I am honored to be the new Chief Executive Officer of the Coalition for Career Development Center, working to make career readiness for all the #1 priority of American education. This goal is truly mission work to me. The CCD Center’s cross-sector and systemic approach is indeed the pathway forward. We have the right vision, the right foundation to build upon, and the right experts and leaders on board to accelerate this movement. In June 2022 I joined the Coalition as Chief Program Officer and have been amazed at the pace we have moved, thanks in large part to the valiant efforts of our VP of Research Scott Solberg, our Operations Manager Robin Kroyer-Kubichek, our Board (Chaired by Leo Reddy and Bryan Albrecht), our Advisory Board, State Career Leaders in our network, and funders and project partners.
Our 2022 accomplishments give us much to celebrate!
Here are some of the Coalition’s accomplishments that we will build upon in 2023:
High-Impact National Reports on Career and Workforce Development. With generous support from ASA and CASEL, two national reports were completed and published; the Condition of Career Readiness Report in the United States report and the National Framework Report Connecting PCAPs, SEL and Workforce Development in 2022.
Annual Career Readiness for All Summit. The inaugural 2022 Career Readiness for All Summit was held virtually on May 17-18, 2022. 350 attendees attended the free two day summit.
State Career Leaders Network. A total of ten monthly State Leaders of Career Development Network (SLN) meetings have been held in 2022. The current SLN outreach list grew from 179 members in 2021 to a total of 322 today, representing all 50 states, Washington DC, 4 countries, and over 15 national organizations.
New Skill Ready Network support. In 2020, JPMorgan Chase & Co provided $75 million to six U.S. cities in a commitment to better prepare young people for the future of work. Building on success with the New Skills for Youth states’ initiative from 2014-2019, Boston, Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Indianapolis, and Nashville, form the New Skills Ready Network, a five-year endeavor to develop equitable, demand-driven career pathways and related policy solutions that give underserved students access to higher education and real-world work experiences that lead to high-wage, in-demand jobs. In collaboration with the Education Strategy Group (ESG) and Advance CTE, the CCD Center is studying equitable career advising through a PCAP process and providing technical assistance to support implementation efforts.
Influencing Policy and Practice through Communication and Outreach. Besides the Recorded 2022 Summit . CCS hosts, records and disseminates Policy Forums on pertinent career readiness topics for each of our five pillars. 13 Podcasts are currently recorded and posted for downloads across podcast platforms. Topics are listed at https://www.ccd-center.org/podcast. 623 downloads have occurred this year with over 60 occurring in the past couple of days. Webpage metrics show our largest impact of increased user access and page views after Summit 2022 was held. Monthly newsletters were released 7 of 12 months. Our efforts in 2023 will be driven by a new comprehensive strategic communications plan developed with our marketing partner, Prism. Efforts include linking together all communications (Social Media posts, Policy Forum, SLN meeting topic, Podcast, release of Policy and Resource Briefs) around a specific theme.
For laying a strong foundation for the Coalition’s success, we thank our Founder Leo Reddy who recently offered inspirational opening remarks to our Board. The CCD Center’s expanded leadership team, as of December, includes Chair Dr. Bryan Albrecht, Vice-Chair Dr. Annette Parker, Treasurer Boyd Worsham, and Secretary Jean Eddy. Our new Governing Board Committee Chairs are: Communications Chair Sam Bottum, Governmental Relations Chair Amanda Winters, Fundraising Chair Byran Albrecht. Budget and Summit Committee activities continue to be overseen, respectively, by our Treasurer Boyd Worsham and our Founder/Senior Advisor Leo Reddy. We are also grateful to our Pillar Chairs who shape the Coalition’s policy and practice thought leadership for our core Pillars: Career Planning (Advisory member Julie Lammers from ASA), Career Advising (Board member Sharon Givens), Work-Based Learning (Board Member Paul Perkins, with Advisory member Dave Wilcox), Career Technology (Matt McQuillen and Casey Welch), and Accountability (Chair TBD).
Finally, the CCD Center is asking you to leverage your network to push out our 2022 End of Year Contribution Request. As you know we are a tax-exempt charitable organization and are sustained in part from philanthropic and charitable dollars. We will continue to recognize and engage our contributors as part of our 2023 strategy, as well as our other partners in the work!
Thank you for your leadership, and happy holidays!
Eva Mitchell
Chief Executive Officer