August 20, 2019
North Carolina’s CEOs have stated that their number one concern is the availability of skilled talent.
Today’s employers are ever more aware of the need for effective education systems at all levels to ensure students are prepared for the 21st-century global marketplace. This event brings together educators and business leaders to share ideas and collaborate on the roles each can play in ensuring the state’s students are college and career ready for the jobs of tomorrow.
Educators may be eligible to earn continuing education credits for attending. Please check with your LEA for approval.
Presented By
Agenda
Tuesday, August 20
| 7:45 am | Registration and Networking |
| 8:30 am | Opening and Welcome Remarks |
| 8:45 am | Setting an Education Attainment Goal to Meet NC Businesses’ Skills Needs
It is estimated that 2 million North Carolinians will need a high-quality postsecondary degree or credential by 2030. We currently have 1.3 million citizens that meet this need. Closing this educational attainment gap in North Carolina will be no easy feat. Learn how NC businesses can engage in this demand-driven initiative, working with myFutureNC and stakeholders locally, regionally and statewide . |
| 9:15 am | Laying the Foundations for Education Attainment: Increasing Third-Grade Reading Proficiency
Hear an update on the business community’s progress to increase 3rd-grade reading proficiency and how county superintendents are prioritizing, and addressing challenges to, expanded access to NC Pre-K. A data dashboard will illustrate county-by-county NC Pre-K participation and challenges. |
| 9:45 am | Demand Planning: Filling the Skills Needs of Local and Regional Businesses Talent Pipeline Initiative Launch Carolinas’ Energy Workforce Consortium HBCU Partnership Challenge The NC Chamber Foundation is tackling our state’s workforce challenges head-on by expanding the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Talent Pipeline Management (TPM) program within our state. This nationally recognized program will help NC businesses in multiple sectors transform their workforce pipelines. Learn how this demand-driven, employer-led approach to close the skills gap by building pipelines of talent aligned to dynamic business needs is getting underway. Also hear how North Carolina’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are working to increase the education attainment of their students to meet the needs of NC businesses. |
| 10:15 am | Networking Break |
| 10:45 am | Collaboration Breakout Session: Land of Sky Education Consortium
Learn how four counties in western North Carolina are coming together to increase education attainment and address the unfilled, high-skill, high-paying jobs and large achievement gaps in their region, focusing on the entire pre-K through adult education continuum. Hear what it takes to get this type of effort off the ground. |
| 10:45 am | Collaboration Breakout Session: STEM East Network
STEM East is developing networks through the collaborative efforts of regional businesses, school districts, economic development municipalities, private foundations, state and local government and many others in Eastern North Carolina. Learn how they are engaging with students to provide real-world STEM learning opportunities that directly align with career opportunities in the region . |
| 11:30 am | Lunch |
| 12:15 pm | Lunch Keynote: Skills that Pay the Bills Peyton Holland, Executive Director, SkillsUSA North Carolina The path to success is a 4-year degree … or is it? Millions of jobs are and will go unfilled because there are not enough people with the skills needed to fill them. For decades, we’ve told a story that places more value on a degree hanging on the wall than the skills needed to build that wall. As a result, we’ve created a “skills gap” that will impact all of us, from the cars we drive to the places we live and work. Peyton helps audience members understand how we fell into the gap and how we can move forward. From guiding companies to refresh their strategies for engaging the next generation of their workforce, to challenging individual members of society to change the conversations we have about education, Peyton helps the audience see how skill is not only a critical economic driver, but it is something that impacts each of our daily lives. Audience members will walk away with a new perspective on education and what skill truly means. |
| 1:05 pm | Collaboration Breakout Session: K-64 Catawba County
Learn how K-64 is shaping future careers and preparing a qualified workforce in Catawba County by collaborating with employers to align coursework with workforce needs and connecting students to real-world careers and related curriculum choices early on. |
| 1:05 pm | Collaboration Breakout Session: Wake STEM Early College High School and NC State College of Engineering
The Wake STEM Early College High School and NC State University are solving the “14 Grand Challenges for Engineering in the 21st Century” through strong collaboration and hands-on, project-based learning. Learn how this initiative is engaging with girls and under-represented student populations to generate interest in STEM fields. |
| 1:50 pm | Networking Break |
| 2:15 pm | Education Leaders of North Carolina Town Hall
Education leaders across the continuum in North Carolina will answer your questions about how business and education can better collaborate to increase education attainment, especially at the local and regional level. |
| 3:00 pm | Closing Comments |