Indiana Among
Founding States to Address Workforce Opportunities Through Launch
of the Skillful State
Network
Governors of 20 founding
member states including
Indiana Gov. Eric J. Holcomb join together to form new coalition of best practices in creating a more skilled workforce.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
INDIANAPOLIS (Feb. 15, 2018) —
Twenty governors have joined together to
form the Skillful
State Network, a collaboration to transform the
U.S. labor market into one that is skills-based, in which people can demonstrate or obtain skills
needed for good digital economy jobs. The Network marks the national
expansion of Skillful, a Markle Foundation initiative, which leverages data and the very technologies disrupting the economy
to achieve a skills-based labor market where employers are able to find the talent they
need and individuals can continuously acquire new skills and
keep up with the
pace of change. Founding governors
are committed to sharing what works and have made partnership and innovation in workforce
development a state priority to
enable their residents
and local employers to thrive in the digital
economy.
Indiana has
been on the cutting edge of workforce development through training initiatives
such as NextLevel Jobs and Innovation Networks, and a variety of programs
including Jobs for America’s Graduates, the Hoosier Initiative for Re-Entry,
Indiana Adult Education, WorkINdiana, along with assistance for veterans and
Hoosiers with disabilities.
“Our focus in Indiana is preparing our workforce
for jobs available now and in the years to come,” Indiana Governor Eric J.
Holcomb said. “Sharing workforce practices
among Skillful State Network members and encouraging multiple pathways to
success in a changing economy will strengthen our talent pool, meet employer
demand and put hardworking Hoosiers in high-need, high-wage careers of the
future.”
The other 19 Skillful State Network founding states include Arkansas,
Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, Montana, New Jersey, North
Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee,
Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
“Millions of
Americans need to get connected to the skills and the
jobs of our fast-changing digital economy,”
said Zoe Baird, CEP and president of
the Markle Foundation. “The Skillful
State Network was born out of the tremendous interest we’ve received
from other states. Governors have asked me to bring Skillful
to their state and forming
the Skillful State Network
is a
way to share our approach, tools and assets quickly. It also
allows all of us to build on the
great work being done in these states. States have
always been laboratories for innovation and today are leading the transformation to the digital
economy.”
The Skillful
State Playbook, introduced today with the Network, lays out the steps needed to create
a skills-based labor market. The Playbook
offers tools and resources jointly developed by Skillful, the state of Colorado, and numerous employers, tech companies including Microsoft and LinkedIn, educators, and community
organizations. The free and
public availability of the Skillful
State Playbook establishes a model for
the open sharing of best practices. Skillful
State Network members may tailor or
improve tools in the Playbook
and add their own tools and resources to the
Network’s portfolio.
The Skillful
State Network will support
transformation at a scale
and pace not possible through
individual state actions. The Network
will elevate and advance
practices and ideas that states
can adopt to achieve their workforce goals,
including aligning education with
industry; providing
robust data to jobseekers;
or training employers on skills-based practices. The Network
is open to all interested states.
“In just our formative
conversations, I am so inspired by the variety of programs
as well as cutting-edge pilots each Skillful State Network member is bringing to
the table,” said Beth Cobert, CEO of Skillful. “Each state is unique,
yet shares a commitment to
collaboration, experimentation, and progress.”
Skillful State Network
members will have the opportunity to:
-
access the Skillful State Network portfolio of tools and data
-
learn how to implement the tools and assets featured in the Skillful State Playbook
-
share and learn from the unique insights drawn from each other’s efforts
-
foster innovative partnership opportunities
- hone methods of engagement within their labor markets
-
receive advisory support from Skillful staff
- gain access to Markle’s cross-sector network of national leaders and partners
For more information on the Skillful State Network, go here.
Download
the Skillful State Network national press release here.
Find more information about Skillful here.
For media inquiries, please contact DWD Communications Director Dave Shatkowski at (317) 234-7671, or Markle Foundation’s
Claudia Husemann at (917) 536-5370 or Mary Allen at (212) 713-7632.
###
About the Indiana Department of
Workforce Development
DWD
serves the worker and the employer to ensure workplace success. DWD is
committed to innovating and invigorating Indiana’s economic future by providing
WorkOne Career Centers, Unemployment Insurance, Labor Market Information,
Regional Workforce Strategies and Professional Training. Through these
services, DWD is able to develop a premier workforce that enables Indiana
employers to flourish and entices businesses from outside our state to relocate
to Indiana.
About the Markle Foundation
The Markle Foundation works to realize
the potential of technology to achieve
breakthroughs in addressing some of
the
nation’s most pressing issues. Working as an operating foundation, Markle
challenges itself and diverse partners to deploy their varied expertise
to identify solutions
and achieve systemic
change. Today as
advanced technology and automation change the very nature of work, Markle’s priority is advancing solutions
towards a skills-based labor market
that will enable Americans to transition to the
opportunities of the digital
economy. Markle’s workforce initiatives include Skillful and the Rework America Task Force. They follow Markle’s success in
creating the policy and technology architecture that has enabled improvements in healthcare, national security, and access to the Internet.
About Skillful
Skillful, a non-profit initiative of the Markle Foundation, is working
to achieve a skills-based labor market to
help millions of Americans overcome barriers to obtaining
better-paying jobs in today’s digital
economy. Skillful
helps employers achieve the workforce they need by providing
data, tools, and resources that enable the adoption of skills-
based hiring and training
practices. Coaches
and digital services
enable job seekers to learn what skills
are in demand and access training at any stage of their career. At the same time, Skillful aligns employers and educators
so that their training programs teach the skills required to succeed in today’s economy.
For
additional information, contact:
| 
