Aspire Ability: Repairing today’s talent marketplace

As part of the Feb. 21, 2023 edition of Jeff Selingo’s “Next Office Hour,” Charles Koch Foundation Executive Director Ryan Stowers had the opportunity to interview Dr. Jon Mott, founder and CEO of Aspire Ability.  Aspire Ability is a talent marketplace that uses a combination of competency mapping and proprietary technology to connect learners to educators and employers. … Continued

Charles Koch Foundation Partner Impact Update (2022)

“There are millions being left behind,” Charles Koch Foundation (CKF) Executive Director Ryan Stowers told an interviewer earlier this year.  Stowers was discussing postsecondary education specifically, but that statement rings true for all of CKF’s focus areas. A top down health care system has not improved well-being or access to care, for example, and divisive rhetoric has created … Continued

NYU’s Policing Project to work with 5 cities to improve public safety

Years of tough on crime policies have harmed families and neighborhoods without making them safer. To understand how government can better serve communities, New York University School of Law’s Policing Project has launched Reimagining Public Safety (RPS), an initiative to learn from and support jurisdictions redesigning their public safety systems.  An important component of RPS is to … Continued

Sam Staley: Why self-actualization is important for students, and society

Sam Staley is director of Florida State University’s (FSU) DeVoe L. Moore Center, an interdisciplinary, applied public policy research and teaching center in the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy that examines how the private sector can address pressing local concerns. In addition to running the center, Staley teaches upper level undergraduate and professional masters … Continued

Mutual Benefit Economics: How Markets are Mutually Beneficial

by Daniel J. Smith In 2011, I was flying back and forth between Joplin, Mo. and Tuscaloosa, Ala. following those cities’ devastating tornadoes. I was conducting field research to determine how communities can better prepare and respond to future disasters. I kept hearing community leaders discuss the problems that in-kind donations like clothing, shoes, and other … Continued