Working to Learn: Challenges and Solutions for America’s Education-to-Employment System

On April 28, 2021, Harvard and New Profit hosted a virtual event titled “Working to Learn: Challenges and Solutions for America’s Education-to-Employment System”.

Dr. Angela Jackson, Managing Partner at New Profit and our host for the day, kicked off the session with introductory remarks on the importance of bridging the education-to-employment gap. She was followed by Rachel Lipson of Harvard’s Project on Workforce, who walked us through the research and insights from a new report examining the state of education-to-employment pathways in America, based on data from New Profit’s Postsecondary Innovation for Equity (PIE) initiative.

The research briefing was followed by a panel discussion led by Joe Fuller of Harvard Business School, and included Abby Snay of the California Labor & Workforce Development agency, Michael Ellison of Codepath.org, and Patti Constantakis of Walmart.org.

The panelists discussed current pain points and incentives for social entrepreneurs working to bridge the gap between employers and educators; promising models for cross-sector collaboration; how to create a system that enables the scaling of effective solutions; and how to maximize the potential of the Biden Administration’s plan for investments in workforce development and education to advance an equitable future of work. The session ended with panelists sharing their thoughts on the future of education-to-employment pathways in America.

We hope this report and discussion can help guide funders, business leaders, policy makers, and practitioners to deliver on the promise of innovation in the education-to-employment system – and catalyze systemic transformation in the sector. If you were unable to join the webinar or would like to share it with colleagues, you can view the recording and the presentation slides.