Mission Statement

financial freedom, entrepreneurialism and lifelong satisfaction and success.

Our mission is to reimagine skilled careers as a meaningful and fulfilling career path for younger generations that leads to financial freedom, entrepreneurialism and lifelong satisfaction and success.

Demand for Skilled Talent Currently Exceeds The Supply Of Such Talent

While there are a number of students pursuing skilled careers, the current demand for this talent is outstripping supply lending to an ever increasing deficit in available talent.

A Large Talent Pool Exists

There is a large talent pool waiting to be inspired and guided to pursue a skilled career that would close the skilled trades gap.

With targeted messaging and better career pathway engagement, this talent would be unleashed.

Inspire

There is a massive opportunity to raise awareness and inspire the younger generations to consider and pursue a skilled career. 

Currently 16% of this large talent pool is pursuing a skilled career equaling 10-11 million students. 

Current Conversion ~16%

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A mere 8% boost in conversion of this large talent pool would add 6-7 million students to the skilled careers pipeline.

Future Conversion ~24%

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Connect

We must transform the misaligned and disaggregated recruitment and placement ecosystem.

The current recruitment and placement ecosystem is siloed and inefficient leading to oversupply and undersupply of talent in industries and jobs resulting in an overall greater loss of talent.

By leveraging and connecting our collective strengths, we can vastly improve the capacity and efficiency of this ecosystem. Moving further, faster.

Convert

Collectively, we must focus on hiring, retaining and (re)training talent finding opportunities to share best practices to foster talent.

Recruitment of talent is fragmented and driven by individual industry and employer needs.

By building a coalition across industries and employers, we can better deploy talent where needed while continuing to adapt to future workforce changes and needs.

With improved recruitment, retention and (re)training we can align talent fulfillment and satisfaction with industry and employer performance and success.

The Partners

Our Coalition Partners

We are looking for partners who share our objective of closing the skills gap by inspiring the next generation and streamlining the talent ecosystem to provide lifelong fulfillment and opportunity to the next generation of American talent.

Inherit The Music

Inherit the Music believes that music has the ability to enrich the lives of students in the classroom, their future careers, and beyond. By providing access to music experiences and education, we aim to empower the next generation of musicians to achieve their dreams.

IGN

IGN is the #1 Entertainment platform in the world producing over 1000+ hours of content a month across 30+ platforms worldwide, over 280 Million Monthly Users, 22.6 Million YouTube Subscribers, and more than 55 Million Social Followers.

Harbor Freight Tools

Harbor Freight is America’s #1 Tool Store with more than 1500 locations nationwide. Over 75 million customers have come to Harbor Freight for our unmatched assortment of quality tools at an unbeatable value, including automotive, air and power tools, storage, outdoor power equipment, generators, welding supplies, shop equipment, hand tools, and much more.

Angi

We make it easy for people to love their homes — and for pros to thrive doing the work they love. With a combination of cutting-edge technology and tried-and-true neighbor referrals, we’re making it simpler than ever to get all your home projects done right. With exclusive tools to manage and showcase your business, Angi increases your exposure to millions of homeowners.

Warner Bros. Discovery

Warner Bros. Discovery is committed to positively impacting communities around the world. We use our platforms and content as well as work with nonprofit partners to nurture positive change one bold story at a time. Our employee engagement efforts help to enhance culture, connection, and community by integrating social impact and purpose into the employee experience. These initiatives allow employees to give back in their own ways, providing variety and flexibility in our offerings to enable employees to support the causes that matter most to them.

Education Partners

Our Education Partners

If you are a school counselor, educator, nonprofit, or passionate leader of a Skilled Careers group, please join us!

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.

Mentors

SCC Mentors

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John Montgomery

Co-Executive Director

John@SkilledCareers.org

Mark Hedstrom

Co-Executive Director

Mark@SkilledCareers.org

The Education Advisory Board

Meet The Leading Experts Guiding The Way.

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.

Industry Experts

Chris Hannan

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

School Counselors

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

Richland, WA
Richland High School

Kristina Guy

Western Maricopa Education Center

Amanda Fitzgerald

Assistant Deputy Executive Director, ASCA

Nwakaego Edordu Oriji

Garland, TX
Garland Independent School District
2018 LSSSCA School Counselor of the Year

If you are a school counselor, nonprofit, or passionate leader of a Skilled Careers group, please join us!

The Team

Meet Our Team

Our philosophy is simple: We hire passionate people across industry, philanthropy, and entrepreneurial fields to cultivate a collaborative culture that empowers everyone to solve complex and unique challenges that face the next generation of skilled talent.