Embrace your unique abilities, unlock your potential, and shape a brighter future together. Let’s begin.
Embrace your unique abilities, unlock your potential, and shape a brighter future together. Let’s begin.
The Issue
Failing to address this gap will have a profound impact on both our society and the economic opportunities for future generations. With the increasing student debt burden and the challenge of finding a job in their chosen field, it is becoming increasingly apparent that a college degree is not the guaranteed path to success it once was.
For every 5 skilled workers that exit, only 1 person enters the skilled workforce.1
Every day 10k Baby Boomers reach retirement age, fueling the “Silver Tsunami”.3
Featured Projects
Every year, over 6,500 of the country’s brightest students converge on Atlanta for the National Leadership and Skills Conference. SKILLS JAM 2023 is a powerful, teen-targeted docu-series that offers an all-access pass of their journey to prove who is the best of the best and ready to lead the next generation in the Skilled Careers arena.
Since its inception in 1979, the SkillsUSA Championships have been a series of career competition events showcasing the most skilled career and technical education students across the country. These competitions begin at a local level and continue through to state and national levels.
Featured Projects
We are collaborating with SkillsUSA to create Skills Connect, a technology platform and CRM tool that will provide students with an assortment of resources for career and technical education, skilled career pathways, and connections to industry job opportunities.
The platform’s active use will enable us to gather significant data and insights on students’ interests, with an emphasis on identifying the gaps needing to be addressed during their Skilled Careers exploration.
The Partners
As the skilled workers gap continues to grow, the next generation of makers, builders, crafters, and fixers are out there hoping for leaders like you to help them turn their passions into meaningful careers.
We need brand and media partners to generate broad awareness through storytelling. We need community partners to point students so they can learn their skill. We need industry partners to stand up the conversion machine to help students launch their Skilled Career.
This is your opportunity to make a real change. Join us in bringing the youth of today to the skilled careers of tomorrow.
SkillsUSA
SkillsUSA is a nonprofit national education association serving more than 333,000 students and instructors annually. Since 1965, SkillsUSA has served nearly 14 million annual members and is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Labor as a successful model of employer-driven workforce development.
ASCA
The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) supports school counselors’ efforts to help students focus on academic, career, and social/emotional development so they achieve success in school and are prepared to lead fulfilling lives as responsible members of society. ASCA provides professional development, publications and other resources, research, and advocacy to school counselors around the globe.
The Education Advisory Board
To help usher in the Skills Age, we’ve identified and connected with some of the most distinguished industry experts and school counselors in the country. From identifying trends to crafting communication strategies to discovering potential synergies within the Skilled Careers industry, this special advisory board is providing key insights to inform crucial tools and resources needed to provide information to students and parents in the most effective format.
LA/OC Building Trades Council, Executive Director
Tom Kriger
North America’s Building Trades Unions; Director, Education & Research
Anne McMonigle
Apprentice Readiness Fund, Executive Director
Nicole Schwartz
TradesFutures, Executive Director
Denise Reddinger
Richland High School
Jill Cook
Assistant Director, ASCA
Marianne Matt
Capital High School
Jennifer Curry
Louisiana State University
Curtis Darragh
Westside Middle School Academy
Olivia Carter
Cape Junior High School
Eric Sparks
Executive Director, ASCA
Ryan Beard
Kristina Guy
Western Maricopa Education Center
Amanda Fitzgerald
Assistant Deputy Executive Director, ASCA
Nwakaego Edordu Oriji
If you are a company, school counselor, nonprofit, or passionate leader of a Skilled Careers group, please join us!
The Skills
If not addressed, this gap will dramatically impact our society and the economic opportunities for generations to come. And the rising debt burden for students, coupled with difficulty finding a job in their chosen field, is leading many to realize college is not a guaranteed pathway to success.
Construction
Electricians
Plumbers
Carpenters
Bricklayers
HVAC Technicians
Insulators
Painters
Roofers
Sheet Metal Workers
Pipefitters
Plasterers
Industrial
Welders
Machinists
Tool & Die Makers
Fiberglass Fabricators
Steam Engineers
Ironworkers
Metal Fabricators
CNC Programmers
Robotics
Creative
Audio Engineers
Sound Technicians
Graphic Designers
Sculptors
Painters
Set Designers
Film Gaffers
Grips
Interactive Designers
Coders
Interior Designers
Service
Dental Assistants
Massage Therapists
Nursing Assistants
EMTs
Paramedics
Barbers
Cosmetologists
Chefs
Bakers
Automotive Mechanics
IT Professionals
