Case Studies

UpSkill America supports employers and workforce organizations to expand and improve high-quality educational and career advancement opportunities for America’s front-line workers.

UpSkill America, an initiative of the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program, supports employers and workforce organizations to expand and improve high-quality educational and career advancement opportunities for America’s front-line workers.

We seek to create a movement of employers, civic organizations, workforce intermediaries, and policymakers working collaboratively to implement education, training, and development strategies that result in better jobs and opportunities for front-line workers, more competitive businesses, and stronger communities.

Driving Value through Innovation: Verified Credential Insights from Cisive PreCheck
Publications

Driving Value through Innovation: Verified Credential Insights from Cisive PreCheck

Cisive’s work to utilize and issue digital credentials is supported by the Velocity Network, a blockchain-based utility layer governed by member organizations that enables secure, portable storage and sharing of digital credentials.

Legacy and Community Engagement Leads to Impact: How Mickey’s Popcorn Prioritizes Work-Based Learning to Grow Their Business
Publications

Legacy and Community Engagement Leads to Impact: How Mickey’s Popcorn Prioritizes Work-Based Learning to Grow Their Business

In this interview, Dr. Penny Smith-Mickey shares the story behind Mickey’s Popcorn, its commitment to workforce development, and how the company scaled into a growing enterprise leveraging apprenticeships. As a small business, Mickey’s Popcorn is a shining example of how employers can use skills-based practices to drive value for their business and employees.

first page of the UpSkill-PepsiCo publication
Publications
New Pathways at Intuit
Publications

New Pathways at Intuit

Intuit’s Career Pathways Program, launched in partnership with AnitaB.org, supports diversity through training, mentorship, and community.

Bridging the Digital Divide in Detroit
Publications

Bridging the Digital Divide in Detroit

Cover page of the publication, “Case Study: Next Generation Apprenticeships at Aon”
Publications

Case Study: Next Generation Apprenticeships at Aon

Aon’s apprenticeship program has helped hundreds of graduates achieve full-time employment, with competitive wages and exceptional benefits.

Cover page of the publication, “Case Study: Taking a Role Virtual at Lee Health”
Publications

Case Study: Taking a Role Virtual at Lee Health

Through effective upskilling and thoughtful implementation, Lee Health has improved job quality, cost savings, and capacity.

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Publications

Case Study: Upskilling Around Automation at The Hartford

Rather than downsizing its workforce, The Hartford took used automation to reform roles, fill different needs, and enable workers to do more.

About UpSkill America

UpSkill America, an initiative of the Economic Opportunities Program, supports employers and workforce organizations to expand and improve high-quality educational and career advancement opportunities for America’s front-line workers.

About the Economic Opportunities Program

The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program advances strategies, policies, and ideas to help low- and moderate-income people thrive in a changing economy.

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More from UpSkill America

Room for Growth: A Survey of Upskilling Approaches — 2026 Analysis
Publications

Room for Growth: A Survey of Upskilling Approaches — 2026 Analysis

This publication examines how fragmented skills, credentialing, and workforce data systems limit the potential of skills-based hiring and advancement, and outlines a shared vision for building the interoperable infrastructure needed to create a connected skills ecosystem that benefits workers, employers, educators, and governments.

Employer-Friendly Practices: A Guide for Higher Education
Publications

Employer-Friendly Practices: A Guide for Higher Education

This resource is designed to help colleges and universities become more employer-friendly and build the kind of institutional capacity that sustains and grows partnerships while simultaneously better serving working learners. It offers role-specific guidance for leaders across the institution, a self-assessment spanning five domains of practice, and a process for turning results into action, grounded in the conviction that institution/employer partnerships can become easier without compromising academic missions.

MillerKnoll: Developing Operations Leaders from Within and Beyond — A Case Study in Structured Talent Development
Publications

MillerKnoll: Developing Operations Leaders from Within and Beyond — A Case Study in Structured Talent Development

Bridge, Propel, and Career Academy are built on a practical philosophy: that MillerKnoll has great talent already inside the organization. Finding that talent, developing it, and aligning it to the right opportunities is key to its success. T

A Typology of State-Supported Work-Connected Learning Programs
Publications

A Typology of State-Supported Work-Connected Learning Programs

States invest in work-connected learning through dozens of distinct funding streams, grant programs, and agency initiatives, often developed independently over time by different administrations and agencies pursuing different goals.

The Workforce of the Future Starts with Adult Basic Education
Blog Posts

The Workforce of the Future Starts with Adult Basic Education

To create a future-ready workforce system, we must move beyond outdated credentials and analog processes to one that is skills-first, transparent, data-driven, and aligned with the evolving needs of workers, educators, and employers.

Foundational Skills: Early Insights from Employers and Providers
Publications

Foundational Skills: Early Insights from Employers and Providers

This publication examines how fragmented skills, credentialing, and workforce data systems limit the potential of skills-based hiring and advancement, and outlines a shared vision for building the interoperable infrastructure needed to create a connected skills ecosystem that benefits workers, employers, educators, and governments.

How Tax Policy Can Help Employers Expand Access to Learning
Podcasts Videos

How Tax Policy Can Help Employers Expand Access to Learning

In this interview, Chelsea Miller of Upskill America speaks with Nick Greif of InStride about how employers can design education benefits that are more accessible, strategic, and aligned with workforce goals.

Adult Working Learners Vote With Their Feet: What Employers Are Learning About Foundational Skills
Blog Posts

Adult Working Learners Vote With Their Feet: What Employers Are Learning About Foundational Skills

Putting people at the center of the systems we are building means accepting that career paths are rarely linear. It requires us to build infrastructure that accommodates life transitions, recognizes informal learning, and values a worker’s agency over their own data.