In this episode of the Work in Progress podcast, Gayle Goldin, deputy director for the Women’s Bureau at the U.S. Department of Labor, joins me to talk about some of the longstanding barriers to good-paying jobs facing some women in the workforce today, and what is being done to fix the problems. Women are a critical part of the U.S. labor force and contribute significantly to their families' economic security and the U.S. economy, filling half of all jobs in the country. But women...

In this episode of Work in Progress, I am joined by Heather Tinsley-Fix, senior advisor, employer engagement for AARP to talk about the aging workforce and why it is good business for employers to actively hire and promote older workers. Refusing to hire a person or to promote them based on age is absolutely against the law. Still, recent studies show that adults over the age of 40, including a vast majority of baby boomers, believe their age puts them at a disadvantage when...

In this episode of Work in Progress, Courtney Brown, VP of strategic impact and planning for Lumina Foundation, and Stephanie Marken, senior partner at Gallup, share details of a new joint study that finds that college affordability is a top concern for Americans, despite seeing a degree as valuable to career success. The Lumina Foundation-Gallup State of Higher Education 2024 shows that cost remains a major barrier for students seeking a postsecondary education, with 38% of students...

A panel of distinguished leaders in philanthropy and business join me on the Work in Progress podcast to share their insight into the power of volunteering in your local community through your workplace. Workplace volunteer programs have long been part of companies’ brand management and community relations strategies, but what do they offer the workers who actually perform the volunteer work? A lot, as it turns out, from helping refine their skills to bringing a sense of...

In this episode of Work in Progress, I'm joined by MK Palmore, director, Office of the CISO, Google Cloud and Todd Conklin, deputy assistant secretary, U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection. We're talking about how the federal government has partnered with Google Cloud to offer two new certifications and another training course to prepare workers for critical jobs protecting our national security. For the federal government and...

In this episode of Work in Progress, we share a WorkingNation panel discussion on apprenticeships for people with disabilities from the SXSW EDU conference in March in Austin, Texas. Moderated by WorkingNation Advisory Board member Josh Christianson, project director for the Partnership on Inclusive Apprenticeships at the U.S. Department of Labor and senior specialist at the Cadmus Group, the panel examined apprenticeships as a rarely-tapped source of employment for people with...

In this episode of Work in Progress, I'm joined by Jennifer Maher, CEO of TechForce Foundation, to discuss one of the fastest-growing jobs in America – professional transportation technician – and how the nonprofit is supporting people of all ages and backgrounds trying to get into the field. Over the next four years, jobs in the transportation tech field are expected to grow by nearly 800,000, according to TechForce Foundation, as older workers leave the workforce and brand new jobs...

In this episode of the Work in Progress podcast, I am joined by Catherine Collinson, president and CEO of the nonprofit research foundation Transamerica Institute, to discuss the crucial role older workers can play in filling in-demand roles across the economy and how ageism may be standing in the way of tapping into that talent pool. "Ageism should be something in the past, not in the present. It's time to get over it," says Collinson, especially as employers express an inability to...

In this episode of Work in Progress, Mayor Justin Bibb of Cleveland talks about how a coalition of American mayors are attacking the impact of extreme weather and environmental challenges in their communities and are bolstering their local economies by creating clean energy jobs. I recently traveled to Miami Beach for the Aspen Ideas: Climate conference, a gathering of global, federal, and local policymakers, corporate leaders, and scientists, brought together by the Aspen Institute to...

In this episode of Work in Progress, I've brought together a group of experts to discuss the challenges faced by people with disabilities in finding meaningful employment, advancing in their careers, and the importance of creating inclusive workplaces. The discussion centers on how disclosing a disability and seeking a reasonable accommodation can be a difficult decision, one that has a profound impact. “Progress has been made, but certainly not enough has been done,” says Wendi...

In this episode of Work in Progress, I'm joined by Debbie Compeau, Washington State University’s Carson College of Business interim dean. A.I. I’m not sure if there are any other two letters in the English language right now that have evoked such anticipation, discussion, debate, or concern. A new report released by the Carson College of Business finds that people are generally excited about the possibilities of new generative AI tools in the workplace. But, more than half of...

In this episode of Work in Progress, I am joined by Nitzan Pelman, the founder and CEO of Climb Hire, a nonprofit that upskills and builds a social network for working adults aged 24-to-40 for job opportunities in tech. No college degree required. "Who you know matters as much as what you know" is the guiding principal behind Climb Hire. Pelman explains she saw "a need to create economic opportunity and mobility for working adults with great potential but limited growth in their...

In this episode of Work in Progress, I'm joined by Pete Stavros, founder and chair of Ownership Works, a nonprofit leading the employee-ownership movement, whose mission is to provide employees with the opportunity to build wealth at work by making them owners of the company for which they work.  At scale, Stavros says, employee ownership can help millions of lower-income workers and people of color build savings and wealth – often for the first time – at businesses that are more...

In this episode of Work in Progress, I'm joined by Rajiv Chandrasekaran, a managing director of the Schultz Family Foundation, to talk about the American Opportunity Index, a joint project of the Schultz Family Foundation, Harvard Business School, and Burning Glass Institute that ranks companies on how they are driving economic mobility and career advancement for their workers. Whether you’re looking for a job or already have one, how do you know if your employer is interested in...

In this episode of Work in Progress, I'm joined by Steve Ewell, executive director of Consumer Technology Association Foundation, and Keely Cat-Wells, founder & CEO of Making Space, to discuss how technology in improving access to jobs and career advancement for older adults and people with disabilities. Using tech to advance accessibility at work and at home was a key theme at this year's big CES 2024 conference in Las Vegas earlier this month. It is also the mission of the...

In this episode of Work in Progress, I'm joined by Jean Eddy, president and CEO of American Student Assistance (ASA), to discuss the growing importance of putting kids on a career pathway early, which she explores in her book, Crisis-Proofing Today's Learners: Reimagining Career Education to Prepare Kids for Tomorrow's World. How do we prepare our kids for careers post high school? College? Apprenticeships? What is the best pathway for career exploration? These are important questions...

In this episode of the Work in Progress podcast for WorkingNation, we travel to the largest technology show in the world – CES 2024 in Las Vegas – to talk to Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), about the impact of technology on the way we do our jobs and what job skills we're going to need in the future. CES, produced by the nonprofit CTA, showcases companies from around the world, including manufacturers, developers and suppliers of technology...

In this episode of Work in Progress, I'm joined by Ryan Rippel, the U.S. director of economic mobility and opportunity for Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to discuss how the Gates Foundation is addressing barriers to economic opportunity for vulnerable individuals Recently, the Gates Foundation announced more than $100 million dollars in new partnerships and investments in economic mobility with the mission of improving the lives of more than 50 million people experiencing poverty...

In this final episode of Work in Progress for 2023, I am joined by Art Bilger, founder and CEO of WorkingNation, and Jane Oates, president of WorkingNation, to discuss the challenges and opportunities the workforce face in the year ahead, part of our The Future of Work 2024 series. As you can imagine, artificial intelligence and its implications on the way we do our jobs, and the skills we need to learn to be a part of the change, continue to be top of mind for many as we head into the...

In this episode of the Work in Progress podcast, Taj Eldridge, managing director of Climate Innovation at JFFLabs, joins me to talk about how the rapidly growing demand for workers in jobs that are addressing climate change. The climate is changing and we need millions of green workers to help prepare for, recover from, and adapt to these changes. And we're not just talking about solar panel installers and wind turbine technicians. In fact, these jobs make up a very small fraction of...

In this episode of the Work in Progress podcast, I'm joined by Dr. Nicole Smith, chief economist for Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce and co-author on their new report examining which job skills will be the most in-demand over the next eight years and what kind of education and training will you need to get them. As we start this conversation, it's important to know that most jobs already require some kind of post-secondary education and training beyond...

In this episode of the Work in Progress podcast, I'm joined by Gary Eimerman, chief learning officer of Multiverse, to discuss the company's new report on the continuing trend of workers over the age of 50 retiring early – the Great Retirement – and what can be done to retain employees thinking about leaving and bring those who have already left back into the workforce. Hint: It has to do with reskilling. To be more precise, it has to do with employers offering them the opportunity to...

On this Giving Tuesday, a panel of distinguished leaders in philanthropy and business join me on the Work in Progress podcast to share their insight into the power of volunteering in your local community through your workplace. Since 2012, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving has been observed worldwide as Giving Tuesday. The message of the global movement is to give to your community – whether it is a donation of money or time – to help build a better world. Workplace volunteer...

In this episode of Work in Progress, Patrick J. Murphy, chairman of the Task Force Movement, joins me to discuss job opportunities in cybersecurity, health care, and trucking for American veterans and how these former service members can help U.S. businesses fill their labor shortages. There are more than 650,000 open cybersecurity jobs, as many as 100,000 open jobs for truck drivers, and more than a million job openings in health care right now in this county, and all those numbers...

In this episode of Work in Progress, I'm joined by Arturo Cázares, the CEO of the Latino Business Action Network (LBAN), to talk about the rapid growth in Latino entrepreneurship in the United States and how empowering these businesses can help the entire economy. We sat down at the Aspen Latino Business Summit in Washington, D.C. in September. Latino-owned businesses, or LOBs, are making a significant contribution to our economy. In the last 10 years, Latinos created half the new...