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
Aspen Institute
Publications
Building Bridges: Lessons from the ECCP Initiative
September 24, 2025
UpSkill America, and Economic Opportunities Program
In 2022, Strada Education Network (Strada) launched the Employer Community College Partnership (ECCP) challenge to strengthen connections between community colleges and employers.
Strada supported 11 cross-sector collaboratives involving diverse industries and geographies to build partnerships characterized by shared ownership, mutual accountability, and aligned goals. Partners were expected to co-invest time, knowledge, and resources to support student success and meet labor market demands.
As the initiative concluded, Strada engaged UpSkill America to examine what worked and what didn’t. Across the board, we found this: when employers and colleges co-owned the work, committing to shared goals, shared risks, and shared results, the partnerships flourished. When they operated from a distance or treated the relationship as optional, outcomes lagged.
This brief highlights the facilitators of partnership success: key behaviors and strategies that community colleges, employers, and partnership structures used to drive impact.
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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Leaders must view AI adoption as a development opportunity to redefine how capability is built, focusing on outcomes and consciously reinvesting capacity freed by automation to ensure growth and resilience for both the business and its people.
This paper is the first in a series. It elevates the specific issues that employers indicate are key enablers or inhibitors in their relationships and partnerships with colleges and universities.
