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www.theinnovationintake.com

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PLUS:l Korn/Ferry

l Youth Radio

l On the Streets

l Policy

and More . . .

VOLUME NO. 2 | ISSUE NO.2 | MAY 2013

www.highimpact-tec.org

July 21–24, 2013Renaissance Austin Hotel (Texas)

High Impact Technology Exchange ConferenceEducating America’s Technical Workforce

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T H E I N N O V A T I O N I N T A K E 3

FEATURES

THE NEW WORLD OF WORK | 5

How do we become a college and career ready nation?

DEPARTMENTS

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR | 4

CORPORATE HIGHLIGHT | 12

POLICY | 14

YOUTH MOVEMENT, INC. | 16

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT | 18

ON THE STREETS | 20

VOLUME NO. 2 | ISSUE NO. 2 | MAY 2013

www.theinnovationintake.com

PUBLISHER www.innovate-educate.org

P.O. Box 9919Santa Fe, NM 87504

EDITOR

Jamai Blivin

MANAGING EDITOR

Amy Schilling

DESIGNMary Sweitzer Design

www.marysweitzerdesign.com

ADVERTISING SALES

[email protected]

TITLE GRAPHIC Incubox Creativewww.incubox.com

[email protected]

All contents © 2013 innovate+educate. Nopart of this publication may be reproducedwithout written consent from innovate+edu-cate. Permission to reprint may be sent to [email protected]. Publisher reservesthe right to accept or reject all advertisingmaterial. Questions or comments not relatedto The Innovation Intake should be directedto [email protected].

All opinions expressed are those of thecontributing author and do not necessarily re-flect the views of The Innovation Intake orinnovate+educate.

IN THIS ISSUE:

Trying to hit the constantly

moving target of employment pg. 9

4 T H E I N N O V A T I O N I N T A K E

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

The New World of Work - and how to get there

Over THe PAST THree yeArS, Innovate+educate has been fortu-

nate enough to work with the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, our board

companies and many collaborative partners in addressing the critical issues

around education to workforce. We believe that defining college and career

readiness is at the heart of this work and understanding

what young adults need to navigate along the entire edu-

cation to career continuum is critical for our own country’s

global competitiveness. Overall, the system is failing

millions of our students annually, and our organization’s

passion and vision is working to solve the issues at hand.

The free market (led by young adults, displaced work-

ers, re-entry, industry and some education pioneers) is

pushing change for the future of learning in the world---

whether policymakers or the “institution” of education like

it or not. New terms such as “Individualized Learning”,

“Adaptive Learning”, “Deeper Learning”, and“Personalized

Learning” are all vocabulary floating around and being

used to try and define the work of “college and career readiness”. To me, it

doesn’t really matter what it is called. What matters is this: Change is desperately

needed and is knocking at the front door, back door and side door.

As Innovate+educate moves into our second year of publishing The

Innovation Intake (thanks to our many subscribers), we will focus on the

pathways to success…and the new world not only OF work but TO work.

Because we know that the numbers tell us the old way no longer works.

Jamai Blivin, CeO, Innovate+educate

©2013 by John Trever, The Albuquerque Journal

TheNewofWORK

EducationEmployment

With the divide between education and workforce

growing, what is it going to take for people,

corporations and educational institutions to hit the

ever moving target we call ‘career ready’?

Jamai Blivin & Merrilea J. Mayo, PhD

12

34

5

625

5595

125

176177

178179

180

Today, we have 6.5M youngadults between 16–24 not in school

and not working...what is happening to them?How do we stop losing more every year?

100

80

40

5th 9th0

% E

ngag

emen

t in

Sch

ool

Grade Level

7,000 students drop out of high school every day in the U.S.

1

2

3

THE BIG QUESTION

Did you know?

39% of ALL

college students

require remediation

WOR

KCO

LLEG

E

CONTINUED

How do we maximize college and career options when the time-honored pathway from school to career no longer

works for most?

of employers reportthat graduates are

not adequatelyprepared for

work.

58%

of college gradsare unemployed orunderemployed.

53%

of collegestudents workwhile in school.

71%

Only 50%of college students

graduate with apostsecondary

degree.

4

5

6

7

8

A s the job market continually evolves & becomes more technical,it’s easy to blame the education system for failing to prepare stu-

dents for work. But, the original public education system, including itscredentialing system, wasn’t designed for a highly technical world andconsequently wasn’t built to be nimble & adaptive (ironically, two ofthe critical skills lacking in many of today’s job seekers).

New technical information doubles every two years,10 whichmeans that halfway through a four-year degree, students are alreadybehind. Graduating students are led to believe their degrees qualifythem for jobs, when in fact, many employers seek candidates withdegrees that no one seems to have. This is the direct result not ofpoor college planning, but rather of the disparate timelines of schooland economy.

As long as the time-to-degree is four years—and the rate ofchange of technology and economic cycles is six months to twoyears—the majority of our students will probably graduate with the“wrong” degrees. The “right” degrees weren’t known or may not haveexisted when these students started college. If education is truly ob-solete in its current structure, then why is industry still hiring usingdegrees, the traditional measure created by the education system as itsprimary credential for hiring?

What’s in a Name (or a Degree Title)?

I nnovate+educate has been working in STeM (science, technology,engineering and math) education for many years, and we believe

in the four-year degree! But, what we have learned through our workis this: while the knowledge underlying a degree may be as valid asever, the college degree as a title, in matching individuals to jobs, is ir-retrievably broken.

It is not surprising that we have over 50% of employers reporting

difficulty filling open jobs,11 and unless the millennia-old trend of in-creased technological change and work specialization simply grind toa halt, the youth unemployment situation will continue to get worse.

Dr. Tony Wagner of Harvard University and best-selling authorof The Global Achievement Gap: Why even our best schools don’t teach the new sur-

vival skills our children need - and what we can do about it, sums it up beautifully:“In today’s highly competitive global “knowledge economy,” all stu-dents need new skills for college, careers and citizenship. The failureto give all students these new skills leaves today’s youth—and ourcountry—at an alarming competitive disadvantage. Schools haven’tchanged; the world has. And so our schools are not failing. rather,they are obsolete: even the ones that score the best on standardizedtests. This is a very different problem requiring an altogether differ-ent solution.”7

The Skills-based Solution

To this end, Innovate+educate has begun using cognitive skills as-sessments to measure students' underlying skills. These assess-

ments accurately map to over 95% of all jobs, predict on-the-jobperformance five times better than a degree, and—best of all—allowthose with the “wrong” degree to qualify for available jobs. The testsare based on three to five truly fundamental skills: literacy, numeracy,critical observation, critical listening, and the ability to understandand apply charts, graphs and diagrams.

youth can gain these skills during the course of their college study,prior work experience, online self-education and any other validlearning route. We argue that we need to market these student skillsexplicitly to employers, because we now have thousands of studiesshowing these skills are a much better way, than degree title alone, tomatch individuals to jobs.12

The Big Question: In this new world of work, how do we maximize college and career options

when the time-honored pathway from school to career no longer works for most?

We Need a Disruptive Solution to Introduce Skills-Based Credentials as Alternatives to Degrees

Consider the scenario. Despite the fact that 90% of all jobs require a high school diploma,3 7,000 students in the U.S. drop out of high school

every day.2 As a result, our nation faces a historical high in the number of young adults under the age of 26 without jobs. In fact, 6.5 million

of our young adults are neither in school nor working.9 This includes 53% with college degrees, often saddled with an accompanying crush-

ing debt, who are either unemployed or underemployed.8

While the lucky ones have achieved the roles they seek, many more have been overlooked. Despite having the skills and knowledge required for the

new world of work and the global high tech economy, many young adults in the U.S. have no opportunities to prove their skills and translate them into ca-

reers. The statistics represent real people, individuals who through their actions, such as dropping out of high school or college, illustrate that the system

no longer works for the majority of young adults and students. What’s more, we are not only failing our young adults, we are putting our nation at risk.


When there is No Degree

The inability of degreed students to meaningfully convey their basicqualifications in an accelerating world of innovation and change

is one challenge. Another challenge resides among those who haveno degree. Nearly everyone who is college-bound will struggle withthe Catch-22 of needing a job to get an education, but needing aneducation to get a job. These students, as well, need a different wayof labeling themselves to employers, an ability to display current skills,albeit without a completed degree. Here, too, having assessments offundamental skills can capture the current state of the student andrelay that information to the employer.

In New Mexico, we’ve found that only 1% of unemployed 16-24year-olds have a college degree. However, when tested, 33% displayfundamental skills at the level of a college degree, acquired duringhigh school, work or other venues. These students could be going tocollege. They could be hired in ‘college-degree-requiring’ jobs thatdon’t highly depend on specialized content knowledge. But, they haveno way to attend college easily without a job, and no way to get a jobwithout a degree.

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and community col-leges fill some gaps for students struggling to afford a degree withcheaper, more flexible learning pathways. And many corporations,such as Wal-Mart and Starbucks have launched corporate education& training programs.13 But these learning avenues do not alwaystranslate to academic credit or transfer to other job opportunities.We need a non-degree-title-based, skills credentialing system to ad-vertise to the world what students are capable of. This does not meanthe elimination of degrees, but rather that we evaluate them equallywell in terms of more fundamental components. This way, they be-come portable, transferable and updatable with each increment oflearning achieved, however and wherever it is accomplished.

The New World of Work: Competency & Skills-Based Hiring

Some of the best minds in education reform seem to agree. BillGates, in a May 2013 Fast Company interview, said, “Another dream

would be to revolutionize (student) self-assessment, so that in anyarea—math, psychology, economics, whatever—you could assess yourskills and know what you may need to learn. The ideal there is creat-ing a skills-based credential that is well trusted and well understoodenough that employers view it as a true alternative to a degree. youcould unbundle the idea of ‘Where did you get this knowledge?’ from‘What knowledge do you have?’ That would unleash unbelievableopen innovation.”14

While such a system may never be practical in the world of edu-cation, it is highly practical in the world of work. ACT has profiled more than16,000 jobs and found that over 95% can be fairly accurately de-scribed via some combination of three to five fundamental skills and,

as stated earlier, a combination of at least three skill scores predicts on-

the-job performance five times better than a degree title.12

Obviously, such tests do not demonstrate content mastery andtherefore cannot completely replace a degree. But, they clearly andconvincingly show the employer something about the underlying ca-pabilities, and allow individuals to demonstrate competency whileawaiting a degree or when they have the “wrong” degree. As a bonus,employers who use the skills-based matching system for hiring typi-cally experience significant financial advantages: 25-75% reduction inturnover, 50-70% reduction in time to hire, 70% reduction in cost tohire, 50% reduction in training time.12

employers need a way to normalize and standardize all those dif-ferent degrees, from all those different colleges and universities, asbadly as students from all those different colleges, having all thosedifferent degrees, need jobs. We propose that the solution is not un-like what colleges themselves adopted when trying to rationalize ad-missions decisions for the millions of high school students fromapproximately 15,000 high schools: a standardized test. Whileworkforce tests similar to the SAT and ACT are available, employersdon’t commonly use the tests. In this case, standardized tests reflectthe “common core” of work skills, which are different from (thoughpartially overlapping with) the “common core” of school skills.

Thanks to our partnership with the W. K. Kellogg Foundation’sNew Options Project, Innovate+educate is building a skills-basedcredentialing ecosystem approach in which employers hire by “skillscore,” and students and non-students alike can apply for jobs by sub-mitting their skill scores along with resumes. Innovate+educate trainsHr staff how to advertise job openings by skill score, and how tomatch applicants’ submitted skill scores to the jobs they have on hand.

For those without the necessary workplace skills for the jobs theyseek, Innovate+educate is building an online curriculum of skill-upresources for individuals. In an exciting development, several colleges

“Another dream would be to revolutionize (student)

self-assessment, so that in any area—math, psychol-

ogy, economics, whatever—you could assess your skills and

know what you may need to learn. The ideal there is creating a

skills-based credential that is well trusted and well understood

enough that employers view it as a true alternative to a degree.

You could unbundle the idea of ‘Where did you get this

knowledge?’ from ‘What knowledge do you have?’ That

would unleash unbelievable open innovation.”

—Bill Gates in Fast Company, May 2013


and high schools are currently integrating this curriculum into exist-ing coursework. Interestingly, the same curriculum also markedly im-proves student performance on academic standardized tests, anunforeseen benefit.

It should be noted that those who score highly on the workplaceskills tests often turn out to be amazing employees, eager to begintheir educational pathway anew once they can afford to do so. Themost heartwarming stories we’ve received are from at-risk youth whopreviously could not qualify for a job for lack of a degree.

The New American Dream

If we are to stop losing record numbers of students from school andstart rebuilding our economic competitiveness, skills-based cre-

dentialing must be implemented on a national scale. We’re spending$600 BILLION a year on education in the U.S.14 with dismal resultswhen it comes to work readiness. Imagine what could be possible ifwe took just a fraction of that money to provide alternative creden-tialing pathways – or even alternative credentialing as a waypointwithin existing pathways – for individuals to demonstrate their abilityto do the job. Imagine what could be possible if employers across thecountry used skills-based hiring and said: whatever you have learned,regardless of how it is labeled, has value, and we can put you to work.

When all the people who can’t afford a post-secondary degreeand who can’t get a job without it, are able to demonstrate enough

skills to start working, earn a living, support their families and even-tually, go back and obtain that degree, then, ‘The American Dream’will be attainable, once again. n

Jamai Blivin is the CEO of Innovate+Educate, an organization she founded in

2008. Since that time, Innovate+Educate has become a leading voice across States

for industry alignment to advance college and career readiness. Jamai has consulted

and worked extensively with State programs, IT Companies, Higher Ed Institu-

tions, and K-12 Systems to industry’s role in the solutions. Jamai holds a BSBA and

MBA in Finance from the University of Arkansas.

Merrilea Mayo, a materials scientist & engineer by training, played a founding role

in two policy-oriented non-profits (ASTRA and UIDP), served as President of the

Materials Research Society (2003), held Director-level positions at the National

Academies and Kauffman Foundation (2001-2009) and now runs a consulting firm

specializing in innovation, workforce, technology and the future of learning.

12 million U.S. workers without jobs

50% of companies report difficulties filling open jobs

Cognitive skills assessments accurately map to over

95% of all jobs, predict on-the-job performance 5x

better than a degree, and—best of all—allow those with the

“wrong” degree to qualify for available jobs.

The G A P i s BIG

To be continued . . .

53% of recent college grads are

unemployed or underemployed

6.5 million young adults

(16–24) are not in school

and not working

The G A P i s

OVERWHELMING

The New World of Work References

1. Busteed, Brandon. The School Cliff: Students' enagement Drops Wtheach School year. [Online] January 7, 2013. http://thegallupblog.gallup.com/2013/01/the-school-cliff-student-engagement.html.

2. Alliance for Excellent Education. About the Crisis. [Online]http://www.all4ed.org/about_the_crisis. *Note: Dropout rates are difficult to estimate accurately, we found another source that

estimated 8,300 drop out per day across a 365-day year, not a 180-day school year. We

chose the more conservative estimate; either way, the numbers are staggering.

3. Lumina Foundation. A Stronger Naton Through Higher education.[Online] March 2012. http://www.luminafoundation.org/publications/A_Stronger_Nation-2012.pdf. *Note: The statistic says 90% of all jobs will require some level of post-secondary edu-

cation. We used this to make our point, that given this, obtaining post-secondary edu-

cation requires first obtaining either a high school diploma or GeD.

4. National Center for Education Statistics. remedial and Degree Comple-tion (2011). [Online] http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_rmc.asp.

5. U.S. Census Bureau. New Analyses of Census Bureau Data examineNation's 65 and Over Labor Force, Working Students and Changes in Self-employment. [Online] January 24, 2013. http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/american_community_survey_acs/cb13-15.html.

6. Mourshed, Mona, Farrell, Diana and Barton, Dominic. education toemployment: Designing a System that Works. [Online] 2012. TheMcKinsey Center for Government. http://mckinseyonsociety.com/downloads/reports/education/education-to-employment_FINAL.pdf

7. Wagner, Tony. The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don’t Teachthe New Survival Skills Our Children Need – and What We Can Do About It. New yorkBasic Books, 2008.

8. Associated Press. A Study based on analysis of data from NortheasternUniversity with supplemental material from Paul Harrington of Drexel Uni-versity and the economic Policy Institute. 2012.

9. Belfield, Clive R. and Levin, Henry M., and Rosen, Rachel.The economicvalue of Opportunity youth. [Online] January 2012. http://www.civicenterprises.net/MediaLibrary/Docs/econ_value_opportunity_youth.pdf.

10. Gantz, John and Reinsel, Davis. extracting value from Chaos. IDCview. [Online] http://www.emc.com/collateral/analyst-reports/idc-extracting-value-from-chaos-ar.pdf.

11. Manpower Group. Talent Shortage Survey. [Online] 2011.http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/MAN/1262980731x0x469531/7f71c882-c104-449b-9642-af56b66c1e6d/2011_Talent_.

12. Wikipedia. Skills-Based Hiring. [Online]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skills-Based_Hiring

13. Connell, Christopher. Starbucks, Wal-Mart offer classes – for collegecredit. [Online] April 2013. http://money.cnn.com/2013/04/15/pf/college/corporate-classes/index.html

14. Kamenetz, Anya.We Can Make Massive Strides. Fast Company Magazine,May 2013.


CORPORATE H IGHLIGHT

IT IS A vUCA WOrLD

today—one full of volatility, un-

certainty, complexity, and ambiguity. As

we work with business leaders around the

world today, we see four major disruptors in the

way many have seen the world of work. These

disruptors have implications for those in the

work world today and for how students are

trained and developed through their education.

1) Globalization and the “West to East” shift—

while the West has dominated economically in

the past there is a shift to rapid economic

growth coming from emerging economies in

the east. This shift requires knowledge and

leadership skills that are truly global. Leader-

ship qualities that helped companies succeed

in their domestic markets must be re-examined

and expanded to help individuals and companies

to be truly competitive in the global context.

2) “Light-Speed” innovation cycles—accelerating

technology cycles allow agile firms to bring

new, disruptive products and services to

market faster than ever before. In this en-

vironment it is critical for leaders to know

how to effectively manage innovation. It has

become not just a matter of gaining a compet-

itive edge, but often it is a matter of survival.

3) Changing workforce demographics—genera-

tional shifts in the talent markets require

employers to fundamentally rethink the

qualities that today’s leaders need. Cross-

cultural, virtual, and globally diverse collab-

oration requires a different set of leadership

approaches and sensibilities.

Given the external market pres-

sures on the workforce, often younger

folks are asked to step up to fill roles for

which they may not be ready. This quicken-

ing of the front end of the leadership and

talent pipeline requires heightened cooper-

ation between educational institutions and

the workforce to prepare talent earlier and

more effectively.

4) Increasing speed of everything—complexity and

uncertainty increase as the speed of every-

thing accelerates. Constant, rapid-cycle change

is the “new normal”. In this intensifying en-

vironment success will be defined by leaders

who are able to create “calm in the chaos”

while embracing and leading change.

These attributes of today’s work world

point toward a need for what can be articu-

Korn/Ferry Internationalby Julie Staggs, Managing Principal, Global Education Practice


PERSONALLEADERSHIP

TEAM

DYNAMICS ORGANIZATIONALLEADERSHIP

STRATEGICLEADERSHIP


lated in a word—agility, or perhaps more

specifically, learning agility. Learning agility is

the ability and willingness to learn from expe-

rience, and subsequently apply that learning

to perform successfully under new or first-

time conditions (Swisher 2012). In other

words, it is knowing what to do, when you

don’t know what to do.

Understanding this vUCA environment

and the need to develop leaders earlier, the

Global education Practice at Korn/Ferry In-

ternational Leadership and Talent Consulting

partners with institutions to better prepare

students in leadership skills. By helping

students build self-awareness through as-

sessments, develop individual development

plans with coaches, and hone skills through

experiential learning sessions integrated

with curriculum, Korn/Ferry brings first-hand

knowledge of what leadership skills drive suc-

cess in the workplace. Working to bridge the

gap between education and the workplace,

Korn/Ferry utilizes its over 30

years of research on leadership com-

petencies to help institutions de-

velop leaders who can make a

difference, step up more

quickly, and be more agile to help

meet the demands of today’s

vUCA environment.

Korn/Ferry believes that partnering

with institutions to develop better and

more agile leaders is the right thing to do,

not only for the continued economic suc-

cess of the global market, but for the fulfill-

ment of the potential of each individual. n


CORPORATE H IGHLIGHT

Corporate Statement

K orn/Ferry International is a premier global provider of talent management solutions.

From executive search to leadership development, we partner with organizations and in-

stitutions to ensure their ongoing success. We work with organizations globally to address their

most complex talent challenges by helping them identify and measure research-based compe-

tencies; assess, select, develop, coach, motivate and retain top leaders; and scale key talent

management processes to ensure ongoing organizational success.

Julie Staggs is a Managing Principal, Global Education Practice, for Korn/Ferry Leadership and Talent Consulting,

based in the Firm’s Atlanta office. Previously, she consulted for Fortune 100 companies in the areas of corporate train-

ing, innovation, and strategic planning. Ms. Staggs received her bachelor’s degree from Converse College in music the-

ory and religion and her executive master’s of business administration degree, with a concentration in leadership, from

University of Georgia. Currently, she is working on her doctorate of education in higher education management at

the University of Georgia’s Institute for Higher Education.All images courtesy of Korn/Ferry


The Skills Gap Generation: A Youth Perspective on the Need for ReformBy Frank LaNasa, Organizing Fellow, Young Invincibles

POLICY

TODAy’S yOUNG ADULTS have

come of age in a technology-driven,

global economy, where workers without

postsecondary credentials have seen their

employment rates and real wages decline for

decades. So in our eyes, the value of the skills

gained through higher education has never

been a question – it’s a given. What we do

question, however, is how a system whose

goals are supported by politicians, educators,

and employers alike can so often leave stu-

dents without the skills they need to thrive

in the 21st century economy. In many ways,

we are the “Skills Gap” generation.

So what can we do about it? Students

and young adults can lead the charge to im-

plement the student-centered reforms we

need to make higher education work for us.

First, students should advocate for a fi-

nancial aid system focused on increasing ac-

cess and educational attainment, not cutting

key educational investments in the name of

deficit reduction. Faced with skyrocketing

tuition costs and an overly complex, under-

funded financial aid system, too many stu-

dents are forced to drop out of school or are

dissuaded from pursuing postsecondary

credentials at all. Last November, young

Invincibles released The Student Perspective on

Federal Financial Aid, in which we proposed

student-centered reforms such as increasing

investments in Pell grants, overhauling the

student loan system with a single, simple

federal loan, and automatic enrollment in

Income Based repayment. My generation

is making clear how the current financial aid

system fails to tap the potential of many tal-

ented students.

Second, students should demand the

information they need to make smart in-

vestments in their future. While many

graduates are either unemployed or are

forced to take jobs out of their field of

study, many employers cite a skills shortage

when explaining their entry-level vacancies.

This suggests there is often a mismatch be-

tween the education students receive and

what the labor market demands. At a recent

student and business leader forum co-

hosted by young Invincibles and the U.S.

Chamber of Commerce, there was a gen-

eral consensus about the need for better

data on the schools and programs that best

Young Invincibles Jobs Tour Round Table.


POLICY

prepare their graduates for the workforce.

recently, the Obama Administration re-

leased its College Scorecard, which aims to

make students smarter consumers by pro-

viding institution level information on net

cost, graduation rates, and student loan

debt default, but has yet to integrate data

on the employment outcomes and wages of

recent graduates. Students can provide feed-

back on such efforts, making clear the infor-

mation that is most relevant to their

decision-making processes. This doesn't

mean that every student has to be a com-

puter programmer, but given this informa-

tion, we can evaluate their options and make

the decision that makes the most sense for

the future they envision for themselves.

Finally, students must use this informa-

tion and demand programs that produce

successful graduates, even if they are found

outside of the traditional four-year college.

A recent report by the Georgetown Center

for education and the Workforce projected

that by 2020, about half of all jobs requir-

ing postsecondary education will be “mid-

dle skill,” requiring less than a bachelor’s

degree. Such paths do not necessarily mean

choosing a less lucrative career – about 30

percent of Americans with associate’s de-

grees currently out-earn those with bache-

lor’s degrees. Nor do they prohibit students

from continuing their education. They are

simply examples of the myriad opportuni-

ties available to students hoping to acquire

the skills they need, often at an affordable

cost. Students and employers need to keep

an open mind and be willing to explore all

avenues on the way to a fulfilling job that

meets our financial needs.

With so much at stake, students and

young adults can no longer be passive con-

sumers of their postsecondary education.

Politicians, educators, and employers all

have their own interests in mind when de-

signing the higher education system. We

need to make our voices heard to create a

higher education system that puts our gen-

eration in the best position to succeed in the

21st century economy.n

Frank LaNasa is an Organizing Fellow at Young In-

vincibles. Frank was an organizer with President

Obama's 2012 reelection campaign, where he focused

on youth outreach. He also worked as a Research As-

sistant with the American Institutes for Research.

Frank studied Sociology and Government at Har-

vard University. Follow the Young Invincibles Jobs

Tour at: http://jobs.younginvincibles.org

On the Road Again. Jobs Tour 2013. All images courtesy of the Young Invincibles.


Y.M. I . - YOUTH MOVEMENT, INC.

All images courtesy of Youth Radio

YOUTH rADIO WOrKS with gov-

ernment, industry, foundations and

community colleges to build a digital media

employment pathway for young adults and

help them find their career ‘voice’.

youth radio is best known for its work

as the nation’s leading youth media produc-

tion company with major outlets like NPr

and National Geographic that deliver youth

perspectives to massive audiences. The

foundation for youth radio stories is laid

in youth radio’s youth employment and

training program—the on-site “school” for

our media production business.

Current and former youth radio par-

ticipants often refer to the organization as

a second home. They know they’re welcome

here at any time, and they do come back, for

different reasons. Some come on their

breaks from college, some swing by if they

happen to be in the neighborhood, to catch

up and to see old friends. And, increasingly,

they come back looking for work.

youth radio has been providing youth

training and employment for two decades.

High school students who enroll in the pro-

gram undergo six months of intensive train-

ing in media and technology, and are then

eligible to apply for paid internships and

on-the-job training at youth radio. youth

radio provides nearly 250 jobs a year

through this internship program.

But even with this solid foundation of

training and support, the tough economic

and social environment still lets some young

people “slip through the cracks.” Many

young adults are unable to get traction as

they try to connect to school or work, and

end up in dead-end jobs, or without a job at

all. These are the young people who return

to youth radio one-by-one, looking for

staff members they trust—looking for an-

swers.

When youth radio moved to Oakland

in 2007 to buy and build out its media and

technology center, the dream was to create

another ‘highway’ on the youth radio Path-

way –linking students to the tech boom in

the Bay Area. This vision demanded that

youth radio take its digital media and tech

training to the next level and pave a pathway

to meaningful careers in the new digital

economy.

The first supporter of this work was

Congresswoman Barbara Lee who secured

a grant from the Department of Labor for

youth radio to develop the Digital Media

and Tech Pathway, especially for those youth

who did not ‘connect’ to higher ed or em-

ployment. During this time, youth radio

tested many different models, and built up

full service support systems. Students now

receive case management, academic tutor-

ing, professional skills training and holistic

health support. Intensive professional skills

workshops are what we believe will carry

our participants to and through the place-

ment phase—those are the key skills (show-

ing up, showing up able to focus,

communicate and problem solve) lacking in

many job candidates.

With support from the James Irvine

Foundation, youth radio’s senior staff

spent 2012 planning the Digital Media and

Tech Pathway, developing the program and

partnerships, starting with higher ed. The

Gap Foundation and the y&H Soda Foun-

We are losing record numbers of young adults from education and careers, with the young adult unem-

ployment rate more than double the national rate. It’s time for a national movement and this new sec-

tion, Y.M.I. or Youth Movement, Inc., features those organizations leading the charge.

The Power of the VoiceBy Ashleigh Kenny & Jabari Gray, Youth Radio


Y.M. I . - YOUTH MOVEMENT, INC.

dation joined the effort, and the Office of

Supervisor Keith Carson and Alameda

County helped youth radio ensure support

and identify the place for digital media in

the county’s economic forecast. In the midst

of this work, the Clinton Global Initiative

America chose to feature youth radio’s

commitment to create the Pathway—and

digital media and tech jobs for low-income

youth—at its annual convening.

This is the vision that animates youth

radio’s Pathway: to be the connector be-

tween the incredible economic and social op-

portunity in the digital media and tech sector

and the capable young talent growing up in

the high-stress neighborhoods where youth

grow up forced to struggle against racism, in-

ferior educational opportunity, multi-gener-

ational poverty and violence.

This work is not without its challenges.

youth radio began by conducting a sector

scan to determine where the jobs are and

what skills they require. We found that

across industries, employers are seeking

candidates with skills in digital media and

marketing. Simultaneously, youth radio

formed a partnership with Berkeley City

College (BCC), who is now teaching a col-

lege course in multimedia arts onsite in a

new classroom youth radio developed for

the Pathway. The on-site course is the first

in a series of three that leads to a BCC Cer-

tificate in Multimedia. Students who suc-

cessfully complete the program will also

graduate with a youth radio Certificate that

indicates their successful completion.

It is notable, that most of the youth now

in the Pathway had previously avoided or

left community college, but all 18 have

stayed enrolled in the on-site BCC course.

As community colleges look for new solu-

tions to combat their presently dismal grad-

uation rate, delivering the class on-site at a

‘home’ youth program was attractive and

key to the Pathway’s retention rate. youth

radio is also working with Santa Monica

Community College to develop a statewide

model for workforce pathways in the digital

media and entertainment industries.

This summer, the first youth radio co-

hort will begin their paid externships with

employer partners across the Bay Area. The

first positions will be with youth radio’s

long-term content and community part-

ners. Multiple systems have failed these

youth, and we know this will be a multi-

pronged approach with at least two seg-

ments of community college on-site and at

least two work placements before the youth

radio Certificate will be awarded.

“The Pathway is informed by the prem-

ise that the economy needs talent –a young

diverse workforce that learns quickly, and

plays on the strengths of youth culture who

are early adopters and savvy users of new

media and technologies,” says richard raya,

youth radio’s executive Director. “Like-

wise, for low-income communities to tran-

sition out of long-term poverty, their youth

must be equipped with the skills and support

to participate in the new digital economy.” n

Ashleigh Kenny is Youth Radio’s Development Di-

rector. She has a background in fund development for

progressive, non-profit media companies in Washing-

ton, DC. Ashleigh works with Youth Radio’s leader-

ship to secure support for Youth Radio’s programs

and services, including its new Workforce Pathway.

Jabari Gray leads Youth Radio’s Digital Media and

Technology Pathway program. Gray brings with

him a professional fundraising background with a

focus on annual giving and corporate foundation re-

lations, preceded by successful careers in experiential

corporate marketing and environmental education,

respectively. Learn more at: www.youthradio.org


EDUCATION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Utah in the Future EconomyBy Spencer Eccles, Executive Director, Utah Office of Economic Development

THe “PIPeLINe” figure of speech wenow apply to the flow of students

through their K-16 academic careers is veryfamiliar. Increasingly, the focus of thatmetaphor is evolving from simple “flow” tohow “prepared” our students are becauseof the performance demands on our con-tinually evolving workforce in a globallycompetitive economy.

In Utah, we have a number of key ini-tiatives to enhance our pipeline. Some ofUtah’s initiatives are familiar, such as afocus on Science, engineering, Technologyand Math (STeM). Other efforts aremore centric to Utah. For example, theUtah Cluster Acceleration Partnership(UCAP) and our 66% by 2020 initiative.

Utah’s legislature just allocated $10

million in a first phase STeM Action Cen-ter. The STeM focus in Utah is putting re-sources into identifying STeM “bestpractices” - from junior high math skillstraining to college math readiness in ourhigh school students.

In order to keep America innovativeand competitive, students entering theworkforce for the first time must be

Utah has emerged from recession well ahead of the

national curve, and the nation has taken notice.


STeM ready, and Utah is working hard tolead these efforts. Appropriately so: withthe nation’s youngest population andyoungest workforce, we have more stu-dents in schools per capita than any otherstate and if they are to be successful in theworkforce they need to be highly skilled.

receiving those students are initiativesat all levels of STeM education, like theUtah Science Technology and researchinitiative (USTAr) — called, “a nationalbest practice” by the Brookings Institution— and the BioInnovations Gateway(BiG), a first-of-its-kind facility that com-bines biomedical education and a life sci-ence business incubator, focusing onworkforce development of high school stu-dents and the launch of new technologybusinesses.

As the nation’s second or third fastestgrowing state, we have challenges, or op-portunities, that reach well beyond educa-tion. For that reason, Governor Gary r.Herbert identified “four cornerstones” forour continued economic success: education(which received its biggest funding increasein years), job growth, energy and self-de-termination. They are highly interrelated,with education and job growth being inex-tricable and mutually dependent efforts.

We are aligning our stakeholders to ad-dress industry need, and we are equallyfocused on growing and creating opportu-nity. UCAP aligns higher education train-ing with industry, talent and innovationneeds. Oversight of this partnership comesfrom Utah’s Department of WorkforceServices, the Governor’s Office of eco-nomic Development (GOeD) and theCommissioner of Higher education. Deep

collaboration drives UCAP success.The Governor’s “66 by 2020” is a call

to action that 66% of Utahns achieve apost-secondary degree or advanced certi-fication by 2020. Partnering and alignedwith the Salt Lake Chamber’s Prosperity2020 initiative, the state and the privatesector set a common goal to improve ourincumbent workforce. As one part of theinitiative, the state is sending more than20,000 of its best business people into ourschools to give of their time, to motivateexcellence and drive well-prepared stu-dents into our industries.

Additionally, GOeD’s Business Am-

bassadors program and the Governor’seconomic Council are private-public part-nerships comprised of some of our topbusiness and community leaders to keepthe eyes of the state fixed on the industriesthat will help define our future economy,and the ideas that will define our cominggenerations. equally important is GOeD’songoing recruitment effort, which show-cases the State of Utah’s long-term stabilityand business friendliness to companieslooking to expand or relocate now. recentnotable successes include major new facil-ities built by Adobe, Boeing, eBay andProcter & Gamble, along with dozens ofother well-known companies.

Utah has emerged from recession well

ahead of the national curve, and the nationhas taken notice. Our 4% job growth ismore than twice the national rate, and asunemployment drops to around 5%, wecan confidently say that sidelined workersreturning to the active job search are find-ing job opportunities amidst broad opti-mism about Utah’s economic outlook.Countless top accolades support that op-timism, and they run the gamut from “BestState for Business” to a leader in “economicdynamism” to “best quality of life.”

This new, interconnected businessworld expects a lot of its workforce. Utah’sworkforce is poised to deliver on thosehigh expectations in every sense, becauseour own expectations are high. This is, asour state brand declares, “Utah Life ele-vated®” after all. n

Spencer Eccles is the executive director of the Utah Gov-

ernor’s Office of Economic Development, which oversees

all business, tourism and film development for the State,

including international trade. Eccles received his MBA

from BYU’s Marriott School of Management and his

BA in history from the University of Utah.

EDUCATION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

“ . . . we have more students in schools

per capita than any other state and if

they are to be successful in the work-

force they need to be highly skilled.”

—Spencer Eccles


ON THE STREETS

From Tragedy to Triumph

By Jasen Jones, Executive Director, Southwest Missouri WIB

JOPLIN, MISSOUrI, a community of

nearly 50,000, gained a national reputa-

tion for overcoming obstacles after one of the

nation’s deadliest tornados took 161 lives and

destroyed a third of city on May 22, 2011.

Homes, businesses, and schools are coming

back stronger than ever. An aggressive master

development plan is poised to make Joplin

one of the most attractive communities in

the nation for economic vitality and quality

of life. Another achievement to add to the list

is landing the county’s first Certified Work

ready Community (CWrC) title within a

new national framework by ACT.

Momentum to grow the employer and

job seeker base for the National Career

readiness Certificate (NCrC) began in

Southwest Missouri back in 2006. The tor-

nado disrupted early efforts in the CWrC

initiative. However, the pace quickly re-

sumed as the Citizens Advisory recovery

Team prioritized CWrC as a key economic

development strategy for Joplin. The desig-

nations are based at the county level under

the ACT framework. Jasper County, which

comprises the majority of the City of Joplin,

officially earned the Work ready award on

March 8, 2013. The remainder of Joplin and

rest of Newton County anticipate earning

CWrC honors by July of 2013.

Between the two-county Joplin metro,

more than a hundred local employers now

endorse the NCrC. More than 4,000

emerging, current, and transitioning work-

ers earned the NCrC since 2006, com-

manding one of the highest concentrations

of NCrCs throughout all of Missouri.

Local leaders credit the NCrC’s success in

Joplin to strong integration of workforce

and economic development systems and

strong alliances with business and education

stakeholders. Another key to success is the

demand-driven approach of NCrC in the

region. The Workforce Investment Board

and local Chambers of Commerce recruited

participation from employers through pilot

launch projects of the NCrC. Those suc-

cesses quickly resulted in more employers

coming on board. As some of the region’s

more attractive job openings prefer the

NCrC, job seekers are eager to earn the

NCrC through the local one-stop career

center.

The region gained ground in recruiting

students to earn the NCrC as well. On the

eastern side of Jasper County, the Carthage

Technical Center piloted the NCrC in

2007 for all technical school graduates and

recently made the NCrC available to all

high school students. The tornado hindered

Missouri state governor, Jay Nixon, presents a proclamation to Jasen Jones & Jasper County as the first certi-fied work ready community in the nation. March 8, 2013. Image courtesy of Jasen Jones.

continued on page 22


The G A P needs a SOLUTION

The U.S. is facing a critical skills G A P problem –

one that is detrimental to our economy, our competitiveness

and our citizens

ON THE STREETS continued from page 20

the launch for the Joplin school district as

Franklin Technology Center and Joplin

High School were among several school

buildings destroyed. Operating out of a

retrofitted warehouse, Franklin tested their

12th grade tech students in late 2012. Jun-

iors and seniors in the rural school district

of Sarcoxie also had opportunity to take the

NCrC as part of the 2012 push for the

emerging workers goal within CWrC. At

the regional community college level,

Crowder College implemented the NCrC

as a pilot for short-term, specialized training

programs such as nursing, public safety, and

manufacturing.

The payoff is big for regions like South-

west Missouri that embrace CWrC. Busi-

ness prospects familiar with the NCrC in

other states routinely inquire about invest-

ing in Joplin. The region is more competi-

tive in landing new jobs with the ability to

prove the quality and availability of the

workforce. The CWrC framework also

provides stakeholders in workforce, eco-

nomic development, education, and busi-

ness a conduit to sharpen the focus on the

skills-based growth needed for employers to

thrive in the region. More information on

Southwest Missouri’s CWrC efforts may

be found online at www.workready.info. n

As Executive Director for the Southwest Missouri

WIB, Jasen Jones is a Certified Professional Commu-

nity Economic Developer. His award-winning work also

includes chambers of commerce in Lamar and Carthage

along with radio broadcasting. Jasen studied at Univer-

sity of Oklahoma, U.S. Chamber Institute at Colorado

College, and Missouri Southern State University.


Image of downtown Joplin with map overlay of the tornado’s path (large green swath).

A summit to address the G A P between skills and jobs

Are you ready to close it?

CLOSINGTHEG A PWashington, DCNovember 5–7th

2013

CLOSEIT.ORG

More than 1,500 leaders, visionaries, and decision-makers gathered in Dallas this past June

to discuss solutions to the STEM crisis. In the months that followed, progress was made in

communities across the nation. By bringing the best and the brightest minds together,

U.S. News STEM Solutions—The National Conference will accelerate mindful action to-

wards the goal of solving this challenging, vital issue.

With so much momentum generated at 2012’s inaugural event, the encore in Austin this June

is poised to be even bigger and broader in scope. The theme of the 2013 conference—

Teach. Inspire. Hire.—is a call-to-action. Participants will leave better prepared to initiate the

action necessary to improve STEM education and increase employment in STEM fields.

PRESENTED BY:

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: PRESENTED BY

the innovation intake

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