Aspen is a place for leaders to lift their sights above the possessions which possess them. To confront their own nature as human beings, to regain control over their own humanity by becoming more self-aware, more self-correcting, and hence more self-fulfilling.

Walter P. Paepcke, Aspen Institute Co-Founder
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Five Years of UpSkill America: What’s Next? – Videos

Note: This is a past event, additional resources may be available below.

Tue Jan 21, 2020
Washington DC 20037

Date

Tue Jan 21, 2020
12:30pm – 5:00pm

Location

Washington DC 20037
The Aspen Institute
2300 N Street NW Suite 700

Contact

    dan.lebiednik@aspeninstitute.org
    202.736.3578

Hosts

  1. Economic Opportunities Program
  2. UpSkill America

 

Opening Remarks and Keynote

Featuring Maureen Conway (Vice President for Policy Programs, The Aspen Institute; Executive Director, Economic Opportunities Program), Dan Porterfield (President and CEO, The Aspen Institute), Eva Sage-Gavin (Senior Managing Director, Talent & Organization Consulting, Accenture), and Ellie Bertani (Senior Director and Portfolio Owner of Digital Transformation and Reskilling, Walmart US).

To download audio from this event, click here.

 

How Large Employers Think about Upskilling

What is driving large employers to invest in new upskilling programs and what types of programs are they investing in? What is working well and what needs to get better? What advice do they have for other companies?

Featuring Eva Sage-Gavin (Senior Managing Director, Talent & Organization Consulting, Accenture), Shweta Srivastava (Director of 21st Century Employability, Microsoft), Van Ton-Quinlivan (CEO, Futuro Health), Chris Trout (Vice President Learning and Development, The Walt Disney Company), and Matthew Heimer (Senior Features Editor, Fortune Magazine).

To download audio from this event, click here.

 

The Value of Local and Regional Initiatives

What can civic and education leaders do to create an ecosystem that encourages employer and education partnerships that lead to upskilling programs? How do they ensure these programs develop a skilled workforce within a community that will serve existing employers and attract new ones?

Featuring Daryl Graham (Senior Vice President of Philanthropy, Strada Education Network), Reg Javier (Deputy Executive Officer, San Bernardino County California), Amanda Winters (Program Director, Economic Opportunity, Center for Best Practices, National Governors Association), and Lauren Weber (The Wall Street Journal).

To download audio from this event, click here.

 

Success Stories: Graduates Share Their Stories

Upskilling program graduates from across the country and industries will share their personal experiences, how their program helped them, and what advice they would have for other participants and employers who are considering such programs.

Featuring Yenis Blanco (Training Manager, McDonald’s), Lisa Gauthier (City Council Member, East Palo Alto, California), Kimberly Vaughn (IT Project Manager, IT Governance, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis), and Amanda Newman (Senior Project Manager, The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program).

To download audio from this event, click here.

 

Closing Remarks and Keynote

Featuring Maureen Conway (Vice President for Policy Programs, The Aspen Institute; Executive Director, Economic Opportunities Program), Nick Pinchuk (Chairman and CEO, Snap-on), and Jaime Fall (Director, UpSkill America).

To download audio from this event, click here.

 

Agenda

To view a schedule of the day’s events, click here.

 

Speakers

To view our speakers for this event, click here. 

Opening Remarks and Keynote

Featuring Maureen Conway (Vice President for Policy Programs, The Aspen Institute; Executive Director, Economic Opportunities Program), Dan Porterfield (President and CEO, The Aspen Institute), Eva Sage-Gavin (Senior Managing Director, Talent & Organization Consulting, Accenture), and Ellie Bertani (Senior Director and Portfolio Owner of Digital Transformation and Reskilling, Walmart US).

To download audio from this event, click here.

 

How Large Employers Think about Upskilling

What is driving large employers to invest in new upskilling programs and what types of programs are they investing in? What is working well and what needs to get better? What advice do they have for other companies?

Featuring Eva Sage-Gavin (Senior Managing Director, Talent & Organization Consulting, Accenture), Shweta Srivastava (Director of 21st Century Employability, Microsoft), Van Ton-Quinlivan (CEO, Futuro Health), Chris Trout (Vice President Learning and Development, The Walt Disney Company), and Matthew Heimer (Senior Features Editor, Fortune Magazine).

To download audio from this event, click here.

 

The Value of Local and Regional Initiatives

What can civic and education leaders do to create an ecosystem that encourages employer and education partnerships that lead to upskilling programs? How do they ensure these programs develop a skilled workforce within a community that will serve existing employers and attract new ones?

Featuring Daryl Graham (Senior Vice President of Philanthropy, Strada Education Network), Reg Javier (Deputy Executive Officer, San Bernardino County California), Amanda Winters (Program Director, Economic Opportunity, Center for Best Practices, National Governors Association), and Lauren Weber (The Wall Street Journal).

To download audio from this event, click here.

 

Success Stories: Graduates Share Their Stories

Upskilling program graduates from across the country and industries will share their personal experiences, how their program helped them, and what advice they would have for other participants and employers who are considering such programs.

Featuring Yenis Blanco (Training Manager, McDonald’s), Lisa Gauthier (City Council Member, East Palo Alto, California), Kimberly Vaughn (IT Project Manager, IT Governance, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis), and Amanda Newman (Senior Project Manager, The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program).

To download audio from this event, click here.

 

Closing Remarks and Keynote

Featuring Maureen Conway (Vice President for Policy Programs, The Aspen Institute; Executive Director, Economic Opportunities Program), Nick Pinchuk (Chairman and CEO, Snap-on), and Jaime Fall (Director, UpSkill America).

To download audio from this event, click here.

 

Agenda

To view a schedule of the day’s events, click here.

 

Speakers

To view our speakers for this event, click here.

Fixing Work: Recent Lessons from the Field

The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program will soon release a report, Fixing Work: Lessons from Job Quality Practitioners, based on in-depth interviews with more than 20 leaders across the country about the work they are doing to create good jobs that provide economic security, the opportunity to advance and grow, and a safe, dignified, and equitable workplace. 

2025 Aspen Cyber Summit

Join us in celebrating 10 years of dialogue at the 2025 Aspen Cyber Summit in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, November 18.

How Good Jobs Support Small Business Success: Lessons from the Shared Success Demonstration – Transcript (Panel 1)

How Good Jobs Support Small Business Success: Lessons from the Shared Success Demonstration – Transcript (Panel 2)

How Good Jobs Support Small Business Success: Lessons from the Shared Success Demonstration – Resources

Advising Small Businesses on Job Quality: Lessons from CDFIs

Hear from CDFIs about their approaches to building job quality advising into their work, and share your questions and comments. We are eager to hear what you think!

Job Quality Fellowship Webinar – Transcript

In addition to providing an overview of the nomination and application process, we’re pleased to welcome two Job Quality Fellows to this conversation — Neidi Dominguez Zamorano, founding executive director of Organized Power in Numbers, and Bo Delp, executive director of the Texas Climate Jobs Project — who will share their experience as members of the Fellowship.

Working and Homeless in America — A Book Talk with Brian Goldstone — Resources

“There Is No Place for Us” not only brings these unseen lives into focus but also forces us to confront a pressing question: If hard work is no longer enough to keep a roof over one’s head, what does that say about the promise of economic opportunity in the US?

Marketcrafters: The 100-Year Struggle To Shape the American Economy — A Book Talk with Chris Hughes

Markets and our economy don’t just happen — they’re crafted. While we often hear about the “free market” as a natural force governed by the invisible hand, the reality is far more intentional.

Working and Homeless in America — A Book Talk with Brian Goldstone – Transcript

“There Is No Place for Us” not only brings these unseen lives into focus but also forces us to confront a pressing question: If hard work is no longer enough to keep a roof over one’s head, what does that say about the promise of economic opportunity in the US?