What We Heard in July

WorkingKnowledge August 1, 2024

The Sky’s the Limit

WorkingNation has always embraced the idea that all jobs are local, as are all workforce solutions. The majority of our articles and videos explore how civic leaders, nonprofits, educators, and employers are coming together to put workers on the pathway to good, family-sustaining careers and jobs.

This year, one of our big storytelling initiatives is the return of our Focus on… series which first debuted during Covid. With so much work being done locally on workforce development programs, we felt the time was right to bring it back in full force.

My colleague Senior Correspondent Laura Aka leads the storytelling, examining what civic leaders, employers, educators, and nonprofits are doing to increase employment opportunities locally. Each story looks at the industries powering the local economy, programs and initiatives, and includes a video interview with the mayor of that town or city.

In July, Laura’s focus was on Tempe, Arizona. This is a city that is growing in population and opportunity. Mayor Corey Woods tells Laura that there is a huge demand for workers in health care, education, and construction and the community leaders are banded together to ensure that residents are getting the skills they need to fill those jobs.

“The sky’s the limit here. I see so much opportunity when I get out of bed and come down to my office. I see a wonderful group of people in this community who really want to see us continue to march forward,” Mayor Woods proudly says.

• You can read all about Tempe and how it is bringing those local leaders together to create economic mobility for its citizens – and hear from the mayor himself – here: Focus on Tempe, Arizona
• Catch up on all Laura’s articles in the series here: Focus on…
• Get all our articles, videos, and podcasts here: WorkingNation.org

Should There Be Limits on How We Use AI?

AI. Artificial intelligence. ChatGPT. Generative AI. You can’t seem to get away from that discussion, no matter what you are talking to someone about. Like it or not – we all have to agree – it is part of our world now. But, there is still a lot of disagreement on how we should be using it, and even who should be telling us how we should be using it.

Recently, I had an insightful conversation with Vilas Dhar, the president of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, at the Aspen Ideas Festival on the ethics around AI for my Work in Progress podcast. If you don’t know Vilas, you should listen to the discussion. He is one of the most insightful people I know when it comes to the potential benefits and the potential detriments of AI on the workforces, education, and society in general. I walked away with a lot more to think about afterwards. I think you will too.

• Listen to the Work in Progress podcast with Vilas Dhar here. AI: Friend or Foe?
• Read about how AI is already making its way into our classrooms here: Reading, Writing, and AI

No Limits: A Call to Action

We just got back from JFF Horizons 2024 in Washington, D.C. and our heads are still spinning from all the great sessions and one-on-one discussions. We were on the ground for interviews for our WorkingNation Overheard series and really got some wonderful interviews with the people who are proving every day that providing a pathway to economic mobility is a critical mission and call to action.

The takeaway is that there are challenges for many people in achieving their goal of a good-paying, family-sustaining career – time, money, transportation, and biases, among them – but, when organizations work together to erase these barriers, there is no limit to what can be achieved.

• You can watch parts of these informative and inspirational interviews here: WorkingNation Overheard at JFF Horizons 2024 ?

We will share longer pieces of these interviews over the coming weeks and months.

Worth noting: WorkingNation has been a proud media partner of the JFF Horizons conferences since 2020 and we thank EnGen for sponsoring our Overheard interviews this year.

A Couple More Things Before I Go…

WorkingNation has a lot of stories around the future of the workforce planned for the coming months. One project that I would like to call special attention to is coming up on August 15. We'll be rolling out more videos from our Breaking Barriers: Embracing Age in the Workforce TV special which aired in June on Scripps News Network. You will be able to watch those at the website, along with a series of short interviews we did about midcareer and older workers with some well-known thought leaders in the field.

Wait, there's more.

We'll also be sharing more details of our media partnerships, interviews, and panels at the CWI Labs and Center for Workforce Development Equity Summit in September. In October, we'll be partnering on two other conferences – the inaugural Human Potential Summit in Denver and the College Board Forum in Austin.

Again, we will have much more on all these exciting ventures in the weeks to come. Bookmark and check-in at our website for details: WorkingNation.org

Until next time,

Ramona