Ty Schieber, Managing Director for Client Solutions for Darden Executive Education & Lifelong Learning’s (EELL) public sector clients, once sat on the same side of the table as our clients, having had an extensive career across military, government, private and public sector organizations. He joined the EELL team in 2019 and Ty now partners with our public sector clients to develop learning solutions that help them fulfill their missions and enhance their capabilities. Read more about his journey, favorite part of his role and moments of impact along way.
Tell us more about your background and journey to Darden.
I am a former Marine Corps Officer who spent 5-years operational, including service during Desert Shield and Desert Storm and then attended the Naval Postgraduate School. I did my payback tour at Marine Corps Systems Command at Quantico and spent my last four years of active duty in weapon systems acquisition. After active duty, I transitioned to the defense and aerospace industry and worked with a wide range of small and large businesses, startups, and nonprofit organizations, and even spent some in service as an elected official at a local level.
After 23 years in Stafford, VA, my wife and I were empty nesters and decided to move to Charlottesville in 2017. We loved this area even well before our oldest daughter graduated from UVA. I have my own firm, but wanted to establish engagement in the local economy. I landed a contracting opportunity with Darden EELL in 2019, and after a fruitful initial six months as a contractor was offered a full-time role as a Manager Director for Client Solutions. I happily accepted, and now work the public sector portfolio, including all of EELL’s military and government portfolio, with my fellow Managing Director, Jennifer Hicks.
What’s your favorite part of your job?
My favorite part of the job is identifying opportunities and designing, developing, and delivering programs that have enduring value and impact on the individuals and organizations in our military & government client base. Watching what happens in the classroom, in terms of the transformational learning experience and the enhanced capability, capacity and awareness of how participants intend to apply the learnings in service to their respective mission once they finish a program and return to their organization is where I get the most gratification from my role. It’s satisfying to know that we had an impact in helping them fulfill their public service mission and do it better than before they came to Darden.
Is there a particular story or memorable moment of impact that you’d like to share?
We deliver everything from customized half-day workshops to five-week programs, so it’s hard to choose just one. However, I can share one program that comes to mind. Darden worked to capture and develop a five-week program for a particular area of the Department of Homeland Security and over the past two years, we have put almost 500 senior level managers through this program. It was certainly one of the most complex and lengthy programs I’ve been associated with, and it exemplifies our team’s ability to scale and adapt impactful programs to any size engagement where client need is aligned with Darden capability.
Increased collaboration with other UVA Schools is another exciting element of Darden’s approach to serving our Military & Government clients. Darden has led the charge and spent considerable energy extending and expanding collaboration across UVA, bringing other faculty and capability from other schools into the fold as a force multiplier in terms of broadening the reach and impact of what the University of Virginia can do.
Darden recently celebrated 50 years of partnership with the Navy. What would you say this partnership exemplifies?
The enduring nature of what we’re doing with the Navy is really exciting. Our history and long-standing and expanding relationship is something the organization should be justifiably proud of. Together, we’ve had an impact on so many individuals, active duty, reservists, and civil servants. This partnership exemplifies the breadth and depth in the range of different ways that Darden can serve other clients in the public sector to help them better fulfill their objectives, both as individuals and as organizations.
Why is lifelong learning important to you?
Lifelong learning is a critical element in remaining relevant. I recently refreshed some of my own tool-kit by attending a Georgetown Executive Certification Facilitation Program. It’s exhilarating to be in the classroom. While I’ve had the benefit of sitting in the classroom through many programs and have absorbed a lot of material as an observer, but it’s different when you’re actually going through it as a participant. Lifelong learning gives you new tools and frameworks to help navigate the vast and dynamic range of changes and challenges we all experience across the world and the professional and personal continuum. Lifelong learning is a core element of the human condition, and if you’re going to survive and thrive, you have to continually learn.
What makes Darden different from its competitors in how it delivers programming and develops professionals?
Darden’s Socratic approach and use of the case method, with our incredible and exceptional faculty who know how to contextualize the learning to the needs of the client we serve sets us apart. Participants are engaged in mindful conversations that help them think about the core topic that takes them out of their domain initially to make sure that they can absorb the learnings. Then, faculty loop back around and bring it back into their domain into applied learning in a classroom setting. As a result, they walk away with an understanding of what it means to them in the context of their specific role for their organization. I think that’s different, and it’s also very effective and impactful – and it’s part of the reason why Darden has so much recurring business with those organizations we’ve already had the privilege to serve and the incredible growth opportunities we are currently working new military and government clients.
