Education experts discuss workforce readiness at Vancouver event

At a recent event in Vancouver, Colorado Governor Jared Polis convened experts to discuss strategies for improving educational outcomes. The gathering was part of the "Let’s Get Ready! Educating All Americans for Success" initiative, which aims to equip students with necessary skills and knowledge.

The event featured a fireside chat with Zoe Weintraub from Guild and Wendy Campbell from Junior Achievement British Columbia. U.S. Consul General James DeHart welcomed attendees before Governor Polis introduced the speakers.

Weintraub discussed Guild's mission to partner with employers to create education-to-career pathways that remove barriers for working adults. She highlighted the importance of identifying in-demand roles and offering stackable credentials through collaborations with learning institutions. Weintraub noted examples such as Chipotle and Walmart translating internal training into college credit and stressed the need for better systems to track upward mobility.

A key theme addressed by Weintraub was scalability and system-wide impact, emphasizing employer engagement in education solutions that can be applied across workforces. She pointed out issues like lack of interoperability in licensure across states, hindering mobility in professions like healthcare. Employers have responded by creating "lower-case apprenticeship programs" to avoid administrative burdens of formal apprenticeships. Weintraub also emphasized soft skills development as crucial for workforce readiness.

“About five years ago, we established 18 in-demand career pathways... What is the economic advancement of those individuals?” said Zoe Weintraub.

Campbell provided insights into Junior Achievement's efforts teaching financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and employment skills globally. Their programs fill gaps in traditional curricula by involving industry volunteers who bring real-world insights into classrooms.

She highlighted experiential learning through programs like the Company Program, where students build real businesses over 16 weeks, learning both hard and soft skills. Campbell underscored collaboration between public education systems and nonprofits to leverage business leaders' expertise for financial education.

“We’re helping young people build a smart relationship with money,” said Wendy Campbell.

The event concluded with an open discussion on employer engagement's role in integrating job market needs into education policy. Participants emphasized funding incentives for upskilling and reskilling while integrating credentialing into employer branding could foster feedback loops between job markets and training programs.

Governor Polis closed by encouraging Governors to focus on teacher preparation: “Let’s really look at teacher preparation... For them to be successful in getting skills to students, they have to be effective at what they do.”