How can employers, community-based organizations, and other stakeholders work together to create opportunities for U.S. workers to reach their full potential? Charles Koch Foundation (CKF) Executive Director Ryan Stowers explored that question in a series of recent interviews with business leaders and lifelong learning innovators. Connecting overlooked talent with the employers who need them Since … Continued
In late 2023, Stand Together, a philanthropic community the Charles Koch Foundation (CKF) is part of, partnered with Forbes to highlight the importance of lifelong learning and the value it provides to individuals, employers, and our society. This conversation between CKF’s Ryan Stowers and University of Chicago Medicine’s (UCM) hiring team, Director of HR Services … Continued
SkillsFWD’s mission is to create a more equitable skills-based hiring ecosystem by expanding adoption of learning and employment records (LERs). Supported by the Charles Koch Foundation, Walmart, and several other organizations, SkillsFWD drives LER innovation by supporting entrepreneurs who are making LERs more accessible, interoperable, and scalable. We spoke with Walmart Foundation’s Sean Murphy about … Continued
By Jeremy Horpedahl Sound fiscal policy — government spending, taxation, and public debt — can promote economic opportunity and prosperity. But it also can be a drain. As economist and Nobel Prize winner James Buchanan put it, all societies will wind up somewhere between the extremes of “anarchy and Leviathan.” How, then, do we strike … Continued
Last fall, Stand Together, a philanthropic community the Charles Koch Foundation (CKF) is part of, partnered with Forbes to highlight the importance of lifelong learning and the value it provides to individuals, employers, and our society. This piece was originally published on that platform. Employers want to access new sources of talent, but sometimes struggle … Continued
Employers are changing their approach to hiring by focusing more on aptitudes and skills and less on credentials. And by connecting individuals to the learning programs that can help them build the skills they need to fill in-demand jobs, SkillUp is helping both workers and employees. The organization recently released its 2023 Impact Report, showcasing the nearly … Continued
The Chronicle of Higher Education recently published a letter by Ryan Stowers that calls for reform of the postsecondary education system for the benefit of all learners — not just those who have the time and money to pursue a college degree. Change will allow institutions to unlock the potential of more Americans, helping them use … Continued
What is the purpose of education? Western Governors University President Scott Pulsipher tackles that question in a three-part Forbes series. Pulsipher also discusses how postsecondary education must change in order to fulfill that purpose. WGU’s Pulsipher: The purpose of postsecondary education is self-actualization The purpose of education, WGU’s Pulsipher says in his first column, is not just to … Continued
A September 2023 Gallup survey found an increasing number of U.S. workers are concerned artificial intelligence will make their jobs obsolete. Worries like this one are not new. Whether it is trade or technology, change produces anxiety. But new learning models, including micro-pathways (programs that can be completed in under a year to unlock job opportunities), can … Continued
Human dignity — our belief in our own worth — is tied to action. How we spend our days matters, as does the career we pursue. Indeed, Americans increasingly want jobs tied to who they are as individuals. Given that demand, what should be postsecondary education’s mission, and what should it mean to be a … Continued
