Shelton A. Russell, Director
Business Opportunity & Workforce Development
North Carolina Department of Transportation
Shelton A. Russell is the Director of Business Opportunity & Workforce Development (BOWD) at the NC Department of Transportation. Russell is responsible for promoting contracting opportunities for minority, women, and small businesses with NCDOT, and for administering NCDOT’s programs to promote the employment of minorities and women in the highway construction industry.
BOWD unit administers the department’s DBE Supportive Services Program, On-the-Job Training Program, and the Supplier Diversity Program. The Unit is comprised of a team of business specialists providing outreach and business development services to entrepreneurs seeking opportunities with NCDOT.
The BOWD Unit also administers several innovative and effective programs to aid in the development of DBE firms. These programs include co-sponsorship of the Executive Management Program at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, the Project Legacy initiative to build capacity in DBE firms, and the Entrepreneurial Development Program.
Prior to joining NCDOT, Russell was the DBE Program Manager at the Columbus Regional Airport Authority in Columbus, Ohio. He has worked in the supplier diversity industry for the past thirteen years, and has previous experience as an entrepreneur and as a commercial credit analyst in the banking industry.
Russell graduated from Ohio University with a bachelor’s degree in Recreation Management, where he was a four-year letterman and co-captain of the 1986 Ohio U. Bobcats football squad. In 1993, he earned an MBA with a concentration in Finance from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, where he was a fellow of the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management.
