Sarah Graham has accepted a position as executive director of the Land of Lincoln Workforce Alliance. The previous director, Anne Schneider, is retiring as of June 30 after 14 years with the organization.

The Workforce Alliance covers a five county region serving Sangamon, Cass, Logan, Menard and Christian counties with many workforce partners throughout the state. Graham said, “I’m going to be focusing on creating collaboration between education and economic development to meet regional workforce challenges. I’ll deal with Title 1, adult dislocated workers and youth programs, among other things.”

She continued, “We’re going to be working closely with the new Economic Development Commission to make sure that the workforce goals are developed based on what employers want, which is the way it’s supposed to be dictated. We want the individuals that we’re developing and training with state funded grants to be ready for positions that our companies need.”

Most recently, Graham served as the director of career services for the Illinois Bankers Association. Prior to that, she spent five years as the director of workforce development for the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce. She has also worked as director of career services at ITT Technical Institute as well as various positions with career services at Robert Morris University in Springfield. In 2012, she was named one of Springfield Business Journal’s Forty Under 40.