President Obama to launch initiative to boost industry-community colleges partnership

[News_Editor]

President Obama to launch initiative to boost industry-community colleges partnership

2010-10-05 06:47:36 GMT+7 (ICT)

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) -- President Barack Obama at a meeting with the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board on Monday will announce the launch of a new, industry-led initiative directed for industry partnerships with community colleges.

"Skills for America's Future," will be building a nation-wide network to maximize workforce development strategies, job training programs, and job placement. The initiative will build high-impact partnerships with industry, labor unions, community colleges and other training providers in all 50 states.

"We want to make it easier to join students looking for jobs with businesses looking to hire. We want to put community colleges and employers together to create programs that match curricula in the classroom with the needs of the boardroom," Obama said. 

The President explained that the initiative would help connect more employers, schools, and other job training providers, and help them share knowledge about what practices work best. 

"The goal is to ensure there are strong partnerships between growing industries and community college or training programs in every state in the country," the President added.

A previous campaign, “Educate to Innovate,†was launched to increase science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) learning, and "Skills for America’s Future" will facilitate industry partnerships with community colleges and other training providers in support of the President’s goal of 5 million more community college graduates and certificates by 2020. 

President Obama, part of his American Graduation Initiative, called for those additional 5 million community college degrees and certificates, and the development of new steps to ensure that those credentials will help graduates get ahead in their careers.

In addition, the President will also announce the establishment of a federal Skills for America’s Future Task Force, co-chaired by top-level administration policymakers, to coordinate federal efforts and ensure the private sector is best poised to work with and leverage federal training and education efforts.

Skills for America’s Future already has the commitment of leaders, such as Penny Pritzker (Chairman/CEO, Pritzker Realty Group) and Walter Isaacson (CEO, Aspen Institute), to advance this effort. In addition, leading companies, including PG&E, Gap Inc, McDonald’s, United Technologies and Accenture, are ready to be part of Skills for America’s Future and expand their efforts.

On Tuesday, Dr. Jill Biden will host the first-ever White House Summit on Community Colleges, which will highlight the critical role that community colleges play in developing America’s workforce and reaching our educational goals. On that day, leaders of Skills for America’s Future will lead a breakout session with industry leaders, community college representatives, organized labor and workforce training experts to highlight best practices and key factors of such robust, successful partnerships.

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