Leadership

Leadership & Board of Directors

NCYDC is guided by people who have spent their careers in workforce development, education, youth services, human resources, and financial management, most of them right here in the St. Louis region.

Leadership team

Sophia Downs

Founder & Executive Director

Sophia Downs is the founder and Executive Director of North County Youth Development & Training Center. Her own workforce journey started as a student at Normandy Technical High School, continued through Job Corps training in painting, and led to work as a painter in the Normandy School District maintenance department. That experience shaped why she built NCYDC: young people in North County need practical, respected routes from school into skilled careers.

She brings more than 15 years in professional and workforce development, including career coaching, staffing, mediation, community partnerships, youth program development, and school-to-career strategy. She is CEO of Brighter Horizons Career & Development Services and Northside Staffing, and a published author and public speaker under the Simply Sophia brand.

Certified Career Coach and Certified Master Life Coach
Missouri Rule 17 Mediator
Member, National Career Development Association, NAMI, Missouri Mediators Association, and NAACP
Speaking engagements include NAMI Wisconsin, Unity Recovery, and Job Corps
Has shared the stage with Tracy Martin and retired U.S. Congressman William Lacy Clay Jr.

Tiffany Phillips

Director of Programs & Student Services

Tiffany Phillips oversees program delivery and student services at NCYDC, including participant support, restorative practices, and the day-to-day experience of each cohort.

Her background in behavioral health and youth advocacy informs how NCYDC supports participants who are balancing school, work, and life outside the classroom.

10+ years in behavioral health, youth advocacy, and restorative justice
B.S. Criminal Justice
M.A. Legal Studies

Earlanda Boswell

Director of Human Resources & Administration

Earlanda Boswell leads human resources and administrative operations for NCYDC, including staffing practices, instructor onboarding, and organizational policy.

She has worked across government, court systems, and manufacturing, with a focus on personnel development and workforce training.

15+ years in personnel development and employee relations
Workforce training and compliance experience
Background across government, court systems, and manufacturing

Charlotte Finley

Director of Finance

Charlotte Finley leads financial management, procurement, and grant budget stewardship for NCYDC.

Her career in procurement and supply chain brings disciplined budgeting and vendor practices to a growing nonprofit.

17+ years in procurement, supply chain, and international sales
Business, accounting, and management information systems background
Member, Women in Manufacturing

Board of Directors

Our board brings decades of experience in workforce programs, education, and youth services across the St. Louis region, and holds the organization to the standards those careers taught them.

Jeffrey Taylor

Board Member

Jeffrey Taylor has spent more than 25 years opening doors between young people and the employers who need them. As Business Community Liaison with the St. Louis Job Corps, he built the employer relationships that turned training into real hiring opportunities for students entering the workforce.

He has aligned training with what local industries are actually hiring for, organized career fairs and job shadowing, opened doors to union and pre-apprenticeship pathways, and stayed with young people through placement. He mentors youth in his community, and he brings that same employer fluency to NCYDC's board.

25+ years in employer relations and workforce partnerships
Business Community Liaison, St. Louis Job Corps
Work-based learning, apprenticeship, and career placement experience
Youth and community mentor

Pastor Earnest Howard

Board Member

Pastor Earnest Howard has spent more than 30 years in education, ministry, and youth advocacy, including service as Dean of Students in the Jennings School District and pastoral leadership in Florissant. He is known for staying close to students and families through the hardest stretches.

On the NCYDC board he guides education partnerships, student success, family and community engagement, special education and accommodation awareness, crisis response, and restorative practices.

30+ years in education, ministry, and youth advocacy
Dean of Students, Jennings School District
B.A. Psychology and M.Ed. Special Education
Crisis intervention trainer in Hazelwood

Reginald Young

Board Member

Reginald Young led the St. Louis Job Corps center as its Center Director. He began there as a guidance counselor, went on to serve as Director of Residential Life and then Deputy Center Director, and stepped into the Center Director role in 2009, carrying responsibility for student services, residential life, safety, culture, retention, and center performance.

Throughout that work he brought employers, educators, and industry leaders to the table to create training, work-based learning, and employment opportunities for young people. He has also served on the WIOA Council for the City and County of St. Louis. That combination of youth program leadership and workforce system experience directly supports NCYDC's school-to-career mission.

Former Center Director, St. Louis Job Corps
Guidance counselor, Director of Residential Life, and Deputy Center Director
B.A. Psychology with a minor in criminal justice, Southwest Missouri State University
Former member, WIOA Council for the City and County of St. Louis

Interested in joining the effort?

We would be glad to hear from mentors, instructors, prospective board members, and community volunteers who want to spend time with North County youth.

Get in touch