Non-profit advisor The Bridgespan Group proposed in a recent report that a $1 billion investment in competency based job training and higher learning could lead to fourteen fold returns.
The Boston based non-profit advisor made this projection to redirect big-dollar donations in the country towards areas where they can make a real difference, explained Deborah Bielak, a partner at the organization. “A lot of this is about shared information and part of it is about changing career development programs,” she further noted.
At the core of the projected investment is a proposal to fine tune currently available education and job training towards a more career competency thrust. According to the proposal, the first step would be to convene employers, educators, and job-trainers to identify the skills needed to perform competently in a variety of careers. From here, the information culled from the study will be shared and consequently result in funding for regional partnerships among high schools, higher education institutions and employers to align public education with industry skills requirements. This includes career pathways such as boot camps and competency based skills rating programs.
Additionally, Bielak emphasized that the proposed investment into jobs philanthropy is about plugging gaps between the educational system and industry requirements.
