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A few years ago, I sat across from the CEO of a Fortune 500 company who told me, \u201cWe can\u2019t find people who can solve problems.\u201d When I asked him where he thought the issue began, he answered, \u201cSomewhere in college, I guess.\u201d <\/p>\n
That moment made something painfully clear: He was looking in the wrong place. The problem didn\u2019t start in college. It started in kindergarten. <\/p>\n
American CEOs and HR leaders are losing sleep over talent shortages, skills gaps, and workforce readiness. They pour billions into recruitment, retention, and employee training. In 2025, U.S. corporations spent an estimated <\/a>$102.8 billion annually<\/a> on training efforts, much of it reactive and downstream. <\/p>\n At the same time, the global skills shortage could cost companies <\/a>$5.5 trillion<\/a> in lost annual revenue this year. This reveals an uncomfortable truth: While companies fight over the existing talent pool, they\u2019re doing almost nothing to expand it. <\/p>\n Workers who participate in structured upskilling programs <\/a>earn more<\/a> annually, and self-funded upskilling can increase earnings even further. Now imagine the return if that kind of skill-building started years earlier, before students ever enter the workforce. <\/p>\n Yet corporate America continues to treat education as charity rather than infrastructure. Companies fund programs, sponsor events, and write checks under the banner of social impact, while the systems that actually shape talent remain underbuilt. <\/p>\n Here\u2019s what should keep leaders up at night: the <\/a>World Economic Forum reports<\/a> that 40% of workers will need reskilling within six months, and 94% of business leaders expect employees to learn new skills on the job. <\/p>\n The problem is obvious: We are trying to retrofit a workforce that should have been developed more intentionally from the start. <\/p>\n Education isn\u2019t separate from workforce development\u2014it is<\/em> workforce development. And right now, we\u2019re systematically underinvesting in the only people capable of building the pipeline at scale: America\u2019s <\/a>3.2 million K-12 teachers<\/a>. <\/p>\n They are the largest workforce development system in the country. We just don\u2019t treat them that way. <\/p>\n Having worked with tech and education industries, I\u2019ve spent the last 20 years in communities that corporations often overlook, like rural Appalachia, high-poverty urban districts, and tribal nations. Places where talent supposedly doesn\u2019t exist. <\/p>\n In reality, talent is everywhere. What doesn\u2019t always exist is the infrastructure to develop it. <\/p>\n In Granby, Colorado, educators worked with students to build clubs, electives, and student mentoring teams around what students said they actually wanted. Within one cohort<\/a>, every student was engaged in at least one program. That kind of agency\u2014feeling heard, belonging, having a stake in your own education\u2014is the foundation of workforce readiness. You can’t train confidence into a 22-year-old who never had it at 13. The students did not suddenly become more capable. The system became more connected. <\/p>\n This proves that talent isn\u2019t missing. The connection points are. Those connection points are teachers who listen, who build systems around what students actually need (pulling in industry when they can), and who understand that workforce readiness doesn’t start with a r\u00e9sum\u00e9. It starts with a student who believes they have something to contribute. <\/p>\nTHE WORKFORCE CRISIS IS UPSTREAM<\/strong> <\/h2>\n
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE WHEN THE SYSTEM WORKS<\/strong> <\/h2>\n
THE BUSINESS CASE NO BOARD CAN IGNORE<\/strong> <\/h2>\n