Talent Development

While state and federal leaders design policy, communities must come together to do the daily work of effecting change, assisting students, and reducing barriers to educational progress. Collaboration across sectors is happening across the country. That’s why Lumina works with nearly 100 communities across the United States to address the urgent need for talent.

Every area has its own approach, but the most successful ones are diverse partnerships that engage a wide array of people – including employers, workforce development agencies, state policymakers, community organizations, and educators at every level.

Read some talent development success stories in the Winter 2018 issue of Focus magazine, Dream Teams. This issue takes a look at some exemplars we call Talent Hubs – communities committed to significantly increasing the numbers of residents with training beyond high school.

Lumina’s efforts to promote talent development comprise five areas:

1. Creating better adult pathways: Learning happens everywhere, yet much of this learning is not formally recognized. We support efforts to validate learning and connect millions of people to education pathways that meet them where they are.

2. Influencing education providers: Meeting the needs of today’s students, many of whom are Black, Hispanic, and Native American, come from low-income households, or both, will require colleges and universities to dramatically alter how they do things.

3. Working in communities: Cross-sector partnerships are working around the country to improve the overall education levels of their communities. Lumina supports these efforts, including designating exemplars such as the Talent Hub communities.

4. Mobilizing employers: Corporations, nonprofits, and other businesses spend billions each year to educate and train workers, often without ensuring those workers earn degrees or other credentials of value. We work with employers to make sure workers have fair access to education that leads to quality credentials.

5. Educating more people in prison: Prison education can reduce the likelihood that people will re-offend – because adults re-entering society can find meaningful work, thus improving their own lives and the lives of those around them.