Hamilton Chamber of Commerce and the Hamilton Economic Development Corporation (and current interim President/CEO), he has a strong understanding of the needs of business.

Harold Brown currently serves as Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Browns’ position is one of very few of its kind at a major American orchestra. Harold guides the CSO’s action plan to tackle issues of diversity, equity and inclusion across the orchestra’s entire operation.

Prior to joining the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Brown was Vice President for Strategy and Policy at Interact for Health. In his role, Harold guided implementation of Interact’s strategic plan and supporting policy work, which focused its efforts on reducing tobacco use, addressing the opioid epidemic, and improving children’s access to healthcare through school-based health centers.

Harold has also served as Vice President of Community Strategies at the Greater Cincinnati Foundation (GCF). In that role, Harold provided executive leadership and vision for GCF’s comprehensive array of grantmaking programs, including developing an in-depth strategy to advance its community leadership work. In addition, he partnered with GCF donors to help fulfill their philanthropic goals by ensuring they are aware of our region’s greatest needs and opportunities.

For 16+ years prior to joining GCF, Harold served in a variety of leadership roles at KnowledgeWorks. In his most recent role of Senior Officer for the Advancement of Underserved Learners, Harold explored and developed opportunities for KnowledgeWorks to invest and partner in initiatives designed to dramatically improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged youth. His most recent initiative was a statewide effort to dismantle the so-called “school-to-prison pipeline” and support quality educational options (“alternative education”) for youth who have not succeeded in traditional schools or who may be reentering their communities following incarceration.

An Oxford, Ohio native and graduate of Harvard University, Harold began his career as a Senior Researcher at WGBH Boston and also directed Multicultural Enrollment Services at Miami University. Harold serves on a number of local boards, including the Mt. St. Joseph University Board of Trustees, Philanthropy Ohio Board of Trustees, GreenLight Cincinnati Advisory Board, and the St. Xavier High School Mission Promotion Committee.

Christy Earls is currently the Senior Human Resources Business Partner for Amstan Logistics, a division of American Standard. She has worked directly with post-secondary education for 10 years in various student services roles prior to her current role. She brings workforce development knowledge as well as the desire for changing lives through education.

Christy is passionate about creating opportunities for non-traditional students and providing hope, direction and enthusiasm about career and workforce development.

She earned her BA in Public Relations. In addition to being a board member, she is also a committee member of Supply Chain OKI, Greater Cincinnati Regional Chamber of Commerce and Tri-State Logistics Counsel. She also partners with Ohio Means Jobs and the Veterans Alliance to promote workforce development in the tri-state area.

Dr. Maria Espinola is the CEO of the Institute for Health Equity and Innovation. Dr. Espinola has over 12 years of experience providing vision, leadership and strategic planning for the development and implementation of health equity initiatives in multifaceted organizations. She has a record of successful collaboration with leaders across universities, Fortune 500 companies, non-profit organizations and the three branches of government. She has been a consultant for the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and has served on the Ohio Governor’s Commission on Minority Health’s Medical Expert Panel and on the University of Cincinnati President’s Diversity Council.

Dr. Espinola has received over 25 awards for leadership, health equity initiatives, innovation and community impact. She has helped secure over 15.5 million dollars in intramural and extramural funding from federal, state, county and corporate sources as well as from nonprofit organizations and donors. Dr. Espinola has been featured by a wide range of media outlets, including the U.S. News and World Report, Teen Vogue, CNN and Reuters Health.

Dr. Espinola was born in Argentina. She completed her doctorate in clinical psychology at Nova Southeastern University, her pre-doctoral fellowship in multicultural psychology at Boston University Medical Center, and her post-doctoral fellowship in trauma psychology at McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Ryan Cullen currently serves as the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Cullen Investment Group, a registered investment advisory firm. Prior to starting his own firm, he worked at Morgan Stanley and attended the University of Cincinnati, the University of Dayton and St. Xavier High School.

Ryan started his own firm in part to address the racial wealth gap. Ryan and his twin brother were raised by a single mother who struggled financially raising two sons on her own but she always made sure that they would have the best opportunities available and more opportunities than she had. It is that same sense of selflessness and service to others that was instilled in him by his mother that motivates him today. Ryan is passionate about helping those that, like himself, had the cards stacked against him, but was given countless opportunities by generous individuals and organizations and he wants to help afford those same opportunities to others in any way he can.

Ryan also sits on the Board of Directors and is the Treasurer of RENEW, a non-profit which provides resources, like affordable healthcare, childcare, housing, job training, reliable transportation and financial literacy to low-income individuals in the Cincinnati area. Ryan frequently provides financial literacy lessons and free financial planning to individuals within RENEW. Ryan has deep roots in the Cincinnati area and is committed to helping create a more equitable city that provides people with opportunities to succeed and that is exactly what AchievePoint Academy does for its students.