Insights
Reading the future of work — so you can act on it.Analysis and field notes on workforce policy, AI and emerging technology, economic mobility, and the craft of leading change — written by practitioners who do this work, not just watch it. Signal from noise, so you can move first. First up: what the new Workforce Pell landscape means for colleges, workforce boards, and the students and employers they serve.
Parents Have Come Around. Now They’re Asking Questions We Can’t Answer.
Back in 2019, what share of parents said career and technical education was a good fit for a high-achieving student? 13 percent. That’s a shocking number, and it jumped off the page to me because at the time, I was working in technical higher education and spent much...
We Are Recruiting Gen Z With the One Pitch They Told Us They Don’t Want
Quick question before the data. What share of Gen Z says it actually wants a fast-paced career with rapid promotions? Take a guess before you keep reading. 25 percent. One in four. That comes from Deloitte's 2026 Gen Z and Millennial Survey, 22,595 respondents across...
AI Learned the Cheap Half of Our Curriculum First
Quick question before the data. Do you know why the federal government built a job training system in the first place? September is #WorkforceDevelopmentMonth, created by the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals (NAWDP) in 2005. Last year was...
We Keep Calling It Mixed Use. We Should Be Calling It Workforce Infrastructure.
Have you heard of Austin's Dog's Head development? Sit with these numbers for a second. Roughly 2,600 acres in East Austin along the Colorado River, about four square miles, larger than Mueller and the Domain combined. A plan that contemplates 12,395 residential...
What Working in Phoenix, Syracuse, and Columbus Taught Me About the Austin Semiconductor Workforce Ecosystem
I live near the Samsung site in Taylor, Texas. I've watched the cranes go up, the roads widen, and the conversations change at the coffee shop. So when I started benchmarking how other semiconductor regions are building their workforce ecosystems, it wasn't academic...
Austin’s Built the Training and On-Ramps. Now Comes the Harder Work: Moving the Needle on Awareness, Accessibility, and Action
I live a few minutes from the Samsung site in Taylor. Over the last couple of years, I’ve watched cranes give way to cleanrooms, and this spring the first EUV lithography tools (the machines that etch features smaller than a virus) started testing inside that fab, on...
Your Degree Didn’t Lie to You. It Just Got Lonely. Workforce Pell Is the Plus-One.
8 - 15 weeks. A few hundred dollars of federal aid you don't pay back. A credential employers are actually begging for. Starting July 1, 2026, this is (FINALLY!) real. My past twenty years in education, workforce, and economic development taught me an uncomfortable...
The Workforce Innovation Bottleneck: Why (and how) Economic Developers Should Lead the Alignment Conversation
Workforce development has changed dramatically in recent years. Just since the time I left technical higher education in 2021, there’s been myriad of federal programs, the revival of registered apprenticeship, Workforce Pell, and more. Even the stoic WIOA remains a...
Registered Apprenticeship Is 90 Years Old and Still Kicking For One Reason…It Works!
It is National Apprenticeship Week, and next week I officially begin my new executive fellowship with #AustinEconomicDevelopment, focused on expanding economic opportunity through advanced manufacturing career pathways in Austin. The timing feels meaningful. For much...
Workforce Innovation Comes with a Learning Curve, and Why Many Organizations Still Feel Stuck
America’s workforce and education landscape is moving in the right direction, and it’s happening with real momentum. Across the country, employers, educators, and public partners are building better systems to connect people to opportunity. The conversation has...
Ditch the pre-conceived notions, let’s put Registered Apprenticeships to work for your organization
Every September, workforce boards, educators, employers, and civic leaders spotlight the people and programs that move local economies forward. This Workforce Development Month, there’s one proven, scalable tool that deserves center stage: Registered Apprenticeships...
Why a Fractional Workforce Strategist Belongs on Your Team (Right Now)
As the Founder & Chief Strategist at @Padilla Futures Group, a former workforce strategist, and nostalgic higher ed administrator, I’ve spent years helping education systems, private employers, chambers, economic development organizations, and state agencies align...
The Chamber Imperative in 2025: Why Chambers of Commerce Matter More than Ever
En route to Philly for the #ACCE25 convention, and there’s a palpable energy for me. As a former board member for several chambers, I feel like I’m on the way to see “my people”. I get it, and could not be more thrilled about the week ahead. Chambers are claiming...
Workforce Pell: From Pending to Passing — A July 2025 Update
The Bipartisan Workforce Pell Act is now law. Here’s what the new legislation means for short-term, skills-based training — and what institutions and employers should do to prepare.
The (pending) Bipartisan Workforce Pell Act: Game Changer in the Making?
The U.S. is at a bit of a crossroads when it comes to workforce development. We’ve got nearly 10 million unfilled jobs while over 6 million people are still unemployed. If you’ve worked in this space, you know the problem: a lot of folks just don’t have access to (or...
The “case” for strong case management in registered apprenticeships
Registered apprenticeships. Heard of ‘em? If you’re in workforce or economic development, you either love them or feel completely lost trying to figure out where they’re headed or how to implement them. I’ve spent years working with state and local governments,...