Featuring leaders across K-12, higher education, and workforce development
Too few students have access to career exploration in their educational journey, including more than 70% of first-gen college students missing out on internship opportunities. Nearly half of college graduates are underemployed. And nearly 60% of people from families with lower levels of income and education earn less than $20,000 per year at age 30.
As young people navigate an increasingly complex education-to-workforce journey, how can we bridge the gap between high school to career? This timely conversation brings together thought leaders and experts from K–12, higher education, and workforce development to explore innovations that bridge the education to career gap.
Panelists
- Christine Cruzvergara, Chief Education Strategy Officer, Handshake
- Sorbiqué “Sorby” Grant, President and CEO, Climb Hire
- Jonathan Johnson, Founder and CEO, Rooted School Foundation
- Patrick O’Donnell, CEO, Making Waves Education Foundation
- Elissa Salas, Senior Vice President of Strategy and Operations, SkillUp Coalition (moderator)
Panel recording
Five takeaways to bridge the education to career gap
Moderated by Elissa Salas (she/her), senior vice president of strategy and operations at SkillUp Coalition, this panel brought together K-12, higher education, workforce development, and corporate leaders.
“You’ll hear from our panelists who share their perspectives from schools, students, employers, and nonprofits,” Salas shared. “I’m especially excited to moderate this panel because I have spent my entire career supporting young people in the transition to adulthood as a classroom teacher, a principal, nonprofit leader, and now I’m focused on workers and leaders with SkillUp Coalition.”
Here are five takeaways the panelists discussed to bridge the education to career gap.
Social capital and skills are a necessity, especially in the age of AI
Career opportunities and pathways go hand in hand with social capital. The panelists weighed in on how who you know is just as important as what you know.
“Social capital is defined by Robert Putnam as the connections among individuals, social networks, and the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arise from them,” shared Sorbiqué “Sorby” Grant (she/her), who Salas referred to a social capital expert.
Grant is the president and CEO of Climb Hire, which supports adults who are unemployed or underemployed, including through IT and digital marketing pathways and a social capital curriculum.
“Specifically for low-income communities, social capital networks, relationships, and connections open opportunities,” said Grant, adding that in the age of AI, social capital is the differentiator. “I think of social capital as currency. It’s the way you can get things that you dream of. We normalize that at Climb Hire,” she shared.
“We teach the art of asking the follow-up question. We teach the art of asking questions, things that get people talking. We teach about how to humble brag,” she added.
Christine Cruzvergara (she/her), chief education strategy officer at Handshake, sees how technology and AI are increasing access for young people to build their social capital.
Cruzvergara shared that the mission of Handshake – the largest early career talent network – is to democratize opportunities.
“Gen Z deeply cares about human interactions,” Cruzvergara shared. “They want to use technology to connect and find you and then they want to make sure those connections are human, real, and authentic. They want real advice,” she shared, adding that Gen Z is most receptive to bite-sized communication.
Gen Z, young people, and adults looking for career support also want to see the tangible value in programs before they participate.
For Cruzvergara, this means institutions and professionals need to move from teaching students and young people about social capital – like how to search a database or how to write an introduction email – to actually facilitating a warm introduction to an alum, an employer, or someone you have a relationship with.
“Your value prop is to be an extension of their network and actually modeling that behavior for them,” Cruzvergara shared. “It’s important to ask ourselves: What is our value proposition? Why would a student want to use us or see us or come to us for support?”
The current education and employment landscape calls for a “college and career for all” model
“For 35 years, we have supported young people from low-income backgrounds on the path to and through college,” shared Patrick O’Donnell (he/him), CEO of Making Waves Education Foundation. “95% of our students enroll in college, almost two-thirds earn a bachelor’s degree, and most do it with zero debt.”
“But the ‘college for all’ model is insufficient in today’s landscape,” shared O’Donnell, noting the shift to a “college and career for all” model.
“What we see for our students, and also in the field, is that nearly half of low-income students who earn a bachelor’s degree are underemployed in their first job and then they ultimately often stay there five years out. So even though students earn a bachelor’s degree, they might not be on the path to economic mobility,” he shared.
“The ‘college for all’ model has been at the forefront of lots of education efforts over the last 20 years,” Salas agreed.
“And we’re recognizing that while it’s super important to hold high expectations and standards for folks, there is more than one standard and expectation, right?” shared Salas, who is also a member of the Board of Directors at Making Waves Education Foundation.
“That idea of becoming much more transparent about those pathways, much more inclusive about those pathways, and then making those connections across the many different sectors is super critical,” said Salas.
O’Donnell shared how Making Waves is re-imagining its model in light of this. “We’re exploring what it looks like to bridge the gap between K-12, higher education, and employment,” he said.
“We’re exploring what might it look like for us to expand our intermediary capacity for young people across our community by partnering with high schools, higher ed, and employers to build out accelerated and supportive education and career pathways that lead to high-demand, high-wage jobs,” O’Donnell shared.
High schools should offer financial literacy, dual enrollment, internships, and career-connected learning opportunities
Jonathan Johnson (he/him), founder and CEO of Rooted School Foundation, said Rooted School is re-imagining career pathways for students through a focus on opening doors to financial freedom.
“We do this in two ways,” he shared.
“First, our charter schools ensure students graduate with both a college acceptance and a job offer. Second, we have a program called the $50 study, which gives $50 a week to students throughout the school year to address barriers to deeper academic engagement and for them to learn financial responsibility,” Johnson shared.
Johnson said that in addition to teaching young people about the importance of financial literacy and helping them see what early financial success can look like, Rooted School integrates career-connected learning into their curriculum.
“The definition of career-connected learning that we use in the Rooted world is taken from the Office of Career Technical and Adult Education in the U.S. Department of Education,” he shared.
“That office defined some key pillars a few years ago that if implemented and integrated effectively and equitably will better prepare young people for post-secondary education and rewarding careers,” Johnson said.
“Those four pillars are participating in (1) a comprehensive post-secondary education and career navigation system, (2) a dual or concurrent enrollment program while students are in high school, (3) a work-based learning opportunity or internship, preferably paid, and (4) an in-demand or high-value industry recognized credential.”
Johnson shared the story of one of Rooted School’s students, Zack, who became interested in 3D printing in high school. Johnson said Zack had the opportunity to meet the CEO of a 3D printing company, which prompted him to earn an industry credential in his sophomore year and complete an internship at the same company during his junior and senior years. Then, Zack was offered a 3D printing specialist role at the same company as he graduated, ready to attend college as well.
“That is one of the cleanest illustrations of what the arc could look like though it could look like many, many other things,” Johnson shared.
Certificates, badges, and industry-recognized credentials need to provide value for students and employers
Another question that came up for the panel was about the value of various certificates, badges, and industry-recognized credentials.
“Sitting at the intersection of institutions, students, and employers, this topic comes up all the time,” shared Cruzvergara.
“We are seeing that employers are becoming more and more accepting of other forms of education outside of the traditional two-year and four-year space,” she said.
“I will say I am still probably the strongest advocate for higher education, but I do recognize that it’s not necessarily the right choice for every single student and I think it’s wonderful that employers are starting to become more flexible in the types of credentials or certificates that they might be willing to look at,” Cruzvergara said.
“The big buzzword is skills-based hiring. A lot of employers are starting to think about the competencies or the skills that you actually need,” shared Cruzvergara, who noted that for a lot of employers this is still a work in progress.
Johnson agreed, adding his recommendation to understand from an employer what is needed to get hired.
“It’s important to tie the loose end of what it means for an employer to recognize a credential. I strongly recommend that there is some binding agreement attached to that with employers. That can look like an MOU… so that if a student does earn this credential, there is a commitment to hiring,” he said.
Salas reflected on the need for meaning and value from work-based credentials and the importance of actual work experience. “Any kind of hands-on workspace experience coupled with the certificate is only going to make the candidate that much more stronger,” she said.
At Climb Hire, Grant shared how they incorporate certificates, like the CompTIA A+ for the IT industry, into their career readiness programming.
“It’s really about how you articulate and show, not tell, what you know… about all of your experiences when you’ve done your work-based learning, your internships, your projects or community service,” she explained.
“We always go back to: How are you going to incorporate this in your interview questions? How are you going to show the hiring manager? How are you going to articulate this on LinkedIn? What you learned and the value add is most important,” Grant shared.
In terms of badges, Cruzvergara shared: “I know a lot of higher education institutions that are spending time trying to create unique badges, maybe a badge on communication or a badge on teamwork, and I’m going to be perfectly honest with you, unless the badge is actually grounded in an industry-recognized credential, most employers don’t actually care.”
Intermediary organizations can play a key role to connect K-12, higher ed, and employers
Reflecting on the challenges that can arise for students navigating all these educational and career offerings, O’Donnell shared:
“I think one reality is our current education and workforce system is not actually designed to work cohesively across the different systems to build out those experiences for young people.”
“A couple years ago I read the Jobs for the Future report, called the Big Blur, and I’m so inspired by that report. One of the things that really stood out to me is the biggest structural barrier to economic mobility is the disconnect between K-12, college, and career,” shared O’Donnell, noting the fragmented transition points between those three systems.
“Someone said to me earlier this year that college is a really expensive career exploration strategy,” O’Donnell said, advocating for early career-connected learning opportunities like the ones Johnson shared.
“We are doing a healthcare pathway pilot and if it was built out overtime it would serve students across our community in grades 11 through 14, so those critical transition points between high school and college and career,” shared O’Donnell.
This means students get to explore career options before high school graduation – ones that may or may not require a bachelor’s degree. O’Donnell shared an example of a student possibly doing an internship at Kaiser while in high school, earning some early college credit, and getting an industry recognized credential, to then be on an accelerated path to an associate’s degree and a strong first salary.
O’Donnell shared how intermediary organizations play a critical role here. “If you want to create this system level solution then there needs to be investment in intermediaries to ultimately impact how the system operates,” he shared. “They are an essential component of building the capacity that breaks down the silos of these three systems.”
Connecting back to the relationship aspect of work, Sorby shared: “It’s so challenging for that social connectedness between job seekers and employers, between low-income folks and higher-income folks. We could invest in really structured pathways to both get some systems change and then create more opportunities for these pathways to happen easily.”
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Meet the panelists
Christine Cruzvergara, Chief Education Strategy Officer, Handshake
Christine Cruzvergara (she/her) leads Handshake’s partnerships with the higher education community, which includes 18 million students from 1,400+ educational institutions. A nationally recognized change agent and expert on strategies to drive equitable student career success, she is regularly referenced in media, such as WSJ, CNBC, Forbes, Fortune, and Inside Higher Education.
Prior to Handshake, Christine was the Associate Provost for Career Education at Wellesley College, where she received the 2017 Career Services Excellence Award from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) and the 2017 Innovation Award from Eduventures.
She has also held senior level positions and board roles at George Mason University, Georgetown University, The George Washington University, NACE, and the American College Personnel Association (ACPA).
Sorbiqué “Sorby” Grant, President and CEO, Climb Hire
Sorbiqué “Sorby” Grant is the President and CEO of Climb Hire, an equity-focused non-profit dedicated to preparing low-income and overlooked adults for careers in technology.
With over 15 years of experience as a strategist and administrator in the education sector, she has a proven track record in program and curriculum design, talent development, leadership coaching, and facilitation. Before leading Climb Hire, Grant held significant leadership roles at Teach For America, Citizen Schools, and Achievement First.
She holds master’s degrees from Harvard University and Pace University, and a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University. Grant is deeply passionate about expanding access to educational and career opportunities for underserved communities.
Jonathan Johnson, Founder and CEO, Rooted School Foundation
Jonathan Johnson (he/him) is the founder and CEO of Rooted School Foundation. Rooted School is a non-profit network of four schools across four states and other projects focused on increasing upward mobility for youth faster than local projections.
Prior to his current role, Jonathan founded Rooted School New Orleans, a 9th-12th grade public charter high school located in New Orleans, Louisiana that provides its students a chance to earn a college acceptance in one hand and an entry-level career job offer in the other. Rooted School has been recognized by organizations like the Center for Reinventing Public Education and Transcend Education as one of the most innovative public school models in the U.S. Jonathan also manages “The $50 Study” in partnership with The University of Tennessee–Knoxville, The Center for Guaranteed Income, and school partners which is the first, only, and most extensive randomized control trial exploring the impact of direct cash transfers to youth using schools as the disbursement vehicle.
Also an Aspen Economic Opportunity Program Fellow, Jonathan began his teaching career at KIPP Central Academy in New Orleans as an 8th Grade Social Studies Teacher. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from Chapman University in Religious Studies and in his spare time, Jonathan enjoys skiing, winemaking, and cooking.
Patrick O’Donnell, CEO, Making Waves Education Foundation
Patrick O’Donnell (he/him) is the Chief Executive Officer of Making Waves Education Foundation, a nonprofit organization in the San Francisco Bay Area that supports historically underserved and underrepresented students to reach their college, career, and life goals.
Prior to joining Making Waves, Patrick worked for two years as a seventh-grade teacher at the American School Foundation of Guadalajara. He also spent nine years at Teach For America holding a variety of leadership roles including Executive Director of Teach For America – Indianapolis and Vice President of National Development. Patrick started his career as a Teach For America teacher in Los Angeles, teaching seventh and eighth grade at George Washington Carver Middle School.
He earned his MBA and MA of Public Policy from Georgetown University, MA in Secondary Education from Loyola Marymount University, and BA in English from Boston College. Patrick was named a Pahara Fellow in 2024-25.
Elissa Salas, Senior Vice President of Strategy and Operations, SkillUp Coalition (moderator)
Elissa Salas (she/her) is the Senior Vice President of Strategy & Operations at the SkillUp Coalition, where she manages strategic growth, operational excellence and national partner engagement.
Prior to SkillUp, she was the CEO of College Track, where she led new market expansion and doubled the organization’s impact to serve more than 4,500 students and alumni nationwide. Elissa has held roles as the founding Chief Academic Officer at the Girls Athletic Leadership School in Denver, Senior Policy Analyst for D.C. Public Schools and began her career in education as a Teach For America corps member in Los Angeles.
Elissa is a Pahara-Aspen Education Fellow and recognized as “40 under 40” in the San Francisco Business Times. She earned her B.A. in Political Science from the University of La Verne and a M.A. Public Affairs from the University of California, Berkeley.
