Creating Space to Accelerate Solution Development

The second cohort of the Education and Career Mobility Fellowship gathered for their first seminar in Nashville, Tennessee, this month. As UpSkill America’s Senior Director Haley Glover mentioned in her last blog “The Fellowship Effect,” the first cohort left her feeling like the future of education and career mobility is in great hands. Coming out of the initial gathering of our second class, it is safe to say we’ve added 21 more to the list of folks working to innovate and care for the future of work in this space.

Our time together in Nashville was full of intentional space creation, thought-provoking conversations, and planning for the future. The fellows in this cohort are trailblazers from a variety of companies who were so thoughtful and deliberate in how they wanted to use the time they had together to think about big problems.

Solving big problems isn’t just about having brilliant ideas; it’s about building trust, leveraging collective wisdom, and being open to genuine connection. Community and vulnerability are crucial to problem-solving, especially in a program where diverse minds and experiences converge. It is important that throughout the fellowship experience, the fellows work together to tackle challenges with a holistic approach that values human connection as much as technical expertise. When we build trust and rapport, we create a foundation for collaborative innovation.

As an alum of the first cohort of the Fellowship, I knew the importance of the facilitation team creating an environment where the fellows could be fully present with one another. This group took to one another so naturally, they quickly began to create that environment themselves. Through story sharing, discussing challenges, peer consultations, and even poetry reading, they all held space for each other, asked for feedback from one another, and shared valuable insights. From metrics to the philosophy of mobility, our conversations covered a wide range of meaningful topics. I know that the community created between the fellows last week will carry them through the rest of their fellowship and enable them to create solutions together that will catch on like wildfire.