I work with companies, philanthropic institutions, and mission-centered organizations that see equitable, worker-centric workforce as core to economic development. I believe the strongest strategies are those that have been battle-tested. They come from those of us who’ve been out in the field, have done it, failed first, learned, pivoted, figured it out, pulled it off, and scaled it. I know firsthand that better is possible. Let’s build it together.
1 We can, and we must, end the influence of a person’s class and race on their ability to launch, sustain, and advance a career in the innovation economy. Part of this means revolutionizing our approach to education and worker training. In a better innovation ecosystem, training is free or affordable, accessible, relevant to industry, and conducive to high-paying automation-resilient careers.
2 Companies have a civic responsibility to the cities that host them, and to the people that live there. We have the power to build corporations that are gentrification neutral, by equitably hiring, training, employing, and advancing locals.
3 Workers and their communities are real stakeholders in the development of their local economies. They need to have more than a voice; they must have agency.
4 A person’s labor value can rise along with their property value.
I founded and scaled a first-of-its kind coding bootcamp that trains people of color for careers as software engineers and connects them with jobs as such, thereby tripling the salary of our average graduate. I have a deep knowledge of tech workforce development, and have proven that a rigorously student- and worker-centric training program is an effective source of great talent. And I’m a member of a rich network of workforce development practitioners, with whom I collaborate to:
1 Develop exceptional technical training initiatives and learn-to-earn programs that put people into good, high-growth careers. You might be a business, or league of businesses, looking to build your own talent farming solution. Or a coalition of organizations that have received Federal funding under the Regional TechHubs opportunity, or the Digital Equity Programs (within the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act). Instruction is based on a dialogical, student-centric Freirian model, applied to an employer-sourced skills matrix. We build educational experiences that are both equitable and effective.
2 Work with other workforce development practitioners, joining them in strengthening and expanding what they already do well. This includes scaling to new markets, exploring new programmatic opportunities, and revisiting theories of change. We like getting to know our partners and the context within which they work. The terrain might be new to us, but the journey is familiar.