New Upskill 2030 Initiative Aims to Place 30,000 Coloradans in Quality Jobs

???Shortly after hitting ‘send’ on last week’s edition of?Boundless Potential, I sat in the gymnasium at my sons’ high school listening to our high school counselor talk about college planning. Our high school has been ranked one of the best in the state – and has a stellar reputation for helping our students enroll at a ‘college of their choice.’ This commitment is based on a two-decades-long approach to supporting students and families to understand the importance of “fit, finance and finish” – or the alignment between what a student is seeking and the college has to offer, how the family is going to pay for postsecondary education, and what plan the student has to successfully complete their credential.

???I often reflect on my role as a ‘higher ed insider’ when I am listening to these presentations. I am often vigorously nodding my head in agreement (and encouragement!) with the college counselor, who is trying mightily to help families of high school juniors to understand the difference between the terms?cost of attendance,?sticker price, and?net price, for example.?

However, during the presentation last week, I was a bit surprised that parents didn’t hear more about how much easier – yes, easier – it is to get into college. I love this new analysis from?Preston Cooper, now with the?American Enterprise Institute (AEI),?where he?wrote about how after decades of competitive admissions, getting into college is finally becoming easier.

I immediately sent the article to our high school counselor and asked her to consider integrating parts of this analysis into future conversations.?

I hope you will read Preston’s latest analysis and encourage a student in your life about a more favorable admissions environment.

???On the workforce side of the education – workforce equation: a new?report ?from?Lightcast -- The Rising Storm: Building a Future-Ready Workforce to Withstand the Looming Labor Shortage?– shows U.S. employers will soon face the largest labor shortage the country has ever seen – putting urgent pressure on both public and private entities to pivot their talent strategies and build a future-ready workforce. The new report shows how the deluge of Baby Boomer retirements, plummeting childbirth rates, and historically low labor force participation will compound to create a deficit of six million workers by 2032, with the biggest impacts of this ‘perfect storm’ expected to hit the healthcare, hospitality, and service industries the hardest.

To overcome hiring deficits, Lightcast is recommending that organizations prioritize skills adjacency, upskilling and development to build a future-ready workforce, rather than filtering out talent that doesn’t meet their specific skills requirements at face value. Educators and employers must also begin to give skills development the same review as that which is provided to college degrees.

???This week in Colorado,?Colorado Thrives , a coalition of 18 distinguished CEOs from some of the state’s largest companies, announced the launch of “Upskill 2030,” an initiative designed to place 30,000 Coloradans in quality jobs by the year 2030. As referenced in the latest Lightcast report, a significant gap exists between job openings and qualified candidates and Upskill 2030 will be hyper-focused on becoming an advocate for the alignment of educational outcomes and labor market needs.?

Read more about Upskill 2030?here .

???Call for proposals:?Apprenticeships for America (AFA) has issued a?call for proposals ?for its 2025 Summit to be held on February 5-6 in Washington, DC. AFA is interested in highlighting sessions that showcase local community practice, policy priorities, meaningful research or skills development in the apprenticeship community. To apply, complete this?form . Submissions are due October 15, and presenters will be notified by October 28, 2024.

???Finally, film fans: did you see that Boulder is one of three cities?still in the running ?for the?Sundance Film Festival? Also in the running – Cincinnati, Ohio and Salt Lake City, Utah. The winner is expected to be announced after the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, which concludes on February 2, 2025.

Spotlight on Colorado Education and Workforce

???As the?Human Potential Summit?draws near, I am excited to profile another Colorado-based colleague who will take the stage at the inaugural October event.

Jen Henderson ?is the Founder and CEO of?Tilt , a technology platform that supports leave management solutions for employers.

I met Jen when she was part of the?TechStars Workforce Development Accelerator?cohort and was immediately drawn into her story, the mission of her company, and the empathy she brings to a societal challenge – better support for caregiving and parental leave.

Jen will be presenting on leave management as a lever for employee retention, specifically focusing on how leave is?the place?where life intersects with work. Leave is commonly the moment when employers lose top talent to poor leave experiences. Instead, Jen asserts that a company can consider how employment can shift (or Tilt!) and create a positive dynamic with employees during some of their most vulnerable personal moments.

???In fact, the?National Bureau of Economic Research?found that parents who have greater access to paid sick leave spend?5% more time providing care for their children. Additionally, in states with paid sick leave mandates (as of October 2023), parents spend more time on primary child care and have more face time with their children on average; separate research has demonstrated?similar positive impacts ?on caring for older family members.

Maternity (and paternity!) leave is often one of the moments in life when we think about the need for better leave policies, but Jen will share many other examples that cut across worker identity, life stages, and income levels.

???Announcing Jen’s presence at the Human Potential Summit comes at a time when my colleague?Brigid Schulte ?released her latest book entitled, “Over Work: Transforming the Daily Grind in the Quest for a Better Life .” I got to know Brigid during the pandemic when she took interest in my story as a single, working mom for a?feature ?she wrote in the?Harvard Business Review. She has written on issues of time pressure, gender and stress, and now – the wish for time with family and more meaningful lives.

Registration ?for the Human Potential Summit is still open and you can use code?BOUNDLESS-POTENTIAL-20?for a discount. I hope to see you there!

What We’re Reading (and Listening To…)

Postsecondary Education

• Master’s Degrees: According to new?research ?from the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), master’s degrees have a positive return on investment, but the averages hide vast differences among fields of study among programs in the same field of study. Mark Schneider?argues ?that given the high stakes of choosing whether to pursue a degree – and where to enroll – different programs’ ROI should be made readily available to students.
• Apprenticeship Degrees: Western Governors University (WGU) recently?announced ?the acquisition of Craft Education, Inc. and the acceleration of its plan to develop, launch and scale work-based learning pathways. Craft Education is a leading technology company focused on apprentice-based programs with a first-of-its-kind platform for establishing, monitoring, reporting and facilitating on-the-job training aligned with degree programs and work-ready skills. With the acquisition, WGU can fast-track its ability to innovate and scale work-based curriculum and new student experience designs. According to WGU, of the?167 million people in the U.S. workforce , 62%?do not have ?a postsecondary degree, meaning that 103 million people are not being fully recognized for the talent and skill they have already developed through work.

Future of Work

• Upskilling: Edelman’s new?2024 Trust at Work report ?found that workers view upskilling as crucial for their professional development, with 82% reporting that upskilling and training are a “strong expectation or dealbreaker” for a new workplace. The report points to the destabilizing effects of new technology as a potential cause, and found that nearly a quarter of workers globally say they “reject” AI’s growing role in the workplace.?
• Cyber Jobs: The White House Office of the National Cyber Director?launched ?a cybersecurity hiring sprint to fill approximately 500,000 open cyber jobs across the U.S. The effort called ‘Service for America’ aims to reach candidates without ‘traditional qualifications,’ such as those who are skilled through alternative routes or have backgrounds in subjects other than computer science or engineering.?[HR Dive]

Upcoming Events and Opportunities

• Education Design Lab:?What Does AI Mean For Learners + Higher Ed Leaders? , September 24, 11am-12pm MT (Virtual)
• U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation:?Talent Pipeline Management (TPM) National Learning Network Summit , September 24-25, Washington, D.C.
• New America:?AI Education at Community Colleges: The State of Play and Policy Needs , October 1, 11am-1pm MT (Virtual)
• NEW! Scrivner Institute of Public Policy:?Scrivner Policy Roundtable: Ranked Choice Voting & Open Primaries , October 3, 9-11am MT, Denver, CO
• National Endowment for Financial Education:?Financial Education Innovation & Impact Summit 2024 , October 8-10, Denver, CO
• Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL):?2024 Annual CAEL Conference , October 30-November 1, New Orleans, LA
• Competency-Based Education Network:?CBExchange 2024 , November 11-14, Colorado Springs, CO
• Complete College America (CCA):?All In: The 2024 CCA Annual Convening , November 18-20, Indianapolis, IN

Colleagues on the Move

• Congratulations to?Terrell Halaska Dunn ?for nearly a decade of leadership on the?Postsecondary National Policy Institute ?(PNPI) board of directors, alongside?Dr. Adrian Haugabrook , who served the organization for six years.?Dr. Laura Perna ?will step into the chair role and the PNPI board will add?James Bergeron as a new member of the board.
• The University Innovation Alliance (UIA)?announced ?that?Dr. Candice Staples ?and?Betsy Davis ?have been elevated to senior leadership positions on their team, and?Dr. Devon Skerritt ?has joined the organization as the Director of Strategic Learning and Impact.
• NEW!?Vice President for University Advancement ?at Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
• NEW!?Director of Marketing ?with Crescendo Education Group, Remote
• NEW!?Vice President of Planning and Chief of Staff ?with Colorado Mountain College, Glenwood Springs, CO