Join Building a Learning Society’s FORUM on October 28, 2025 for this timely webinar exploring how community colleges can transform education to better align with job skills and economic opportunity.
Date: Tuesday, October 28, 2025
Time: 9:00–9:45 a.m. PT
Although the focus on skill development across the curriculum is new, experts have been documenting opportunities to align curricula and work-ready skills for decades. This session will outline research on the economic returns to short-term coursetaking, noncredit, and stackable credentials, and share insights on state- and college-level efforts to change service delivery models to emphasize job skills. Group discussion will provide an opportunity to explore the incentives that would support community colleges to better serve mid-career workers and equip younger students to navigate shifts in the labor market.
Who Should Attend
- Community college leaders
- Workforce development professionals
- State and regional policymakers
- Faculty and staff designing career pathways
Featured Speakers
Kathy Booth, Director, Center for Economic Mobility, WestEd
Kathy Booth leads projects that help translate data into action. She develops cross-agency solutions that promote systems change, such as designing state longitudinal data systems and strengthening coordination between education and workforce systems. As the director of WestEd’s Center for Economic Mobility, she supports national efforts to clarify students’ economic outcomes and delivers technical assistance on using labor market information to develop stronger pathways to living wages.