WorkforceRx

Dr. Joshua Travis Brown, Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins School of Education: How Higher Education Went From Mission-Driven to Margin-Obsessed

Futuro Health — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 13:45:17 +0000

Market competition and the consequences of federal education policy have fundamentally changed our system of higher education and distorted the values of mission-driven schools. That's the stark reality depicted by Dr. Joshua Travis Brown of the Johns Hopkins School of Education in his book, Capitalizing on College: How Higher Education Went From Mission-Driven to Margin-Obsessed, which we’ll be exploring on today's episode of WorkforceRx. The deeply researched book draws on 150 in-person interviews with leaders at religious institutions to detail the non-traditional strategies they pursued to generate needed revenues, and analyzes what those choices mean for current and future students and the system at large. “It goes back to the moment where those institutions were about to close and the leaders said ‘we have to change in this moment of crisis. We've got to jettison norms and innovate.’” In this revealing interview with Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, Dr. Brown shares candid conversations he had with leaders struggling with the tension between mission and margin. He also addresses the financially burdensome residential model and the case colleges need to make about the value of an on-campus experience, or getting a degree at all, in the age of AI. You’ll also hear why Dr. Brown thinks Americans have a distorted view of higher education, learn about the principles of innovation used by the schools that can apply to many types of organizations, and why he’s optimistic about the future of the sector.

Dr. Andrea Austin, Emergency Medicine Residency Program Director at Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital: How to Create Changemakers in Healthcare

Futuro Health — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 14:48:35 +0000

What characteristics do changemakers in healthcare have and how can the system cultivate more transformational leaders? As provider organizations grapple with a growing number of complex problems -- including physician burnout and increased demand for care -- there’s a growing sense of urgency to find answers to those questions. Our guest today, Dr. Andrea Austin, has been focused on that task, and on this enlightening episode of WorkforceRx, she shares the results of her research on changemaking and her insider’s perspective on how to encourage it based on her work as an emergency medicine specialist and medical educator. As she explains to Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, many physicians possess the creativity, persistence, sense of purpose and appetite for learning that define changemakers, but lack the environment in which to put those qualities to use. “Culture influences all of this. Organizations have to make sure that the work environment is one in which people can share their opinions and take risks. It is fundamental to changemaking.” This episode also explores key themes in Dr. Austin’s book, Revitalized: A Guidebook to Following Your Healing Heartline, which provides practical steps to overcoming burnout and creating a values-aligned medical career.

Dr. Pam Eddinger, President of Bunker Hill Community College: Blurring Traditional Education Boundaries

Futuro Health — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 13:58:02 +0000

Offering only one degree; developing a cloud computing program in collaboration with Amazon Web Services; working with high schools so students can earn an associate degree before graduation: these are examples of the kind of innovation community colleges must pursue to stay relevant to students and employers alike, according to our guest today, Dr. Pam Eddinger, president of Bunker Hill Community College. “This is where the next iteration of community college must be. We can’t just stay in a classroom. It doesn’t work that way anymore.” Those examples and others are included in the new book Dr. Eddinger is co-editing, Beyond the College Walls: Partnerships and the Future of Community College Reform, which is due out from Harvard Education Press in September, 2026. As she explains to Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, who contributed a chapter to the book, community colleges must work to blur the boundaries between high school, college, and careers and make it easier for students -- especially adult learners -- to gain the skills they need in ways that fit their lives. Join us for a forward-looking WorkforceRx conversation on how community colleges are reimagining pathways to economic mobility and building partnerships that connect students more directly to opportunity.

David Zuckerman, President & CEO of Healthcare Anchor Network: Boosting the Local Economic Impact of Hospitals

Futuro Health — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 15:44:59 +0000

“How do we leverage what we have more intentionally to have greater impact in our communities?” That purposeful question is posed and answered in this thought-provoking episode of WorkforceRx by David Zuckerman, president and CEO of the Healthcare Anchor Network (HAN), whose seventy health systems and 1,000 hospitals are committed to improving economic equity, vitality and community health through their hiring, purchasing and investment decisions. The approach is built on the acknowledgement that healthcare organizations, as well as institutions of higher education, are “anchors” of local economies due to the scale of their economic activity, and it is fueled by the appealing alignment of mission with good business practices. Join Futuro Health CEO Van Ton- Quinlivan as she explores the accompanying workforce development strategies, how to make the business case for this approach, and the importance of having internal champions at the executive level. And stay tuned to hear about innovative examples of HAN members in St. Louis, Chicago, New Orleans and elsewhere that are reimagining the role health systems play in economic development.

Teresa Chapman, Chief People Officer with Santa Clara Family Health Plan: Helping Employees Adjust to AI Disruption

Futuro Health — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 15:00:50 +0000

Even though use of artificial intelligence in the workplace has nearly doubled for US employees in the past two years, a recent Gallup poll found that only 22 % of companies have a clear, communicated strategy for integrating AI. On today's episode of WorkforceRx, we’re going to explore how organizations can help their employees adjust to AI disruptions and redefine their value in an AI context with Teresa Chapman, Chief People Officer with Santa Clara Family Health Plan, which serves over 300,000 members across California’s Santa Clara County. “We want to make sure to equip our employees to be expert users of a multitude of AI tools so that they have the confidence to evolve with the surrounding environment,” she shares. As Chapman tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, the company is also working to develop a “co-architecture” with employees and AI to achieve a symbiotic relationship that draws on the strengths of each and keeps the special attributes of humans in focus. “The future of work is going to really be more around problem solving and creativity and emotional intelligence and relationship building. It's going to be about understanding where the human fits in.” Don’t miss this timely look at how forward-thinking employers can maintain, and even strengthen, the human touch in healthcare and other sectors.

Kaitlin Lemoine and Julian Alssid, Partners At Work Forces: Moving Workforce Development to the Center of Education

Futuro Health — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 15:02:27 +0000

“There are persistent and critical gaps between education and industry that hinder economic advancement and we share a belief that those gaps need to be bridged,” says Julian Alssid, summing up why he and his business partner, Kaitlin Lemoine, created Work Forces, a consulting company that serves stakeholders in those sectors and beyond. On this episode of WorkforceRx, they join Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan for an informative dialogue on how to create and sustain effective workforce development partnerships based on insights gained during their decades of work in the space. They also discuss trends they’re learning about in their client work and as co-hosts of the Work Forces podcast. “One thing that stands out is that workforce development for a long time felt kind of peripheral to education, and I think it’s more now than ever the center of things,” shares Kaitlin Lemoine. In this thoughtful conversation you’ll also learn about: • The biggest changes in preparing learners for work • Trends in skills-based learning • A promising shift toward regional initiatives • How AI is forcing clarity about the durable skills workers need. As you’ll hear from these nationally recognized experts, the pressure to get these relationships and programs right is growing as the pace of change in the workplace accelerates on a daily basis.

Professor Mitchell Stevens, Stanford University: Linking the Conversations About AI, Learning and Longevity

Futuro Health — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 15:25:06 +0000

We start the new year by bringing you a fresh perspective on key sources of concern for American society at large and the workforce development sector in particular: AI disruption in the workplace and education, and the many challenges presented by our rapidly aging population. For Professor Mitchell Stevens of the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University, a shift from anxiety to optimism about these changes is urgently needed. “I’m not trying to say that the future will be all good, but that the future can only be good if everyday people, politicians and corporate leaders sort of ambitiously anticipate a positive future and then imagine ways to build it,” says Stevens, who helps lead Stanford’s Center for Longevity and its Learning Society Initiative. Thinking about aging as longevity instead, and working to extend the functional part of our lives through better health and educational opportunities is a prime example of this mindset. Other recommendations he offers include: • Recognize that schooling and learning are not the same and reward learning wherever it occurs; • Link conversations about AI, aging and the future of work; • Draw on lessons learned from previous responses to mass economic disruption caused by technological advancement. Join Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan for a deeply-informed and encouraging contemplation of how to leverage this current moment of consequential change.

Lisa Larson, CEO of Education Design Lab: How Micro-Pathways Can Boost Workforce Development Success

Futuro Health — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 14:51:35 +0000

According to recent studies, micro-credentials are experiencing a surge in interest and acceptance by learners and employers, which is creating both a challenge and an opportunity for educators trying to meet the demand for them. One of the major players helping educators in this task is the Education Design Lab, which is working with more than 100 community colleges and state community college systems to implement “micro-pathways” that map to 100 different job roles. “What colleges need to be concerned about is the relevancy of these programs to high demand jobs and careers, and that people need short-term options to move towards their larger goals,” says CEO Lisa Larson. Key criteria for the pathways include being affordable, stackable, less than one year in duration and validated by employers. As Larson explains, animating this work is EDL’s interest in meeting the needs of what it calls the “new majority learner” – mainly working adults who require additional access points and flexible options for earning credentials. Join Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan as she explores how community colleges are developing deeper employer partnerships and shared curricula to help learners leverage the power of micro-pathways in building their economic futures.

How to Unleash Your Inner Innovator: Dr. Tessa Forshaw and Richard Braden, Co-Authors of Innovation-ish

Futuro Health — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 15:50:34 +0000

“There are so many myths that we’re left brain, we’re right brain, we’re creative, we’re analytical, but none of that’s true. We’re all whole-brain humans and we all have the ability to be creative,” says cognitive scientist Dr. Tessa Forshaw, co-author, with design strategist and CEO Richard Braden, of the new book, Innovation-ish, which aims to demystify creativity and make it accessible to everyone in the workforce. But while we may all have creative potential, studies show that less than 50% of people see themselves as being creative, largely due to socialization that discourages embarrassment and risk-taking, and misconceptions about innovators. Overcoming that “innovation hesitation” and providing practical steps that give people the confidence they need to be creative is the mission of the book, which is built upon the system the authors use in their classes at Harvard and Stanford universities. Their message is timely: in a fast-changing economy, as Braden notes, “the ability to be creative and solve problems and adapt as you go is becoming less optional and more necessary all the time.” Join Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan for an insightful look at the mindsets that are needed to tap creativity, the role of leaders in cultivating innovation, and real world examples of out-of-the-box solutions that emerged from an inclusive problem-solving process.

How Hospice Care Has Changed and Why It Matters: Fran Smith, Co-author of Changing the Way We Die

Futuro Health — Wed, 12 Nov 2025 12:13:27 +0000

Hospice care in the US has undergone major shifts in recent years, with a significant jump in usage and a 400% increase in private equity ownership as major factors driving it to become the most profitable subsector in healthcare, according to a 2023 RAND Corporation study. To understand these trends what they mean for healthcare workers, patients and families, we turn to Fran Smith, co-author of Changing the Way We Die: Compassionate End of Life Care and the Hospice Movement, an Amazon bestseller. As she explains to Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, what started as a non-profit, mission-driven movement has evolved into an industry dominated by for-profit entities -- including a growing percentage backed by private equity -- with major implications for quality and consistency of care. “There is some data showing that staffing is poor at privately owned and private equity hospices compared to nonprofits, and that the for-profit hospice companies use more licensed practical nurses than registered nurses,” she explains. And while Smith believes it’s better for there to be a mix of business models in the sector, she does advise that people seeking hospice care evaluate their options using tools on the medicare.gov website, and by asking providers in their circle about the reputation of various organizations. This super informative episode of WorkforceRx also provides advice on when and how to talk to loved ones about end-of-life wishes, and a takes look at the future of this crucially important type of healthcare.

Francie Genz, CEO of Formation: Workforce Collaboration Requires Checking Egos at the Door

Futuro Health — Wed, 29 Oct 2025 13:53:32 +0000

“If we can’t get the private sector to lean in and play the right roles, we’re going to miss the mark,” says Francie Genz, CEO of Formation, a national organization helping communities build resilient, industry-led workforce systems. In an episode packed with practical advice, Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan explores how Genz and her team are working to turn decades of fragmented employer engagement into a disciplined model for collaboration through the NextGen Sector Partnership framework, now active in 100 communities across 20 states. Rather than viewing businesses as passive beneficiaries of training programs, the model positions them as co-owners and co-investors in developing talent pipelines and regional competitiveness. “Part of it is raising the bar on what we expect from the private sector, but then also it's about good process and relationships. It's about getting organized to create the conditions for the private sector to play those different roles.” Tune in for real world examples of how building “shared tables” and checking egos at the door can produce action-oriented partnerships that evolve with the economy, and why the future of workforce development lies in adaptive, data-informed collaboration, not static skills-gap models.

Dr. Thomas Tannou, Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal: Dementia Research is Informing New Approaches to Care

Futuro Health — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 13:52:35 +0000

Among the knotty issues that dementia forces on family caregivers is when to know if their loved one with the disorder is in need of in-home supports and ultimately, when moving to a skilled facility is warranted. Often making those decisions more difficult is a loss of self-awareness caused by the disease, which can lead to rejection of needed services. As geriatrician and dementia researcher Dr. Thomas Tannou puts it, “If you forget that you forget, you will not be aware that you need to go on a path to be supported.” The impact of self-perception disorders on aging in place and the capacity of older people living with dementia is the focus of Dr. Tannou’s research at the Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal, and it has led him to advocate for a reframing of Alzheimer’s not just as a disease of memory, but an inability to adapt to new circumstances. That distinction in turn, he says, should trigger a reconsideration of the wisdom of aging in place in favor of relocating people when they can still learn new routines and maintain social connections. Join WorkforceRx host and Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan for a deeply informative and wide ranging discussion of related issues such as overlooked early warning signs of dementia, how clinically-informed technology can support independent living, balancing safety with dignity as we support those with dementia, and the workforce implications of a relentless increase in people needing dementia care.

Dana Stephenson, Co-Founder and CEO of Riipen: How Colleges and Employers Can Scale Work-Based Learning

Futuro Health — Wed, 24 Sep 2025 14:34:54 +0000

Could earning a traditional undergraduate degree actually hurt your chances of getting hired? A 2024 survey from Hult International Business School suggests as much, reporting that 89% of companies avoid hiring recent graduates due to their lack of real-world work experiences. On today’s episode of WorkforceRx, we’re going to focus on closing the gap between what employers are seeking and what colleges are teaching with Dana Stephenson, the Co-Founder and CEO of Riipen, a platform that partners with academic institutions and employers to offer experiential learning opportunities. "Employers are looking for durable skills like collaboration, leadership, initiative, and the ability to learn and unlearn. These have become more important than ever in an era where AI is beginning to take on more of the entry level tasks," he tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan. To create more of those opportunities, intermediaries like Riipen are helping colleges offer more flexible learning formats – such as project-based work and micro-internships – and simultaneously relieving employers of administrative burdens and finding creative ways for students to do meaningful work for them. “We’re really trying to find the right experiences to meet the students where they are, meet employers where they are, and break down barriers to increase access in a cost effective way.” This conversation also highlights states that are fueling work-based learning, and offers a fascinating look at a future of education in which AI-supported experiential learning experiences help students to develop soft skills.

Kate Connor, PhD, Professor at Harry S. Truman College: The Magic Sauce of Working with Adult Learners

Futuro Health — Wed, 10 Sep 2025 14:46:52 +0000

“Community colleges play this really unique role because we balance this idea of a general education with integrating skills that get you ready for employment. Those things can dance together, and I think community colleges do that dance so beautifully,” says our WorkforceRx guest, Professor Kate Connor of Harry S. Truman College in Chicago. One example of that dance is integrating the life and work experience of students directly into coursework, something Connor has seen play out in her own specialty of early childhood education where college students are already out in the field leading classes of their own. “Figuring out really great ways to integrate their knowledge into class assignments while also building additional expertise is I think the magic sauce of working with adult learners.” Professor Connor met Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan when they were serving together on the National Skills Coalition’s Care Workforce Advisory Council, so this episode’s conversation also takes a broad look at what’s needed to support workers in the caring professions, who do what she describes as high stress, low wage jobs that involve helping people through difficult and sensitive life changes. “If we come together, we can communicate about the care workforce in a new way that hopefully leads to the pay and support they deserve, and increases respect for the work they are doing.” This wide-ranging interview also offers insights on prior learning assessments, work-based learning experiences, and how credential structures can help align education with workforce needs.

Corinne Eldridge, President and CEO of the Center for Caregiver Advancement: Why In-Home Caregivers Need Training

Futuro Health — Wed, 27 Aug 2025 16:05:54 +0000

“Caregivers come to this work because they have a big heart, but having a big heart doesn't mean that they are prepared to do what is a both a mentally and physically taxing job,” says Corinne Eldridge, president and chief executive officer of the Center for Caregiver Advancement. That’s where CCA’s training programs come in, which have upskilled more than 70,000 in-home caregivers in the last 25 years in courses that cover the essentials of doing the job as well as managing a variety of specific conditions such as diabetes, autism, and heart disease. As Eldridge explains to Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, CCA has formed a number of academic partnerships so that its trainings can be informed by research and data analysis. For instance, a recent study on the efficacy of online training for workers caring for people with Alzheimer’s and related dementias showed that it improved knowledge and caregiving skills, and also boosted self-efficacy in managing symptoms. Beyond developing relevant job skills, Eldridge sees training as a critical component in creating jobs that will attract and retain workers. “Access to training makes you feel more confident in your work and actually keeps you in the work because you have something to look forward to and a way to advance.” In this valuable discussion on WorkforceRx, you’ll also learn about the need for culturally and linguistically competent caregivers, the complexities of providing care to family members, and why Eldridge thinks these challenging times call for creativity.

Alfredo Mathew III, Founder and CEO of SPCC.1: Making the Jump From Wage Earner to Asset Owner

Futuro Health — Wed, 13 Aug 2025 15:35:21 +0000

One way to close the historically large and growing gap in income and wealth in America is for more wage earners to become business owners so they can start building assets. That’s a theory that our WorkforceRx guest, Alfredo Mathew III, has seen working in California using a state-supported community capital fund in under-invested communities. “The big opportunity is to help shift businesses that are sole proprietors to build up to $500,000 or more in revenue so they can hire employees and ultimately grow beyond the labor of the founder. That way, you are creating an asset that is going to grow, which is the foundation of wealth building,” says Mathew, a former educator turned social entrepreneur and systems thinker who was instrumental in launching that fund. He is simultaneously pursuing a shared ownership model through an organization he founded called SPCC.1, that groups small business into cooperatives so that members can enjoy the benefits that scale brings, including higher potential for income growth and purchasing power for insurance and other business needs. In this wide-ranging and provocative conversation with Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, you’ll also learn how pre-distribution, micro assets, financial literacy and regenerative lending are essential elements of an alternative approach to building both individual and community prosperity in the U.S.

Dr. Carole Bennett, VP of Talent Management and Development at Sutter Health: Fostering an “Every Day, Everywhere” Learning Culture

Futuro Health — Wed, 30 Jul 2025 01:47:25 +0000

“The pace of change is just so rapid right now and that requires people at all levels throughout the organization to be agile and to continue to learn and grow,” says Carole Bennett, vice president of Talent Management and Development at Sutter Health, a twenty-four hospital system serving Northern California. In addition to building an ‘every day, everywhere’ continuous learning culture to keep employees up to date, Sutter Health also needs to solve for the workforce shortages plaguing the industry by preparing the internal workforce for new roles. “Part of what we're really trying to do is help people map their career aspirations and then provide development opportunities so that they can achieve those goals,” she shares with Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan. Studies show this grow-your-own approach results in higher employee retention and satisfaction, and also gives a boost to recruitment efforts, which Bennett has seen first-hand. As for new employees, they engage with Sutter Health University, the organization’s learning arm, which Bennett believes is helping the system become a talent destination. Spend some time learning from this leading voice in employee development as she illustrates the important role of mentoring and coaching, describes how learning opportunities build agility and resilience, and offers tips on how to gain leadership support for learning resources.

Jarmin Yeh, Institute for Health and Aging at University of California, San Francisco: Making the Future A Better Place to Grow Old

Futuro Health — Thu, 17 Jul 2025 15:46:29 +0000

Eleven thousand people turn sixty-five every day in the US, a pace which is continuing to intensify the challenges of providing adequate care for seniors. On this episode of WorkforceRx we're going to learn what this means for the quality of life of the elderly population -- especially for those with dementia and their caregivers -- from Jarmin Yeh, associate professor in the Institute for Health and Aging in the School of Nursing at University of California, San Francisco. “There is a big gap between what people desire and what services and programs are available and accessible in two ways: physically accessible, but also accessible from the standpoint of language, being culturally inclusive, and accommodating to the different needs that an older adult may have,” she explains. Closing that gap, Yeh says, requires a collective approach that includes policy makers, municipal planners, caregivers, care recipients and community members at large, all focused on creating the age-friendly built environment and opportunities for social connection that seniors need to thrive. Join Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan for an in-depth look at those issues, plus promising workforce training programs for direct care workers, efforts to boost community-wide awareness of the signs of dementia, and small adaptations in the home that can enhance comfort and safety for seniors.

Sabari Raja, Managing Partner of JFFVentures: Using Venture Capital to Boost Workforce Training

Futuro Health — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 14:02:18 +0000

“The traditional workforce training system has really focused on a very rigid model that doesn't work for how technology has shifted and how demographics are shifting,” says Sabari Raja, who is trying to accelerate the availability of more flexible training models as managing partner of JFFVentures, an impact fund that was spun out of the forty year old workforce development nonprofit, Jobs For the Future. With 45% of the US workforce making less than $50,000 a year, Raja and her team are investing in solutions that support economic mobility for middle-to-low wage populations through access to skills, job opportunities, work-based learning, and wrap-around supports to remove barriers to getting and keeping a job. She is also looking for a certain type of entrepreneur. “We want to support founders that are coming to the table with lived experience, with passion and purpose, but also with the right technical skills to build a viable business,” she tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan. Tune-in to learn about emerging companies that are using AI for ESL learning, college advising, supporting solopreneurs and helping small businesses offer personalized training to employees. You’ll also come away with an understanding of how impact investing is lifting up mission-driven companies that can thrive and return capital for all stakeholders

Sam Schaeffer, CEO of the Center for Employment Opportunities: Keys to Building An Economic Future After Incarceration

Futuro Health — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 14:10:18 +0000

On this episode of WorkforceRx, we take a close look at a successful model for assisting a part of the U.S. workforce that faces more challenges than most others: formerly incarcerated individuals. Among the headwinds they face in the job market are social stigmas, legal barriers, and a lack of up-to-date skills, which explains an unemployment rate of over 27% for this population. Over the last several decades, the Center for Employment Opportunities has developed an effective approach for reducing recidivism that combines immediate employment after release with one-on-one case management, job placement and job retention services, propelling it to become the nation's largest re-entry employment organization. As the Center’s CEO Sam Schaeffer explains, nearly half of its funding comes through contracts with public agencies, such as parks departments, which are in need of supplemental labor that's highly flexible. “We go in and make the case that you need this work and we can provide it in a cost-effective way. It’s a testament to the amazing work that our crew members do every day that once we're in and people see how strong the work is, it’s very rare for us to not have that become a multi-decade relationship.” Join Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan as she explores other success factors in the Center’s model such as cash incentives, daily paychecks and helping participants find higher level work that provides both purpose and economic mobility.

Dr. Angela Jackson, Author of The Win-Win Workplace: How Thriving Employees Drive Bottom Line Success

Futuro Health — Wed, 21 May 2025 14:00:00 +0000

While it’s customary for companies to claim that ‘people are our most important resource’, today’s WorkforceRx guest, Dr. Angela Jackson, knows that amounts to lip service at many firms. In her new book The Win-Win Workplace: How Thriving Employees Drive Bottom Line Success, Dr. Jackson shares what it looks like when a company walks the talk. In researching 1,700 companies for the book, and based on countless meetings with business leaders, Dr. Jackson spotted commonalities among the most successful workplaces. “I saw investments around centering worker voice, I saw that the leadership was doing deep employee training -- not just for the skills for today, but really looking around the corner and seeing the skills of tomorrow -- and many of these thriving workplaces had a very specific initiative around measuring this so they could actually tell you how those had a correlation to lift on the bottom line,” says Dr. Jackson, who is also a lecturer at Harvard University and CEO of Future Forward Strategies. In this super informative conversation with Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, Dr. Jackson shares many examples of how companies effectively incorporate worker input, track employee wellbeing, and build trust, all while achieving strong financial performance. “We looked at real ROI and saw increased share price. It's not fluffy. It's not soft. These are real results.” Tune in for a deeply-informed look at how to unlock organizational potential by redefining traditional approaches to human capital, and also learn how companies are navigating pushback on DEI programs in this high stakes environment.

Ned Scott Laff and Scott Carlson: Authors of Hacking College: Why the Major Doesn't Matter and What Really Does

Futuro Health — Wed, 07 May 2025 13:50:57 +0000

Too many students go through college focused on fulfilling course requirements for their major with insufficient attention to their actual personal and career interests. The result is they earn empty college degrees that are not connected to the life that comes after graduation. Those provocative conclusions come from a new book called Hacking College: Why the Major Doesn't Matter and What Really Does by veteran college administrator Ned Scott Laff, and Scott Carlson, senior writer for The Chronicle of Higher Education. “A singular focus on the major winds up confusing students and not allowing them to take advantage of all the other things that are in the college space and how they could marry some of these things to their actual interests,” says Carlson. To make their college education more relevant to them, Laff says it’s critical that advisers help students determine what they are really interested in. “All of a sudden, a sociology major can be a pre-med program or a business program or a marketing program. When you change the conversation, students begin to see the learning opportunities on campus and the whole nature of the college changes without the structure of the college changing at all. It's just how students take advantage of the opportunities that are right there.” Join Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan for a fascinating exploration of how students can explore the college system, the surrounding community, and the hidden job market to connect their learning with their true interests and get on the path to building a fulfilling career.

Dr. Patricia Cuff, National Academies of Sciences Global Forum on Innovation in Health Professional Education: Fostering a Multidisciplinary Approach to Improving Healthcare

Futuro Health — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 14:38:54 +0000

There’s a growing consensus that the best patient care is delivered by multidisciplinary teams, but as you’ll hear on this episode of WorkforceRx, generating solutions to problems facing healthcare and medical education can benefit from the same interprofessional approach. That’s what our guest, Dr. Patricia Cuff, has learned leading the Global Forum on Innovation in Health Professional Education at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine with a membership that includes academic experts and practitioners from many specialties. “Everyone has a voice in the Forum and everyone is considered an important part of the team. This is actually quite rare in education as well as healthcare, where everything tends to be much more siloed.” One of the top concerns identified in workshops and larger Forum convenings is a lack of required education in geriatrics even though the growing elderly population presents a major challenge to the health system. Other key concerns highlighted by Forum members include incompatibility of electronic health records, the high cost of education and provider burnout. Join Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan for a look at what solutions Forum members are identifying for these and other problems and what’s changing, and needs to change, in the education of healthcare providers to create a future with more team-based, patient-centered care.

Carlina Hansen, Senior Program Officer at California Health Care Foundation: Amplifying the Role of Community-Connected Health Workers

Futuro Health — Wed, 09 Apr 2025 16:20:30 +0000

States are often described as laboratories for public policy development on major issues, generating new best practices that can spread to other states and influence federal action. As an acknowledged leader in working to improve healthcare access and quality, California’s innovations in this area are closely watched, including the unusual step it took in the last few years to allow non-traditional providers to participate in its Medicaid program, known as Medi-Cal. According to our WorkforceRx guest, Carlina Hansen of the California Health Care Foundation, the idea behind it is to tap provider resources that are more closely connected to the patients being served. “California is interested in seeing how we can amplify the role of community-connected workers such as doulas, peer support specialists and health navigators who often act as trusted bridges between the healthcare system and our communities,” she explains to Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan. A new Foundation report reveals the approach is gaining some traction thanks in part to the role of Community Care Hubs which help providers new to the system navigate administrative requirements that can serve as barriers to entry. “Hubs act as sort of the connective tissue between health plans, providers, and communities. They hold the promise to make it easier to connect those community-based providers and their patients to Medi-Cal.” This in-depth conversation offers a ground level view of promising innovations in providing community-based, whole person care with an expanded interprofessional team.

Missy Hopson, PhD, Chief Learning and Workforce Development Officer at Ochsner Health: Retention through Moving Them Up

Futuro Health — Wed, 26 Mar 2025 12:47:47 +0000

Persistent labor shortages have spurred some healthcare systems to take a “grow-your-own” approach that involves upskilling current employees to supplement external recruitment. Today on WorkforceRx, we’re going to learn about an innovator in this area, Ochsner Health System in Louisiana, which uses coaches, apprenticeships, and flexible pathways to help advance its employee’s skills and careers. “You really have to have that mindset shift that we are a learning culture and we're all-in on employee development,” says Missy Hopson, PhD, Ochsner's Chief Learning and Workforce Development Officer. As Hopson shares with Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, there have been some impressive results. Using medical assistants as an example, 94% who went through Ochsner’s apprenticeship pathway program were still on the job 18 months later, a huge jump over the normal 18-month retention rate of 55%. Broader retention efforts include making in-house career coaches available to all employees and deploying life coaches when employees face difficult circumstances that might create barriers to staying on the job, such as problems with transportation or family instability. “If needs go unmet, you often end up rolling out of the organization and we miss out on the opportunity of having that win-win relationship between the person who's joined us and their future self,” says Hopson. Tune in for the illuminating details of how Hopson and her team have won over hiring managers and senior leaders with a compelling business case for DIY workforce development and providing holistic support for employees.

Dr. William Hazel, CEO of Claude Moore Opportunities: Building Virginia’s Workforce Highway

Futuro Health — Wed, 26 Feb 2025 14:59:22 +0000

As a physician for many decades and former Secretary of Health and Human Resources in Virginia for eight years, Dr. Bill Hazel has come to believe there is one necessary ingredient to unraveling the very knotty problems the healthcare system faces: collaboration. As he explains to Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, he used his power as Secretary to breakdown government silos to develop multi-agency solutions. Now as CEO of Claude Moore Opportunities -- a public charity focused on workforce development -- he’s pulling players in that space together in a regional and sector-based approach. “I’m a big fan of bringing folks into a room, agreeing on what the problem is, and then thinking about different ways we can contribute to solving it.” Dr. Hazel believes collaboration is also the basis for addressing the physician burnout crisis, arguing that moving to more of a team-based approach will yield a more efficient and supportive environment. “Physicians are overwhelmed and lousy jobs will not attract and keep people. We have to fundamentally look at how we're providing services going forward and make use of teams, which then can support each other and add expertise.” In this wide-ranging episode of WorkforceRx, Dr. Hazel also describes the role of philanthropy in providing flexible funding for innovation, advocates for starting career exploration earlier in the K-12 journey, and discusses why growing the behavioral health workforce is a top priority.

Dr. Joanne Spetz, Director, Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies at UCSF: Where Futuro Health Fits in the Workforce Training Landscape

Futuro Health — Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:19:52 +0000

To mark the fifth year of our founding and the 100th episode of WorkforceRx, we've tapped a very special member of the Futuro Health family, board member Dr. Joanne Spetz, to share her insights on the nation's healthcare workforce landscape and how Futuro Health fits into efforts to meet the growing demand for allied health workers. “Part of the reason I agreed to be on the board is that Futuro Health is creating a model to really think about how to do allied health training at scale. What components of education can be delivered remotely or delivered on a convenient schedule for the learner, and what modules really require the in-person component,” says Spetz, director and presidential chair in healthcare financing at the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies at University of California, San Francisco where she also directs the Health Workforce Research Center on Long-Term Care. As for areas to focus on going forward, Spetz thinks Futuro Health has opportunities to help its graduates succeed once on the job through creation of peer support networks. “Can those workers continue to be connected to each other for their lifelong career development and all the other things that workers do together?” This reflective conversation with Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan also covers workforce challenges in long-term care, the tricky trade-offs healthcare employers face in hiring and retention, and why Futuro’s mission to create education journeys into allied health careers is so important.

Matt Sigelman, President of Burning Glass Institute: Will AI Start Careers In The Middle?

Futuro Health — Wed, 29 Jan 2025 15:48:05 +0000

We may soon face a future where AI Agents handle the bulk of low-skilled, entry-level work, forcing educators to figure out how to train people to start their careers in the middle of the ladder instead of on the first rung. That’s the conclusion our guest Matt Sigelman is drawing from research on AI conducted by the organization he heads, Burning Glass Institute, a leading labor market analytics firm. “I think there are questions here both for how AI helps people get into work, but also for whether people can move up within it,” he tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan. This challenge comes on top of deficiencies Burning Glass has identified in how high schools handle workforce training. “When you look at all the credentials students are earning in high school today, only about 18% are actually in demand and lead to high mobility jobs.” Those roles, which Sigelman calls “launchpad jobs” have helped two million workers in the US without degrees earn six figure salaries. Conversely, Burning Glass research shows if you pick the wrong type of job at the start of your career, it can lead to poverty by age forty. In his encore appearance on WorkforceRx, this pioneer in real-time labor market data shares other research on career mobility in the US and abroad, provides an update on the movement to increase skills-based hiring, and reveals what he thinks are the new “power skills” of the 21st century workforce. Don’t miss this wide-ranging and revealing conversation.

Anika Heavener, Vice President of Innovation and Investments at The SCAN Foundation: Ageism and the Aging Workforce

Futuro Health — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 16:24:27 +0000

On this episode of WorkforceRx, we turn our attention to the challenges and opportunities of one of the fastest growing parts of the US workforce: mid-career and older employees. In fact, the percentage of people over sixty-five who are currently employed is nearly twice as high as it was in the 1990s. “The key driver of the growth we're seeing is an increase in financial insecurity for older adults. Nearly half of adults age fifty-five to sixty-six have no retirement savings,” says Anika Heavener, vice president of Innovation and Investments at The SCAN Foundation, an independent public charity focused on solutions to help adults age well. But, as Heavener explains to Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, the financial imperative to keep working is bumping up against ageism in hiring, particularly a mistaken belief among hiring managers that older people are not well-suited to using new technologies like artificial intelligence. “Our research found that older workers have embraced AI, and they’re actively using it to enhance their work. Employers need to acknowledge and value those workers.” Tune in to this enlightening conversation to learn about other revealing research on the aging workforce and how workforce development programs can evolve to meet the needs of this important demographic, plus you’ll hear about the role of venture capital in fostering intergenerational working environments.

Natalie Foster, President and Co-founder of Economic Security Project: Making the Case for a New Economic Paradigm

Futuro Health — Wed, 18 Dec 2024 16:48:28 +0000

“I really think that everything from this last election to Brexit to the unrest around the country and the world shows that the old economic paradigm of trickle-down economics has left families broke and in debt and in need of a new paradigm,” says Natalie Foster, president of the Economic Security Project. The answer, as she lays out in her new book The Guarantee: Inside the Fight for America's Next Economy, is to provide individuals and families with the same sense of security that American businesses enjoy through a web of laws and institutions that provide the stability they need to be innovative and thrive. As Foster tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, she sees the new paradigm -- which would create an economic floor of guaranteed income, housing, healthcare, childcare and education -- as an evolution of American capitalism. “It’s an evolution that's needed if we are truly to tap into the genius that exists all over this country but is unevenly tapped now because opportunity in America is uneven.” Foster says pilot programs in various cities and states have proven the wisdom of the approach, and she’s expects those local innovations to continue during what will likely be a period of national inaction given the outcome of the November elections. Don’t miss this provocative conversation that includes discussion of extending income guarantees to those pursuing jobs in specific sectors with severe workforce shortages, and what federal policy during the pandemic taught us about the power of economic security.

Shalin Jyotishi, Founder and Managing Director of New America's Future of Work and Innovation Economy Initiative: New Opportunities in the Innovation Economy

Futuro Health — Wed, 04 Dec 2024 15:49:24 +0000

One of one of the most significant attempts to spur economic growth and U.S. global competitiveness since the space race was made a few years ago through the CHIPS and Science Act, but many people in workforce development, economic development and higher education aren’t aware of the new opportunities flowing from it. Our guest on this episode of WorkforceRx, Shalin Jyotishi, launched the Future of Work and Innovation Economy Initiative at New America to help create that awareness and help localities prepare to take advantage of those opportunities. “We’re focused on building the capacity of higher education and workforce institutions to be better positioned to respond to economic development and industrial policy investments coming into their communities, especially around the innovation economy and emerging technologies,” he tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan. One key example is that the CHIPS Act expanded the mission of the National Science Foundation to include supporting the translation of research into technologies, companies and, ultimately, jobs with an eye on regional equity. “The objective here is to make sure that the entire country is able to come along for the ride and not just the traditional tech hotspots like Silicon Valley and Boston,” Jyotishi explains. Tune in to find out which states are early winners in this expansion of opportunity and what else has been set in motion in the attempt to align federal investment with tech innovation to renew the American middle class.

Joe E. Ross, President of Reach University: Turning Jobs Into Degrees

Futuro Health — Fri, 15 Nov 2024 19:20:57 +0000

For those who can’t afford to leave their job to earn a degree, there’s a relatively new ‘learn and earn’ model that essentially turns a job into a degree program. It’s called the apprenticeship degree, and we’re going to learn all about it on today’s episode of WorkforceRx from Joe Ross, president of Reach University, which is dedicated to growing this approach. As Ross tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, Reach’s first area of focus is K-12 schools where it can offer classroom aides, cafeteria workers and other staff without bachelor’s degrees a pathway to the teaching profession. A typical student might do online seminars twice per week in addition to working fulltime. Not only will this help with the teacher shortage, Ross says, it also increases diversity. “Paraeducators are much more likely to look like the students they serve in a given community than the teachers.” Find out how the programs are funded, how liberal arts courses can be integrated into the workplace experience and what models Reach is developing for the behavioral health sector as this innovation becomes more popular.

Dr. Alan Glaseroff, Co-Director of Stanford University’s High Value Healthcare Incubator: Solutions For the Shortage of Primary Care Physicians

Futuro Health — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 18:52:26 +0000

“The job is broken. Primary care is about relationships and building trust with patients, and knowing who they are as people. You can’t do that in a fifteen minute visit,” says Dr. Alan Glaseroff, a longtime family physician and health care delivery innovator affiliated with Stanford University. Add to that the need to do hours of administrative work on weeknights and weekends, and Glaseroff can understand why it’s hard to get medical students to choose primary care as a specialty. As he tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, the answer starts with changing the model of care to restore the appeal of primary care as a career. On this episode of WorkforceRx, Glaseroff shares several innovations he helped develop at Stanford that revolved around empowering medical assistants to do more. “Our medical assistants had their own panels of patients. They stayed in touch with the patients between visits and they helped motivate them in activities that would make them more healthy.” Other structural changes allowed physicians to only intervene with patients when most needed, and ensured that everyone’s work was done by 5pm. The result was improved patient satisfaction, job satisfaction and quality of care. Tune in to learn about other innovations in the delivery system and payment system that might help address the chronic shortage of primary care physicians that is hampering efforts to improve health and healthcare.

Dr. Stacey Ocander, Nebraska Hospital Association: Helping Young People Choose Healthcare Careers

Futuro Health — Wed, 16 Oct 2024 14:43:56 +0000

Studies show that when it comes to getting people interested in any career, early exposure can make a significant impact on their ultimate choice. That helps explain why a program in Nebraska that’s aimed at cultivating interest in healthcare jobs begins in the third grade. As we learn in this episode of WorkforceRx, the Health Careers Pipeline Initiative is just one of several workforce development strategies being pursued by the Nebraska Hospital Association under the guidance of Dr. Stacey Ocander, the association's senior director of workforce and education initiatives. “You really have to start the excitement young. You have to be the people who establish the strongest relationship before something that may be negative in their life gets a hold of them,” says Ocander, a self-described creative disruptor. The program starts with exposing youngsters to thirty-two healthcare occupations and gradually winnows that number down to one or two as students discover their interests through summer camps and internships in middle school and high school. Ocander sees this sustained contact as critical. “My goal is by the time they're a senior, our hospitals are engaged to help them pay for that first two years of college to get them to that first license.” Join Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan for an encouraging exploration of innovative partnerships between hospitals and educators and the benefits of doing ‘business as unusual.’

Elizabeth Landsberg, California Department of Healthcare Access and Information and Jessica Pitt, California Labor and Workforce Development Agency: Collaboration to Grow the Behavioral Health Workforce

Futuro Health — Wed, 25 Sep 2024 15:02:13 +0000

Today we’re going to take a look at how America’s largest state is tackling one of the biggest challenges in the nation’s healthcare system: increasing the supply of behavioral health providers. As we’ll hear from our guests on this episode of WorkforceRx, heightened attention to the issue from California Governor Newsom‘s administration has led to more funding and a greater degree of coordination at the state level. “Our agencies and departments are coming together in ways they have never come together before to really collaborate and figure out how we can align and leverage resources, expertise, and opportunities,” says Jessica Pitt, assistant deputy secretary of Healthcare Workforce at the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency. Elizabeth Landsberg, director of the California Department of Healthcare Access and Information, calls out new data gathering and modeling initiatives that support the department’s goals of increasing the diversity of the health workforce and the number of providers in medically underserved areas. “The data allows us to see the race, ethnicity, and the languages spoken by the workforce. We're using that data to prioritize our efforts geographically and by role to address the largest shortage areas,” she explains. Join Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan for an inside look at California’s strategies for developing and diversifying its behavioral health workforce that include apprenticeships, increasing clinical placements for trainees, and integrating behavioral health into primary care practices.

States Are Laboratories of Workforce Development Innovation: Jennifer Davis, Senior Policy Advisor on Human Services, Wyoming Governor’s Office

Futuro Health — Wed, 11 Sep 2024 17:06:59 +0000

There are many stakeholders in the ongoing effort to combat healthcare workforce shortages but one of the most important is state governments because of their critical role in providing healthcare services. Today on WorkforceRx, we're going to check in with one of the states that is leading national efforts to find solutions by talking with Jennifer Davis, Senior Policy Advisor on Human Services to Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon. Jen has been instrumental in Wyoming's robust efforts to increase the healthcare workforce, particularly with regard to the providers of mental and behavioral health services. “We did some mapping of the behavioral health professions that we actually have in Wyoming and in some of those, we only have one or two people who are licensed and so it's really forced us to have a conversation about what do we want to be, what is working toward that end, and what is not?” Strategies to deal with shortages in mental health and other healthcare fields include clearing barriers in licensing, improving credit transfers from the state’s community colleges to its sole university, and creating clear educational pathways in consultation with industry sectors. There is much to learn in this probing conversation with Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan about recruitment and retention strategies for rural areas, efforts to maintain access by upskilling providers, and national initiatives to develop and share best practices.

John Colborn, Executive Director of Apprenticeships for America: Raising the Visibility of Apprenticeships

Futuro Health — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 14:59:25 +0000

“Anyone who feels like they want to go to college should be able to go, but having just one choice for every young person entering the labor market seems like a mistake,” says John Colborn, executive director of Apprenticeships for America. Opening a second pathway of apprenticeship would not only serve those for whom college is not a viable option, Colborn argues, but it would also help employers who need workers with hard skills that are often not acquired through degree programs. Colborn is particularly excited about an emerging third path that blends apprenticeships and degree programs that’s being used to grow the ranks of nurses, engineers and teachers. “What schools are doing is putting paraprofessionals already working in the school into a teaching role and at the same time enabling them to get the four-year credential that's necessary to become a full -fledged teacher.” While Colborn hopes this “flex” of the apprenticeship model will boost the country’s low utilization of apprenticeships compared to other industrialized nations, significant growth won’t occur until there is much more federal funding, and different models of funding, than currently exist. Join Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan on this episode of WorkforceRx for an exploration of what those models can be, and the role that states and other actors can play to boost the visibility of a proven option for supplying the workforce the US economy needs.

Stephen Handel, ECMC Foundation: Redesigning Higher Ed for A Changing Student Body

Futuro Health — Thu, 15 Aug 2024 15:00:00 +0000

Boosting completion rates at higher education institutions in the US has been a hot topic for years, with particular concern given to the relatively low 43% rate for community colleges. We're going to take a look at solutions to that problem today with Dr. Steve Handel, director of strategy for Post -Secondary Education Transformation at ECMC Foundation. “Part of the work we would like to do is figure out ways to improve that completion rate, particularly for students who we might not predict initially would have the wherewithal to complete a degree. How do we change the structures that were built for a different set of constituencies in a different age,” Handel tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan. Key steps include addressing obstacles for working adults and adult students with children and improving the transfer process between community colleges and a four-year institutions. A bigger lift might be changing financial incentives so that colleges focus more on completion than the number of students admitted. “Colleges and universities, like all organizations, are going to pivot to the ways that sustain their institutions,” he says. Tune in for an informative scan of other ideas including expanded use of online education, integrating work experiences into degree programs, addressing the high cost of education, and doing a better job of communicating just how essential post-secondary learning is to social and economic mobility.

Vinz Koller, Senior Strategist for Capacity Building at Social Policy Research Associates: The Future of Learning is Work

Futuro Health — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 14:59:32 +0000

One of the oldest forms of training, apprenticeship, has new relevance in the age of AI according to today’s WorkforceRx guest Vinz Koller, a nationally influential voice on the subject and self-described apprenticeship evangelist. Why? Because the pace of change brought about by AI and other technologies has accelerated to a point where predictions about what specific skills workers in most fields will need even a year from now have questionable value. “The model of apprenticeship is particularly appropriate because in my view, apprenticeship is a look into the future. You are actually in the workplace. You don't have to predict what things will be like in ten years. The workplace will evolve and you will evolve with it,” Koller tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan. In his role as senior strategist for Capacity Building at Social Policy Research Associates, Koller works with local communities, states, and the US government to determine how to make work-based learning more accessible to more people. On the learner/worker side, a welcome step would be enabling apprentices to earn an associate-level degree upon completion of their training. For employers, key needs include regulatory changes to make hosting apprentices easier and help with setting-up and tracking programs. The aim, he says, is to turn more employers into “co-producers of talent” instead of just consumers of it. This expansive conversation also covers the multi-faceted return on investment for employers, the need for high school recruitment programs, and the role apprenticeships could play in reducing student debt.

Aquilina Versoza, Pilipino Workers Center of Southern California: Could Worker Co-ops Transform the In-Home Care Workforce?

Futuro Health — Wed, 26 Jun 2024 14:58:50 +0000

Our exploration of solutions for growing and strengthening the direct care workforce continues on this episode of WorkforceRx with a close look at a potentially transformative employee-owned cooperative model that’s gaining traction in California. In the eyes of our guest, Aquilina Soriano Versoza, the higher pay and better working conditions that co-ops can provide will help grow an urgently needed workforce and address current injustices that prevail in the “wild west” of private home care. “Very typically, Filipino immigrant caregivers are receiving $5 or less per hour with no overtime, no job security, and no benefits. Some are earning just above $2 an hour,” she explains to Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan. As executive director of the Pilipino Workers Center of Southern California, Versoza has helped pioneer a co-op model that, in addition to higher wages, offers on-the-job skills training, education in operating a co-op business, and the opportunity to work in teams. There are several co-ops up and running now, and a franchise approach is being put in place to increase scale. “In five years, we have the vision that every metropolis in California will have a cooperative option, both for workers as well as individuals who want to access long term care through a cooperative.” Spend some time with this thoughtful national leader who sees the crisis in home care as an opportunity to improve the quality of life for both the seniors receiving care and the workers providing it.

Anson Green, Senior Manager of Digital and Automation Upskilling at Tyson Foods: AI-Powered Tools Are Transforming Worker Training

Futuro Health — Wed, 12 Jun 2024 14:10:11 +0000

“I think training is gonna be so different looking in the next few years than what we're used to,” says Anson Green who brings a very seasoned eye to the workforce training landscape. After decades working in adult education, Green is now helping Tyson Foods train an incredibly diverse global workforce and, in the U.S. 60% are immigrants with very limited digital and language skills. As he explains to Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, succeeding at this challenge starts with a belief in their ability to learn. “They're very, very mobile in terms of their models of how to get things done, and they figure things out.” The big change he sees coming is due to AI-powered training programs that allow him to customize content by reading level, language and other factors with a few clicks instead of many hours of effort. Another key factor is that technology is getting easier to use. “We've got this really sweet spot where robots that five years ago would have taken an associate's degree to be able to run, I could teach you how to run in an afternoon.” This is a great chance to learn about leading edge training programs at one of the world’s largest food companies and to find out about a hidden workforce training jewel in nearly every US community.

Rachel Wick, Blue Shield of California Foundation: Respecting the Work That Makes All Other Work Possible

Futuro Health — Thu, 30 May 2024 13:58:41 +0000

“I'm able to be here with you today because my son is at a wonderful childcare provider home,” says WorkforceRx guest, Rachel Wick, to illustrate how critical direct care workers are to our lives and economy. Wick, the senior program officer for Blue Shield of California Foundation, describes childcare and direct care provided in the home for the elderly and disabled as ‘the work that makes all other work possible.’ As she tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, it’s time our society valued it as such and invested in the sector the way we invest in public schools and healthcare. Wick is hoping the foundation’s new report, Forging a Sustainable Future for California's Direct Care Workforce, will help provide a shared understanding of these workers and their challenges among all relevant stakeholders to help advance needed policy changes. Raising up this worker population and increasing economic security for other low-income communities is part of the foundation’s overall mission to remove barriers to health and wellbeing, especially among people of color, in order to build lasting and equitable solutions that will make California the healthiest state. “As we listen to families across California, what they tell us is that health and wellbeing and stability is just not possible when you are caught in a relentless daily struggle for survival.” Tune in to learn more about the role economic security plays in health, and how unionization and cooperative business models may be part of the answer to elevating a critically important workforce.

Renee DeSilva, CEO of The Health Management Academy: How Health System Leaders Are Tackling Workforce Challenges

Futuro Health — Thu, 16 May 2024 14:10:15 +0000

If you would love to know what’s on the minds of the leaders of the nation’s largest health systems as they tackle workforce challenges and a host of other issues, but don’t happen to have the time to talk to all 150 of them, then this episode of WorkforceRx is for you. The well-placed source supplying this intelligence is Renee DeSilva, CEO of The Health Management Academy which provides advice, research, knowledge sharing, and leadership development for hospitals and other healthcare companies. Although labor costs and labor shortages continue to vex healthcare leaders, DeSilva is encouraged by the energy and innovation she’s seeing around solutions such as upskilling current employees, leaning into skills-based hiring, and creating talent pipelines with local educators. “I'm seeing a lot of creativity and partnership energy around solving the workforce challenge structurally, and then also just making the folks that we do have more productive and creating more of a thriving environment around them,” she tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan. Leaders are also taking a fresh look at leveraging the knowledge and talents of nurse managers and giving them greater agency to implement solutions. As a student of leadership and a leader herself, DeSilva appreciates the front row seat she has watching members of the C-suite navigate a dizzying array problems. “It's really interesting to see how each of them leans into their unique gifts. I think that's where everyone has their power alley.” You’ll leave this conversation with a better sense of the paths being taken to the future of care and the tactics leaders are using to get there.

Wendi Safstrom, President of the SHRM Foundation: HR as a Driver of Social Change

Futuro Health — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 13:59:03 +0000

Evolving employee expectations for working conditions and years of a tight labor market have created steady challenges for human resources professionals. For a look at how those roles are evolving in response, and, to learn about current best practices, we turn today to Wendi Safstrom, president of the SHRM Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the world's largest HR professional society. “We're problem-solving based on research that we do in the field with our HR pros with the goal to help HR get better and help them lead positive social change in the workplace.” As you’ll learn on this episode of WorkforceRx hosted by Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, that change includes ensuring health equity at work, providing support for mental health needs and adopting a “skills-first” approach to hiring, which can provide opportunity to populations who have often been shut out of the hiring process. “HR professionals have an obligation to contribute to bettering the lives of others, and what better way to do that than by employing an individual and demonstrating a culture that's welcoming for everyone?” In this informative conversation, Wendi also addresses the use of AI in hiring, the need for HR staff to attend to their own mental health, and the free resources SHRM makes available to employers of all sizes.

Curtis Johnson, Senior Fellow at Education Evolving: It’s Time to Upend Current Models of Education

Futuro Health — Thu, 11 Apr 2024 15:07:29 +0000

For those concerned about teacher burnout and retention issues in K-12 education, Curtis Johnson has seen an innovative model in action that could provide an answer: let teachers run the schools. Johnson, a veteran educator, policy analyst and author, says there are already several hundred such schools in twenty-three states, what he describes as a slow growing movement. While interviewing staff at these schools for his book A New Deal for Teachers, he heard a consistent message. “They first convince me that they're working harder than they've ever worked in their lives and then they go on to say that nobody ought to ever take this away from them because they have more fulfillment professionally and personally. These schools hold on to most all of their teachers every year,” he tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan. Johnson is attracted to ideas that upend what he considers failing models of education, as you might expect from the co-author of Disrupting Class, which argues for shifting to a personalized and mastery-based approach. “Students today are so different from previous generations that you've got to treat them individually, yet in the current system of K-12, it's not financially feasible to regard them as individuals and so personalization is something that people claim, but rarely do.” Tune in for a candid conversation about breaking the grip of centralized systems, how K-12 education should incorporate AI, and why he believes up to half of colleges and universities in the US will close in the next decade.

David Jarrard, Chairman of Jarrard, Inc.: Keeping The Human Touch In The Age of Digital Communications

Futuro Health — Wed, 27 Mar 2024 14:00:26 +0000

As almost any employer can tell you, today’s workers have high expectations for compensation, the quality of their work experience, and the level of work-life balance. Today’s WorkforceRx guest, David Jarrard, would add one key item to that list: they also expect to have a voice when organizations make important decisions. That means leaders have to engage with workers, not just communicate to them, and that requires creating opportunities for dialogue. “There's ways for ideas to be shared back and forth so that even if the ideas that are shared aren't the ones that are adopted, there was a sense of being heard, a sense of being listened to. We have found it to be extremely valuable to retention,” he tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan. One of the best approaches is for leaders to rely less on the ever-expanding array of digital communications tools and take the old school approach of walking the halls. “To build trust you've got to look somebody in the eye. You've got to shake their hand. You’ve got to have that moment of pause where you can actually listen and be in the presence of another person. It’s a fundamentally important investment right now.” Tune in for a wide array of other insights from a seasoned pro that more than 1,000 healthcare organizations across forty-five states have turned to for guidance on how to communicate with internal and external audiences about restructurings, workforce challenges and other high stakes issues.

Karilyn Van Oosten, VP of Strategic Business Development at Unitek Learning: Partnering with Employers for Onsite Training

Futuro Health — Wed, 28 Feb 2024 15:18:44 +0000

In the battle against declining enrollments and declining perceptions of value, higher education organizations need to be flexible and meet employers and students where they are, says today’s WorkforceRx guest Karilyn Van Oosten. Her company, Unitek Learning -- a provider of workforce solutions and career training programs for the healthcare industry -- is doing that literally by bringing its educational offerings on site to healthcare organizations in what it calls a “school in the box” model. “They're able to go ahead and provide the setting for the clinicals and the skills lab, and we're able to go ahead and provide the curriculum, approvals, faculty...all of the pieces that are necessary to be able to deliver the curriculum and have these individuals be practice ready the moment they graduate,” she tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan. As for providing value to students, Van Oosten says the key is understanding they want fast-paced educational experiences that allow them to move smoothly into the workforce. Meeting that need without sacrificing quality is the challenge. Don’t miss this compelling conversation in which Van Oosten also shares her insights on stackable credentials, ‘learn and earn’ programs, and other signs of flexibility in workforce training programs that are trying to deliver the healthcare providers we all need.

Rick Brooks, Rhode Island’s Director of Healthcare Workforce Transformation: Creativity Born of Crisis

Futuro Health — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 14:10:57 +0000

“Because of the workforce shortages, there is more creativity and more willingness to be innovative, and I think we can make something out of this crisis,” says Rick Brooks, who has his hands full leading Rhode Island’s efforts to strengthen and grow the healthcare workforce. His optimism is based on new levels of engagement by key stakeholders to find solutions and the formation of some unlikely collaborations to bring them to life. “For example, there are partnerships happening between higher education programs that have traditionally viewed each other as competitors to develop agreements that grant credits for non-credit activities,” he tells Futuro Health CEO and WorkforceRx host Van Ton-Quinlivan. He also cites licensure boards being open to rethinking education requirements for nursing faculty and the recredentialing of foreign trained health professionals, and other signs of innovation. In this expansive conversation, Brooks, a veteran labor educator, advocate and leader, shares strategies and insights on a wide array of issues including loan repayment programs, expanding clinical placement opportunities and redesigning career ladders with more, and more achievable, rungs so that people can stay in the healthcare field. It’s an impressive menu of options that might just inspire some creative thinking of your own.

Dr. Sarita Mohanty, President & CEO of The SCAN Foundation: Collaborative Solutions to Support Aging Well

Futuro Health — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 17:01:39 +0000

The growing crisis in homelessness across the US has understandably garnered a lot of news coverage and attention from policymakers, and today’s WorkforceRx guest wants to make sure one key facet of the problem is not overlooked as solutions are discussed. “There's a lot of over-representation of older people in the homelessness rates, and older Black Californians -- and this is a staggering statistic -- are five times more likely to become homeless than their white counterparts,” says Dr. Sarita Mohanty, president and CEO of The SCAN Foundation, whose work is centered in the nexus of age, poverty and equity. As one of the largest foundations in the US focused on improving the quality of health and life for older adults, The SCAN Foundation supports a wide variety of initiatives to address the complex factors preventing many Americans from aging well. On this episode, Dr. Mohanty shares some positive notes with Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan about statewide efforts in California that include expanded Medicaid access, moves to professionalize the home care workforce and the formation of Master Plans of Aging (MPA) at the state and local level. “There are some important areas of need that these MPA stakeholders are identifying and then they're actually advocating at a policy level to get these addressed.” Stay tuned for many more examples of cross-sector collaborations that are accelerating solutions to this critically important problem affecting Americans of all ages.

Paula Nickelson, Director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services: The Long and Short Game of Addressing Workforce Shortages

Futuro Health — Wed, 17 Jan 2024 15:07:24 +0000

State departments of health play a huge role in America's healthcare system, with responsibility for public health, licensure, public policy, and much more, so the workforce challenges they face have broad implications. “It will probably be twenty years before we really begin to bend the curve because many of the workforce shortages we encounter require very long-term strategies to change,” says Paula Nickelson, Director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. Expanding slots for physician residencies and training opportunities for Certified Nursing Assistants are just two of the steps being pursued. Student loan reform, synching up higher ed with the needs of employers and better data management are also on her list but, as she tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, Nickelson thinks these types of changes will not improve healthcare as much as a major shift toward prevention would. “We will never change our health indicators in a positive way, nor will we get out of the escalating spiral of acute care costs and long-term care costs, until we invest in public health and prevention.” This episode of WorkforceRx promises an insightful state-level perspective on workforce and health system challenges confronting the entire nation.

Michael Horn, Co-Founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute: Bringing Disruptive Innovations to Education

Futuro Health — Thu, 04 Jan 2024 15:22:29 +0000

“If I looked at higher education writ large, as we've traditionally defined it, I'd say that the patient is sick right now,” says Michael Horn, a prominent national voice on reimagining education at both the K-12 and post-secondary levels. Horn sees a misalignment between education consumers who are seeking greater value, and education suppliers -- especially brick-and-mortar institutions -- who have not found a way to manage high cost structures and offer more flexible, lower cost, online options. And, as he explains to Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, online offerings won’t be a solution either unless they are carefully designed around student outcomes, how to teach the material effectively and how to measure if students are actually learning it. “Technology can be a really useful enabler of assessment, of feedback and of delivering customized curriculum, but it's not about the use of technology for its own sake.” Among Horn’s other prescriptions are getting schools to focus more on improving learning models, and moving to a competency-based approach. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear one of the foremost thinkers on education reform address a wide array of issues from organizational model change, to addressing learning loss and social-emotional deficits, to new learning options in higher education. Be sure to stay tuned for a sneak peek at Horn’s new book due out next year which focuses on how to develop a deeper sense of what you’re looking for when changing jobs or careers.

Dr. Sriram Shamasunder, Co-Founder of HEAL: The Power of Perspective in Caring for the Underserved

Futuro Health — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 14:39:59 +0000

Doctors who realize that creating a local jobs program can be as important to helping their patients as writing a prescription have the kind of broad perspective that today’s WorkforceRx guest wants all health providers to adopt. “I think that context is oftentimes lost on providers in medical school or nursing school where they're not connecting the patient to the entire context of their lives,” says Dr. Sriram Shamasunder, the co-founder of the Health Equity Action and Leadership initiative at UC San Francisco. The idea for HEAL grew out of global public health work Shamasunder had done himself in which he felt like he didn’t understand all of the factors impacting his patients’ health status -- what he calls the structural determinants of care. “That requires mentorship. It requires the correct curriculum...kind of reorienting what medical education is,” he tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan. Each class of HEAL Fellows includes a mix of doctors from the US, Navajo Nation and the Global South. “It's this really incredible learning community where for two years, they're doing clinical work and project work to become better advocates and better leaders.” Tune in for a thoughtful look at using medicine as a way to establish trust in resource-denied communities and how HEAL is a potential solution to address vacancies in Native communities.

Dr. David Ferreira, Provost of Charter Oak State College: Turning Employee Tuition Benefit On Its Head

Futuro Health — Wed, 29 Nov 2023 15:38:27 +0000

Although most US employers offer some form of tuition assistance, it’s estimated that less than 5% of employees use the benefit. There are several reasons for this, but according to Dr. David Ferreira, provost of Charter Oak State College, paying the upfront cost of tuition is high on the list. “Fifty-seven percent of Americans have less than $1,000 in their savings account. They cannot commit to an upfront tuition cost especially if they’re living paycheck to paycheck,” he tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan. Inspired by an idea outlined in Van’s book WorkforceRx: Agile and Inclusive Strategies for Employers, Educators and Workers in Unsettled Times, Ferreira and colleagues decided to turn the traditional tuition reimbursement model on its head and adopt a disbursement model instead in which employers pay the upfront cost and get reimbursed through a federal tax credit for employee tuition benefits. He calls it a ‘win-win-win’ approach. “There’s no money out of pocket for the employee, there’s no cost on the employer side because they'll be reimbursed, and Charter Oak is going to get more students.” In working to sign-up employers as the new Charter Invest program rolls out, Ferreira is also highlighting that it will help companies with the important goals of employee retention and diversifying their workforce. Get all the details, learn about the program’s ‘all you can eat’ design, and find out how employers are reacting to the idea in this eye-opening conversation.

Lupe Alonzo-Diaz, Physicians for a Healthy California: The Doctor Shortage Is About More Than Numbers

Futuro Health — Wed, 08 Nov 2023 16:24:24 +0000

Like all states, California is facing a shortage of physicians -- in its case a gap of 10,500 by the end of the decade -- but today’s WorkforceRx guest says the definition of shortage needs to go beyond just numbers to include their practice location and cultural diversity. “Oftentimes, we don't have enough access to physicians in particular areas or to culturally dynamic physicians,” says Lupe Alonzo-Diaz, president and CEO of Physicians for a Healthy California. As she explains to Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, PHC tackles the issue by expanding physician training opportunities in underserved areas and by incentivizing early career physicians and dentists to accept Medicaid patients through loan forgiveness. “Those physicians come from geographically underserved communities. They also speak a second language and they're committed to staying in those communities after they finish their service obligation.” This engaging conversation also explores addressing social determinants of health, trends in team-based care and previews a new report on how physicians who are women of color fared during the pandemic. “Women physicians of color are such a key core component to how we deliver culturally dynamic quality care and we need them to stay in their profession and continue to advance.”

Laura Beeth, VP for Workforce Partnerships at Fairview Health Services: Tips for Reaching Untapped Labor Pools

Futuro Health — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 16:20:24 +0000

In the struggle to fill ongoing gaps in healthcare staffing, the days of waiting for people to apply for openings are over, says human resources veteran Laura Beeth. “We're going out deeply into the communities, especially communities with high social determinants of health, and really working partnerships to help them move into healthcare careers,” says the vice president for Workforce Partnerships at Fairview Health Services, which is the second largest private employer in Minnesota. Beeth tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan that hiring officials need to start meeting people where they are at in their careers instead of passing them over if they don’t meet all of the specific qualifications. “There is space for everyone. Let's figure out if it's a perfect match. If not, let’s find out what they can do in our organization. That's the kind of flexible mindset we need.” This conversation is loaded with useful strategies and insights on leveraging learn-and-earn programs, re-credentialing new Americans with healthcare backgrounds, reducing employee education costs, building employee loyalty and diversifying your workforce. Tune in for a valuable dose of hard-earned wisdom from the woman known as ‘the godmother of healthcare workforce development.’

Rachel Korberg, Families and Workers Fund: A Once In A Generation Chance To Advance Economic Mobility

Futuro Health — Wed, 11 Oct 2023 15:46:07 +0000

According to recent reports from the University of Massachusetts and the US Department of Energy, the Biden administration’s historic investments in infrastructure and combatting climate change are already having an impact on the job market and will continue to do so with some economists forecasting the creation of millions of jobs over the next decade in those sectors. Harnessing these investments to boost economic mobility is a key focus of our WorkforceRx guest, Rachel Korberg, executive director and co-founder of the Families and Workers Fund, a coalition of philanthropies led by the Ford Foundation and Schmidt Futures. “We’re all working together with the idea that this is a really once in a generation opening to advance economic mobility for all,” she tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan. The goal is ambitious: to create upwardly mobile careers for one million people who are typically locked out of such opportunities by investing in models for training and retention, creating strategic partnerships and helping employers and government with the resources needed for “high road” training. The Fund has also created a formal role for frontline workers to make sure their perspective is on an equal footing with the Funder Advisory Board. “They've shaped millions of dollars in our grant making. For me, it really represents how I think philanthropy should be done.” Join us for a fascinating look at an innovative collective impact model and be sure to stay tuned to learn about three things the Fund looks for when reviewing grant proposals.

Parvati Dev, CEO of SimTabs: When to Use Virtual Simulation in Healthcare Training

Futuro Health — Wed, 27 Sep 2023 15:51:54 +0000

The use of simulation in healthcare training used to be confined to actors posing as patients and the use of medical mannequins. But the options have grown far beyond that to include 3D virtual reality, augmented reality, and game-based learning, among other approaches. On this episode of WorkforceRx, we're going to get an overview of the space with one of its leading experts, Dr. Parvati Dev, CEO of SimTabs. Dr. Dev has four decades of experience developing tech solutions for life sciences education in industry and academia, including groundbreaking work at Stanford University. While she’s seen many useful applications for virtual simulation in healthcare training, focusing on critical tasks where failure can happen - for instance a tricky part of a surgery - is at the top of the list. “You can practice just that segment of that procedure. They don't need to do the whole procedure again and again. That kind of high stakes training is not happening as often as it probably should,” she tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan. In this enlightening conversation, Dr. Dev offers advice on how to decide when simulation is the right tool, shares her views on the extent to which simulation can replace in-person clinical training, and offers a vision for how, with the help of AI, an ecosystem of training tools can be created to move the industry to a higher level of impact.

Carissa Moffat Miller, CEO of the Council of Chief State School Officers: Imagining a Modernized K-12 System

Futuro Health — Wed, 13 Sep 2023 15:54:22 +0000

While there’s little that matches the excitement a new school year brings, it’s tempered somewhat this year by the need to continue recovering from the many disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Learning loss, declining enrollments and increases in behavioral problems are just a few of the issues that education leaders are grappling with. Our WorkforceRx guest, Carissa Moffat Miller, is in the thick of efforts to help school system leaders find potential solutions as CEO of the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). “This disruption has created an opportunity for us to think about things differently, and for state chiefs to change the ecosystem of school,” she tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan. There are some new programmatic options to consider in doing that thanks to $190 billion in federal funding that allowed states to experiment with different approaches to tutoring, after school programs and digital learning, among other initiatives. One of CCSSO’s key roles, Moffat Miller says, is sharing examples of what worked coming out of that process and highlighting best practices on a continuing basis. And while keeping a close eye on recovery, her members are also looking forward as reflected in the new report Imagining More: How State Education Agencies Can Modernize the K-12 System. “The chiefs see their role as setting conditions and clearing a path for districts who are ready to take the next step.” Tune in to hear examples of what’s working across the country to improve K-12 education and what role employers can play in supporting state education goals.

Tanya Harris, Aspen Institute Health Innovators Fellowship: Fostering Collaboration to Improve Healthcare

Futuro Health — Thu, 24 Aug 2023 15:11:54 +0000

“Healthcare is just so large and complex and expensive. We've got to find better ways to reach across political divides, ideological disagreements and narrow, sector-based perspectives,” says Tanya Harris, who runs the Health Innovators Fellowship at the Aspen Institute which is designed to do just that. The program provides a diverse group of mid-career professionals with the opportunity to do the kind of connecting and thinking that’s not possible in the rush of daily life. “They're away from family, they're away from work and they're in this big space so they can think differently. People take bigger bets in their own professional journey than they might have otherwise,” she explains to Futuro Heath CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan. Examples include fellows coming together to tackle subjects as wide-ranging as adolescent mental health, supply chain innovation and health equity. One current fellow is a fire chief trying to meet the challenge of overwhelmed hospital emergency rooms. “It's a really impressive group of folks that have been in, and continue to be in, this fellowship, and the possibilities are really endless.” This engaging conversation is a great opportunity to learn about efforts to foster greater coordination in the U.S. healthcare system and the importance of aligning incentives to achieve better outcomes.

Mardy Leathers, Executive Director of Apprenticeships for America: Reinvigorating a Proven Strategy for Workforce Development

Futuro Health — Tue, 01 Aug 2023 14:11:15 +0000

There’s an old solution for some of the toughest challenges facing today’s US labor market, including a lack of skilled workers, inequitable access to well-paying jobs and an aging workforce: apprenticeships. That’s according to our WorkforceRx guest, Dr. Mardy Leathers, executive director of Apprenticeships for America. “Apprenticeship programs are great at upskilling, they're great at supporting incumbent workers and they are great at preparing people as they enter the workforce,” he tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan. While apprenticeships have been a popular model for work-based learning for centuries in Europe and elsewhere, the US has never fully embraced them. Changing that, Leathers says, will require the expansion of intermediaries -- organizations that design and register apprenticeship programs and provide support to learners and employers throughout the experience. “Employers can't do it on their own. If someone can help them navigate the process, they are much more likely to lean in.” Don’t miss a great learning opportunity that might change your perceptions of apprenticeships, help you understand the standards and criteria involved, and introduce you to new funding models and ways of seeing their value to employers.

Troy Clark, President & CEO of the New Mexico Hospital Association: Growing Your Own Healthcare Workforce

Futuro Health — Wed, 19 Jul 2023 15:00:00 +0000

Worsening staff shortages in healthcare are prompting some big shifts in how hospitals are approaching the issue, and New Mexico is a good case in point. As we learn from today’s WorkforceRx guest, Troy Clark, who runs the state’s hospital association, a traditionally competitive mindset is yielding to a more collaborative approach. “We have this limited workforce that we're all fighting for, and our history has been...am I a better recruiter or not? Yet, what we learned and succeeded at very well in New Mexico during the pandemic was that when we collaborate, we can still compete and we will all win,” he tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan. Additionally, his members are realizing they have substantial disadvantages in competing against hospitals in other states for a limited supply of workers, so they are adopting a “grow your own” strategy instead. Elements include working with the state and other partners to expand clinical learning opportunities, encouraging community colleges to leverage remote learning technology to serve remote parts of the state, and getting more people from a diverse set of communities interested in healthcare careers in the first place. Tune in as Van and Troy explore other solutions including redesigning care teams and educating people about the many non-clinical roles available in the space.

Sameer Gadkaree, President & CEO of The Institute for College Access and Success: Creating Paths To Debt-Free College

Futuro Health — Wed, 28 Jun 2023 14:00:00 +0000

“We're asking students effectively to take a bet on themselves and what we have seen in recent years is the growing problem of debt that doesn't pay off for them,” says Sameer Gadkaree, President & CEO of The Institute for College Access and Success. Among the 44 million Americans affected, the debt load is $30,000 for the average borrower, including those who did not complete their certificate program or degree. As Gadkaree points out to Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, risk in the higher education system has gradually been shifted over several decades to students and their families. A big part of the solution, he says, is building debt-free paths to college by stitching together existing local, state and federal programs and supplementing financial support as needed. But the answer also needs to include a variety of tools to help students to completion such as advising, social supports and making sure they are receiving food assistance and other benefits for which they qualify. Gadkaree cites several programs across the country that are doubling graduation rates by taking this approach, and hopes that others working on these daunting challenges will pause to celebrate successes and look at the larger trends. “I think there's a growing awareness of the harms of student debt, the challenges that it creates for our borrowers and that we really need to change if we're going to achieve greater racial equity and economic mobility.”

Matthew Rascoff, Vice Provost of Digital Education at Stanford University: EdTech Bright Spots for Collaborative Learning

Futuro Health — Thu, 15 Jun 2023 13:11:46 +0000

While it will be years before researchers can render a verdict on how the wholesale shift to online learning during COVID impacted student performance, it’s already clear that in higher education, post-pandemic use of education technology and positively attitudes about it have both increased. Research also shows that professors and students expect more use of digital course materials and technology going forward. Our guest on this episode of WorkforceRx, Matthew Rascoff, is keeping a close eye on these trends as vice provost for Digital Education at Stanford University. “Part of the legacy of the pandemic is the plurality of approaches that are now available to instructors. It’s important to start with the needs of our learners and work our way backwards to the modality that will meet those needs most effectively,” he tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan. Rascoff is encouraged by what he calls a huge wave of entrepreneurship in learning technology, some of which will be advanced by his students at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. “They have really amazing ideas for what that future is going to look like and I hope it is a more inclusive technology environment designed to serve learners who have been underserved in the past.” Learn about a new asynchronous platform to build learning communities; a free, online model for small group book discussions; and a non-profit “bootcamp” that builds both job skills and social capital. Plus, Matthew and Van discuss the emergence of AI tutors, and a program that offers Stanford courses for credit to Title I high schools across the country.

Paul Fain, Higher Education Journalist: Experiential Learning Gains Traction

Futuro Health — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 01:20:35 +0000

“I haven't really seen that much in my career as a journalist where California and Alabama are rowing in the same direction. I do think workforce development is that rare issue that cuts through some of the partisan noise,” says Paul Fain, a veteran observer of higher education and workforce training. His weekly newsletter, The Job, focuses on the nexus between education and work, so he is always on the hunt for what’s new and interesting in these fields. As he shares with Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, one area that stands out is the growth in experiential learning and career exploration through simulations and micro-internships. “One company I looked at offers learning simulations to college students that are designed by companies so the student can decide ‘Am I good at this? Do I like this?’” Another area of new energy is based on a very old model: apprenticeships. “Apprenticeships are hot. You're seeing lots of C-suite excitement about them. That said, we spend a tiny proportion of public funding on apprenticeships relative to traditional higher education.” Overall, Fain senses growing urgency among business leaders that growing income equality is an existential threat to our economy and society, a view he shares. Tune in for a wealth of insights into what Fain calls “one of the biggest stories of my career.”

Sandra Hernandez, CEO of California Health Care Foundation: Improving Access to Care Through Smart Workforce Strategies

Futuro Health — Wed, 03 May 2023 03:09:45 +0000

What’s the value of having health insurance if you can’t access care? That’s an increasingly pertinent question for states which have successfully expanded insurance eligibility in recent years but are struggling to meet the increasing demand for healthcare. Our guest today on WorkforceRx, Dr. Sandra Hernandez, is a key player in developing solutions to this problem in her role as president and CEO of the California Health Care Foundation. One approach is to use the current workforce strategically. “We're very focused on looking at the primary care model and the composition of the primary care team so we can use every drop of workforce that we have to its fullest capabilities.” In part, that means reserving physician time for complex cases while expanding the scope for practice for nurses and mid-level providers. Another strategy is beefing up the ranks of community health workers drawn from underserved communities. As Hernandez tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, they have proven to be valuable public health advocates due to the trusting relationships they can build. “They can share information that is scientifically-based, and at the same time they are able to encourage people to get enrolled in the programs that they're eligible for and get them into earlier care.” Don’t miss this veteran perspective on vexing issues facing many areas of the US -- including how to care for growing numbers of immigrants and the unsheltered -- and stay tuned for a dose of optimism rooted in lessons learned from the pandemic.

Allen Blue, Co-Founder of LinkedIn: Leveraging 900M Career Profiles for Employment Insights

Futuro Health — Tue, 11 Apr 2023 16:00:47 +0000

It’s safe to say that nearly everyone reading this has a profile on LinkedIn or, if not, has visited it to learn about someone else’s career history. The social media giant has 900 million registered members worldwide and has become an essential tool for employers, job seekers and entrepreneurs. On this episode of WorkforceRx we’ll hear from one of LinkedIn’s founders, Allen Blue, who has stayed with the company for its entire twenty-year history and is now serving as vice president of Product Management. His areas of focus include LinkedIn’s Economic Graph, which involves sharing economic data with governments and institutions to improve education and workforce policy. “We derive insights about how skills are emerging and changing, about the landscape of education, about new technologies...and we aggregate all that data and go talk to policymakers so that governments can act.” In this thoughtful conversation with Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, Blue highlights ways people can use LinkedIn to visualize a career path, how technology can be deployed to connect employers to potential workers, and the growing opportunities online to deliver education and training. “That's something which basically didn't exist, not in a serious way, even ten years ago. So, it's a huge opportunity.” Whether you are an employer, job seeker, educator or looking for career advancement, there is much to learn from this social media pioneer.

Mark Burns, Executive Director of Homebridge: Innovative Retention Strategies in Home Care

Futuro Health — Wed, 29 Mar 2023 00:04:50 +0000

Most home care workers are women of color working more than one job, struggling to afford childcare, and doing difficult work without any prospects for advancement. It’s no wonder, then, that it’s hard to find and retain workers for these critically needed positions. Making matters worse is a competitive job market for entry level workers which means people can find less taxing positions for the same pay. That’s why today’s WorkforceRx guest, Mark Burns, is so pleased to be involved in California’s new $200 million Career Pathways program which is designed to increase wages, skill levels and career mobility for this workforce. As Executive Director of the San Francisco-based Homebridge home care agency and a key leader in the Career Pathways initiative, Burns is hoping to reach up to 250,000 Californians with paid training classes across the state. “Having any training available is fairly rare for this population, but having paid training is almost unheard of, so we're thrilled,” he tells Van Ton-Quinlivan, CEO of Futuro Health, which is contributing asynchronous training options to the effort. On a parallel track to Career Pathways, Burns is busy transitioning Homebridge to an employment model that offers progressive wage increases as workers gain skills, with an eye on professionalizing the occupation. “People know innately that they’re adding a great deal of value that is of a professional scale that helps with people's wellness and helps them stay stable in the community, but there’s no system of validation for that.” Don’t miss this chance for a detailed look at leading edge innovations in home care workforce development that could stabilize and improve access to care for some of the most vulnerable members of our communities.

Matt Sigelman, President of The Burning Glass Institute: Connecting Skills to Opportunity

Futuro Health — Wed, 15 Mar 2023 00:52:20 +0000

“One of the things we’ve found is that the average U.S. job has seen 37% of its skills replaced in just the last five years,” says Matt Sigelman, one of the country’s leading labor market experts. That blistering pace of change begs the question of how workers and employers are going to acquire new skills on a such a rapid and continuing basis. That’s exactly the type of challenge Sigelman and his colleagues tackle at The Burning Glass Institute, a nonprofit research center that explores data for fresh insights and tools employers, workers, educators and policymakers can use to build mobility, opportunity and equity. One such tool is a brand-new Skills Compass developed with Coursera which enables multi-dimensional evaluation of the emerging skills that will yield the most value. But Sigelman cautions against focusing just on of-the-moment-skills in favor of a more balanced approach. “You need timely skills to get on the career ladder, but you're going to need timeless skills like critical thinking and collaboration to rise.” Join WorkforceRx host and Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan for a super informative scan of these and other key questions confronting the labor economy such as skills-based hiring, career mobility and the implications of increasingly powerful chat bots.

Mark Milliron, President and CEO of National University: The Future Will Favor Flexible Educators

Futuro Health — Wed, 01 Mar 2023 02:05:06 +0000

For those understandably concerned about the future of higher education, the optimism of today’s WorkforceRx guest Mark Milliron should serve as a salve. The new President and CEO of National University believes we’re entering an historic era of reinvention due to new tech and tools that foster innovation. “I just think we're going to be able to try, test and learn in ways we haven't seen in a long, long time. It’s going to be pretty exciting,” he tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan. Milliron sees a future that will favor flexible educators focused on providing value to increasingly “non-traditional” students with complicated lives. That cohort is already a sweet spot for National University which was founded nearly fifty years ago to serve members of the military and is the largest graduate degree granting institution for diverse students in the country. “It's about offering diversified learning opportunities, allowing for short cycle education that ladders into degrees and offering a mix of on-ground hybrid and fully online to meet students where they are.” And with access to more data than ever before, Milliron believes educators will be able to determine what innovations work based on facts, “not based on who can tell the best story.” Don’t miss this expansive discussion packed with ideas about transforming work-study programs to boost healthcare workforce development, moving to a mastery-based learning system and the necessity of shifting to “whole human” education. “If you're serving adult learners, they're not leaving because they can't academically cut it. They're leaving because life happens or logistics get in the way.”

Futhi Mtoba, Former Chair of Deloitte South Africa and Co-Convener of Women Economic Assembly: A Fair Shot at Economic Opportunity

Futuro Health — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 15:03:35 +0000

“My parents were feminists long before I even knew the term. My father used to verbalize that his daughters needed to be financially independent and this could only be achieved through education,” shares Futhi Mtoba, a global business leader who credits these groundbreaking attitudes in 1950’s South Africa with her considerable success. This personal background explains why she’s been involved in education and the empowerment of women throughout her career, including being a board member for the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls. She is also Co-Convener of the Women Economic Assembly, a national initiative seeking improved access for women to government and private sector procurement, employment, housing and other economic essentials. It is a daunting challenge as half of working-age women are not even in the workforce and if they are, the jobs are typically low paid. There are also persistent problems with gender-based wage gaps and lack of representation in corporate leadership. Tune in as Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan looks at how one country is working to strengthen its economy and society by helping women get a fair shot at economic opportunity through asset ownership, education, and leadership training.

Shiv Gaglani, Co-Founder of Osmosis: A Once and Future Med Student Shakes Up Health Education

Futuro Health — Wed, 25 Jan 2023 14:40:59 +0000

As a medical student at Johns Hopkins University ten years ago, Shiv Gaglani quickly realized it was time to shake up a century-old approach to medical education and make the experience more personalized and efficient. That was the spark for creating Osmosis, an online and mobile learning platform that he left med school to grow. The company, which was acquired last year by the European-based medical publisher Elsevier, has attracted millions of medical and allied health students to its learning system and short-form educational videos. “Osmosis has been designed around trying to make it as easy as possible for someone to access and consume content. We also push tailored content to people instead of relying on their willpower to come back to the system,” Gaglani tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan. Check out this engaging conversation about what’s changed in medical education, the qualities that health professions students will need to be successful in the future, and the potential impact of AI on learners and providers. You’ll also hear how educators are integrating Osmosis’ content into training, and why Shiv is returning to med school later this year.

Paurvi Bhatt, MPH, Healthcare Executive and Care Economy Leader: Retaining Employees By Supporting Their Role in Caring for Others

Futuro Health — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 14:09:36 +0000

“It's hard to bring what happens in the living room and the dining room into the boardroom,” says Paurvi Bhatt, board director of the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers and corporate executive. "I don't think we can do that anymore." Put another way, most of us are providing care to a loved one, and being open about that with colleagues, she thinks, can create a culture of understanding that will increase employee wellbeing. In fact, she believes that trend has already begun. “Leaders at all levels are starting to be much more vocal and vulnerable in sharing what's happening with them. There isn't a feeling that the only way to succeed is by hiding that these parts of your life exist,” she tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan. In addition, companies have access to new employee benefit options designed to relieve some of the administrative burden of caregiving. “A beautiful set of things are coming up for employers to take a look at. It's a reimagining of what benefits can look like.” Despite this progress, daunting challenges remain to make caring for loved ones at home viable, which Bhatt analyzes with the keen eye of someone who built a career as a global health leader despite heavy family caregiving responsibilities of her own. Tune in for a wisdom drop on how to rebrand the role of caregivers, reinvigorate the home care workforce, provide ethnically adapted care and get the home truly ready for home care.

Dr. Angela Jackson, Founder of Future Forward Strategies: Reimagining Employee Benefits for a More Equitable Future of Work

Futuro Health — Tue, 29 Nov 2022 14:53:05 +0000

“One of the trends that we'll see in 2023 is a reimagining of benefits. You'll see more employers thinking about how they can meet an employee where they are so they feel valued,” says Dr. Angela Jackson, who is the embodiment of a future-focused leader in workforce development. Employers would also be wise to understand the lived realities of employees in order to address what Jackson has dubbed the “social determinants of work” such as childcare and transportation. As founder of the labor market intelligence firm Future Forward Strategies, Jackson is plugged-in to shifting worker demands that are shaped by COVID’s influence on how people perceive work-life balance, and fueled by the upper hand a tight labor market is giving them. As she explains to Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, for employers to succeed they need to be tuned into these new expectations. “During the pandemic, we saw more and more workers really enjoy having control over their time, even if they made the same amount or a little less. People are also looking for purpose.” Don’t miss this deeply informed look at what other trends will shape the labor market in 2023 including ‘talent as a service,’ women re-entering the workforce, VR-fueled innovations in training and other changes that may usher in a more equitable future of work.

Robert Espinoza, Executive Vice President of Policy at PHI: The Direct Care Crisis Hits Home

Futuro Health — Wed, 16 Nov 2022 14:37:25 +0000

Every day, nearly five million direct care workers support older adults and people with disabilities across the United States, and the critical need for this workforce is only increasing as the proportion of people over sixty-five continues to grow dramatically. Given an existing shortage of workers and a high turnover rate in the profession due to low pay, lack of training and poor management, the chances of meeting that need are low. Add in the unaffordability of these services and the difficulty many loved ones have navigating the system and it is a deeply troubling picture, according to our WorkforceRx guest Robert Espinoza, executive vice president for policy at PHI. “All of these barriers compound and create a system where it's going quickly, I think, from crisis to catastrophe,” he tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan. But while the problems are many, so are the potential solutions. Espinoza sees particular promise in several state and local initiatives including wage pass-through laws to boost worker pay, stronger training requirements and tapping into the undocumented immigrant population, which he sees as a major part of the answer. Be sure to listen to the end to learn about an innovative training program in San Francisco on which Futuro Health and PHI are collaborating, and Espinoza’s ideas for leveraging the relationship between family caregivers and direct care workers.

Mark Argosh, Social Venture Partners Connecticut: What Connecticut Does Right on Job Training

Futuro Health — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 03:11:02 +0000

Even if all of the unemployed people in Connecticut took one of the 109,000 open positions in the state, there would still be thousands of jobs left unfilled. What that says to Mark Argosh, chair of the Governor’s Workforce Council, is the state needs to get more people off the sidelines. “We have to be able to increase the labor force participation rate in Connecticut, and what that means is especially focus on underserved populations that face significant barriers,” he tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan. That recognition has prompted investment in services such as childcare, transportation and supportive housing. But that’s just one element of a multi-pronged approach that includes building partnerships within industry sectors, consolidating training programs in higher ed and providing a central point of contact in state government on workforce issues. The state is also supporting one of the largest government-funded job training programs in the country and it recently won the largest award in the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Good Jobs Challenge. “I think what this represents is an endorsement of the strategies and approach that we're taking to transform workforce development.” Tune in to this episode of WorkforceRx for a deep dive into best practices in workforce development at the state level, and learn how the non-profit Argosh leads, Social Venture Partners Connecticut, employs a “venture philanthropy” model to close opportunity gaps in the state.

Jon Marcus, Higher Education Editor for The Hechinger Report: The Trust Factor in Higher Ed

Futuro Health — Tue, 18 Oct 2022 20:52:12 +0000

There’s mounting skepticism about the value of higher education among prospective students and their parents, causing alarm among policymakers on the implications of this trend for the quality of the future U.S. workforce and economy. A continuing sharp decline in college enrollments is perhaps the key proof point, but there are many other symptoms and causes which Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan explores on this episode of WorkforceRx with Jon Marcus, higher education editor for The Hechinger Report. “I'd like to think that, now that enrollment drops have caused an existential crisis, we'll see colleges and universities finally taking steps they should have many years ago to stop hiring, stop building, stop spending, start innovating, and start using technology to work smarter,” says Marcus. There are some innovations he thinks are worth noting, rising in part from a new imperative to collaborate. They include dual admissions programs at 2-year and 4-year institutions and course sharing, which Marcus asserts could be a game changer especially for smaller schools. Don’t miss this deeply-informed scan of how higher ed is responding to a daunting list of challenges including dropout rates, student debt and demographic headwinds, and be sure to stay tuned to learn how a tiny change at one Florida university made a big improvement in retention.

Dr. Marjorie Hass, President of the Council of Independent Colleges: Innovation Buoys Higher Ed in Challenging Times

Futuro Health — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 23:41:43 +0000

As a new school year gets underway at colleges and universities around the country, it's a good time to take stock of where higher education finds itself after several very challenging years brought on by a massive public health crisis and unprecedented economic turbulence. On this episode of WorkforceRx, Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan turns to veteran higher ed leader Dr. Marjorie Hass, President of the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), for insight. Hass counts an unusually high number of new presidents this year at CIC member institutions who will find themselves facing greater scrutiny from stakeholders as they navigate complex issues. “You have a lot of different constituencies who are able to be in touch with you and with each other almost 24-7. There is a lot of pressure to make decisions quickly and to make decisions in a transparent way.” Hass says these new leaders would also be wise to embrace continuous innovation in degree offerings, revenue streams and student recruitment, which she believes was a hallmark of colleges and universities who managed best during the pandemic. You won’t want to miss this wide-ranging look at the innovations and trends emerging in this uniquely challenging time for higher ed.

Dr. Tom Mitchell, Carnegie Mellon University: The Impact of AI on the Future Workforce

Futuro Health — Tue, 13 Sep 2022 20:40:17 +0000

When it comes to the impact of artificial intelligence on the workforce, there is still a major split between those who worry about “robots” replacing workers, and those who think employees will benefit from AI if it is harnessed the right way. On this episode of WorkforceRx, Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan asks one of the world’s leading experts in the field, Dr. Tom Mitchell of Carnegie Mellon University, to weigh in on the debate. “The big determinant of how the future of work is going to play out is how we develop these technologies, and how we choose to adopt them. Do we adopt computers as assistants that allow people to do their job better, or do we use them to automate the task? The future is really ours to define.” Mitchell is currently updating a 2017 U.S. National Academy study on AI and the workforce at the request of Congress, and provides us with a peek into what has changed in the intervening years with regard to remote work, online learning, self-driving cars and the speed with which the field of AI itself is changing. Don’t miss this penetrating look at one of the most disruptive technologies of our time.

Dr. Nader Nadershahi, Chair of the American Dental Education Association: Benefits of Integrating Oral and Medical Care

Futuro Health — Tue, 30 Aug 2022 21:21:57 +0000

There’s growing interest in the integration of oral healthcare with medical care, and there’s good reason: about 30 million Americans who visit their dentist annually do not have similar contact with a primary care provider. Our guest on this episode of WorkforceRx, Dr. Nader Nadershahi, says this presents a tremendous opportunity for an additional way to identify problems such as diabetes and heart disease in patients. “The mouth is the window to the rest of your body,” he tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan. “The more we bring providers together and put the patient at the center of the conversation to get them the care and the access they need, it's going to help not only improve healthcare outcomes, but lower our costs of healthcare delivery.” This collaboration will require shifts in how oral healthcare providers are educated, and Nadershahi will have a significant influence on that as Chair of the Board of the American Dental Education Association and Dean of The University of the Pacific Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry. Tune into to find out more about the emerging possibilities of interprofessional practice, the workforce challenges in the field of dentistry, and the future of oral healthcare education.

Jane Oates, President of WorkingNation: Eliminating “Buts” In The Hiring Process

Futuro Health — Fri, 19 Aug 2022 13:47:09 +0000

What would veteran workforce training leader Jane Oates do to improve the hiring system if she had a magic wand? “I would take away all of the buts, as in ‘I would hire you, but you don’t have experience, but you have a disability, but you’re too old.’” It will not only help achieve equal access to employment, she tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, but right now employers could really use a bigger talent pool. “We cannot be the country we are meant to be with a 61% labor market participation rate.” After many years in government service, capped with being Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training in the Obama administration, she’s currently leading WorkingNation, a non-profit focused on educating the public and policymakers about achievable solutions to prepare workers for the future. Among its current initiatives are boosting the employment prospects of veterans, the disabled and single mothers. Partnerships are key to this work, and she and Van will be appearing on a panel together on August 22, 2022 at ASAE: The Center for Association Leadership conference in Nashville to underscore the role associations can play in bringing employers and workforce development stakeholders together. This episode of WorkforceRx is full of interesting ideas and angles to consider for those concerned about closing the troubling gap between job openings and available workers.

Dr. Kamiar Alaei, Chair of Health Science at California State University Long Beach: Lessons From a Global Health Hero

Futuro Health — Wed, 27 Jul 2022 12:17:01 +0000

From building a model HIV/AIDS program in Iran to creating a long-distance program to train doctors in war-torn Syria, Dr. Kamiar Alaei has overcome daunting obstacles to make a broad impact on global health. On this inspiring episode of WorkforceRx he shares lessons learned both in the trenches of public health and the corridors of Harvard, Oxford and other top universities with Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan. Chief among them is the importance of collaboration, which he says requires knowing your audience and being willing to do a ‘dance with partners.’ “I call it a river strategy. In nature, there is no river that goes straight. So, we try to be flexible, while being consistent. In this way, we were able to engage a lot of those who were initially against our initiatives.” The approach allowed him to navigate sensitive religious and cultural barriers in the Middle East, but it also applies to building partnerships in the current federally-funded effort he is leading in California to reshape education for the public health IT workforce, one of only ten such programs in the nation. In fact, one of his partners in that innovative consortium is Futuro Health. Don’t miss this wisdom drop on effective strategies for strengthening public health and the education programs that sustain it from the founding director of the Global Institute for Health and Human Rights, and an internationally celebrated health hero.

Johnathan Holifield, Senior Vice President at Bitwise Industries: Opening Economic Opportunities To The Underestimated

Futuro Health — Wed, 13 Jul 2022 13:56:02 +0000

Johnathan Holifield spent many years deeply involved in neighborhood and community development work without really moving the needle until he discovered the game-changing nature of the innovation economy. “The stuff we were doing was good work, but we were focused on largely inelastic career opportunities versus what you find in the tech sector and innovation economy, which are elastic opportunities that really give you social and economic mobility.” As senior vice president of New Economies at Bitwise Industries, he’s now in a position to help what he calls disconnected populations gain access to the best options for economic advancement, and do so on an increasingly national scale. Bitwise, which started in Fresno, California in 2013, helps marginalized communities obtain the skills and resources necessary to access opportunities in the tech industry. Apprenticeships are key to its model and Bitwise is now the largest tech apprenticeship provider in the United States. Check out this illuminating episode of WorkforceRx as Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan explores how Bitwise is bringing its successful formula of workforce development, technology consulting and creating great community spaces to seven states and counting.

Jacqueline Burandt, President of Award-Winning Results: Rethinking Employee Development

Futuro Health — Wed, 22 Jun 2022 00:49:08 +0000

Obstacles - from language proficiency to digital literacy to family care - make it difficult for adults to get on, and stay on, an education path towards a career they desire. Our guest on this episode of WorkforceRx, Jacque Burandt, spent decades at University Health System in San Antonio, Texas, breaking down those barriers and is here to share her recipe for creating and sustaining successful upskilling and reskilling programs. As she tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, first and foremost is partnering with community organizations. Very few people have the budget to invest in lots of expensive training so employers should seek out groups that can help them out, says Burandt, who is now president of Award-Winning Results, a firm that focuses on transforming organizations through people development and gaining recognition for employees. A key benefit to these collaborations is that the community partner can often help with the “wraparound” services that make it easier for employees to attend classes. Tune in for many more tips and strategies in this wisdom drop from Jacque about getting the buy-in of supervisors, investing in awareness of the offerings, and the importance of celebrating successes so that building your own internal talent pipeline is no longer just a pipe dream.

Ron Painter, CEO of the National Association of Workforce Boards: Helping American Workers Be Their Best

Futuro Health — Wed, 08 Jun 2022 13:28:56 +0000

As the unprecedented misalignment in the U.S. labor market between employers and workers continues, it’s a good time to take a look at the extensive federal infrastructure in place to support people seeking jobs and skills. Millions of Americans access 2,400 American Job Centers located throughout the country and its territories every year, which are powered by a network of 500 Workforce Development Boards. On today’s episode of WorkforceRx, Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan sits down with Ron Painter, CEO of the National Association of Workforce Boards, to explore the vital role they play in advancing economic opportunity. “Workforce Boards bring together the players you need in that region -- housing, transportation, economic development, community-based organizations, faith-based organizations -- that's a unique mix wherever you are. There's a whole lot that makes that equation work.” Check out this informative discussion to learn how communities are leveraging this network to bring about economic opportunity, why local Boards need more flexibility, and to understand why Painter is optimistic about meeting the unprecedented challenges facing employers and workers.

WorkforceRx Live Book Launch: Free the Data

Futuro Health — Tue, 24 May 2022 11:42:00 +0000

Van Ton-Quinlivan, CEO of Futuro Health and host of the show, is also author of the best-selling book, WorkforceRx: Agile and Inclusive Strategies for Employers, Educators and Workers in Unsettled Times. In this episode, Van welcomes leading workforce and economic development experts to discuss the strategies and insights from Chapters Nine and Ten that resonated most with them. Check out their lively discussion about freeing and sharing data within an organization to guide improvements; building infrastructure to help gig workers thrive; the role of labor unions in scaling solutions to workforce challenges; adopting a shared ownership model to overcome inequality in income and assets, and much more from this powerful new playbook for the future of work. Joining Van are: Omid Pourzanjani, Superintendent and President of San Joaquin Delta College; Anthony Dalton, Vice President & Chief Data Scientist at Futuro Health; Kathy Booth, Project Director at WESTED; Ann Volk, Senior Director at Alvarez & Marsal; Sara Skvirsky, Research Director at the Institute for the Future; Dave Regan, President of SEIU-UHW; Howard Brodsky, CEO of CCA Global and Lenny Mendonca, Former Chief Economic and Business Advisor for the State of California.

Dr. Imelda Dacones, President of Washington Optum Care: The 3 “Rs” of Improving the Patient and Provider Experience in Healthcare

Futuro Health — Wed, 04 May 2022 18:56:54 +0000

What do all of the changes in healthcare wrought by the pandemic mean for the future healthcare workforce? On today’s episode of WorkforceRx, Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan draws out thoughtful answers from someone with a broad and deep view of the healthcare system. Dr. Imelda Dacones has been confronted with all of these changes -- many of which were brewing before the pandemic -- over decades as a physician and senior leader at large healthcare organizations in Oregon and Washington. She’s also a nationally recognized leader in healthcare delivery innovation, addressing social determinants of health, and the health impacts of climate change, among other issues. Her prescription for change? Reimagine the healthcare team, reengineer the patient visit, and reinvigorate providers. “We need to reinvent care altogether for the patients we serve but also for ourselves as providers, because there just are not going to be enough nurses, doctors and medical assistants coming into the future.” Don’t miss this comprehensive look at the challenges and opportunities in healthcare from integrating with community organizations to leveraging home care to keeping up with shifting skillsets. Find out, too, about the Quadruple Aim and how the healthcare industry can work to reduce its waste footprint in light of climate change.

Dr. Adaeze Enekwechi, Operating Partner at Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe: Private Equity and the Healthcare Workforce

Futuro Health — Wed, 20 Apr 2022 23:54:34 +0000

“I did not ever think of private equity as a career option for me,” admits Dr. Adaeze Enekwechi, and not only because she saw it as a male-dominated profession. The former head of health at the Office of Management and Budget under President Obama and Ph.D. in health management expected to make a difference through public policy. But as an Operating Partner at Welsh, Carson, Anderson and Stowe, she’s having an impact from a different perch. “We look at assets or companies to build that would make a meaningful contribution in whatever specific healthcare ecosystem we're interested in investing in,” she tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan. “Our philosophy is not to just put money towards something and collect. We’re looking for opportunities to build something meaningful.” One current example is finding solutions to the nursing shortage and the painful budget crunch hospitals are enduring to pay for traveling staff. Investing in contingency staffing companies would earn a return, she says, but does nothing to solve the problem. A more useful target, she says, is leveraging technology to optimize the existing workforce. Adaeze shares examples of other issues she’s looking at through a private equity lens including racial inequities in care, social determinants of health, and what the training needs are as more care is being provided in the home. Check out this thoughtful episode of WorkforceRx in which you’ll also find out why this nationally respected healthcare leader thinks retail giants like Walmart and CVS should be applauded, and which two healthcare issues you should keep a close eye on in the coming months.

Dr. Jeff Strohl, Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce: Is Education Still the Great Equalizer?

Futuro Health — Mon, 04 Apr 2022 23:53:13 +0000

“While we believe that education is a great equalizer, in fact, it is not. There are structural inequalities in place that hold back the most talented low-income and minority youth,” says Dr. Jeff Strohl, whose research at the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce focuses on equity and socio-economic differentials in outcomes. And that’s not all he has to share with Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan on the subject of equity in education, training and the labor market as you’ll hear in this revealing episode of WorkforceRx. Improving race and gender inequities, he says, requires more investments in school-based counseling and doing a better job at “expectational formation” in underrepresented communities. “Young people need better examples about what the workplace looks like so people can find an interest in different fields because if you didn't grow up in a science-based home, why would you be interested in STEM?” Strohl pinpoints other steps to create a stronger, more inclusive workforce including more agility by higher education in meeting employer needs, putting training on a level playing field with education, enhancing work-based learning opportunities, addressing inherent biases in higher education and improving transparency in the short-term credential space. Don’t miss this chance to hear the deeply-informed perspective of a key resource for stakeholders and policymakers alike.

WorkforceRx Live Book Launch: Leveling the Slope of Unconscious Bias

Futuro Health — Wed, 23 Mar 2022 21:09:16 +0000

Van Ton-Quinlivan, CEO of Futuro Health and host of the show, is also author of the new best-selling book, WorkforceRx: Agile and Inclusive Strategies for Employers, Educators and Workers in Unsettled Times. In this episode, Van welcomes leading workforce and economic development experts to discuss the strategies and insights from Chapters Seven and Eight that resonated most with them. Check out their lively discussion about how to stop pitting diversity against workforce quality; integrating recruitment, screening and training; making upskilling the new norm; taking a “credential-as-you-go” approach and much more from this powerful new playbook for the future of work.

Joining Van are: Holly Zanville, Co-Director of Program on Skills, Credentials and Workforce Policy at the George Washington Institute of Public Policy; John Brauer, Executive Director for Workforce & Economic Development at the California Labor Federation; Shannon Lucas and Tracey Lovejoy, Co-Chief Executive Officers of Catalyst Constellation; Paul Granillo, President & CEO, Inland Empire Economic Partnership; Linda Wah, Trustee, Pasadena City College; Gustavo Herrera, CEO of Arts for LA.

Laurie McGraw, SVP American Medical Association: How to Support an Overburdened Physician Workforce

Futuro Health — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 14:43:04 +0000

The pandemic brought a lot of new stressors for physicians, but even before COVID, there were major trends impacting doctors including burnout, adjusting to new technologies, and accommodating new roles for mid-level providers. On this episode of WorkforceRx, Laurie McGraw of the American Medical Association provides a close look at the challenges facing physicians and the support they need to overcome them. As the AMA’s senior vice president of Health Solutions, McGraw, who has a deep background in health IT, has a special focus on helping physicians integrate new technology into clinical practice. “Physicians love innovation, but if new technologies are not implemented well, it only leads to a negative cycle of more burden and more disruption which is a real problem in healthcare today.” Check out this illuminating conversation with Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan that explores the best ways to augment the physician workforce to meet growing demand for care, harnessing opportunities in digital health, and how -- with her podcast Inspiring Women and other efforts -- McGraw is encouraging women to take on leadership roles in healthcare and beyond.

Stephanie Mercado, CEO of the National Association for Healthcare Quality: Meet the Hidden Teams Driving Quality of Care

Futuro Health — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 15:46:04 +0000

You might think improving healthcare quality is largely in the hands of the clinicians providing the care, but much of this challenging work is actually done behind the scenes by professionals who focus on quality indicators. On this episode of WorkforceRx, we get an inside look at this critically important workforce from Stephanie Mercado, CEO and Executive Director of the National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ). Since assuming the role eight years ago, she has focused on standardizing competencies for the profession and increasing awareness of its value. “Healthcare needs problem solvers and that's what people who work in quality do. They understand systems, processes, and structure, they have the toolkit for quality, and they have that spirit of improvement.” That’s particularly important right now, Mercado says, because key quality metrics have slipped during the pandemic. Check out this revealing conversation with Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan to learn about the certifications NAHQ offers, the qualities that help people succeed in this overlooked but promising career track, and what the future holds for quality professionals as healthcare challenges mount.

Gora Datta, FHL7-Digital Health Standards Pioneer: A Behind the Scenes Look at Standards and Skills

Futuro Health — Thu, 03 Feb 2022 15:19:12 +0000

The rapidly growing presence of digital technologies in healthcare — from telemedicine, to artificial intelligence, to at-home monitoring devices — is creating demand for a skilled workforce to maximize their potential. It is also accelerating the need for common standards to ensure the compatibility and integration of all of this tech. On this episode of WorkforceRx, we turn to Gora Datta who is perfectly positioned to sort through the current and future implications of these opportunities and challenges. Gora is an internationally acknowledged expert on digital health, a key player in setting technical standards for the industry, and he’s also involved in healthcare technology workforce initiatives. Join Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan and Gora Datta as they explore what skills are needed for workers in this space, how home-based care will revolutionize the healthcare industry, and the role robots and drones may play in this new regime. As a bonus, you’ll get a fascinating look at the historical implications of tech standards including the width of railroad tracks, the fittings on fire hydrants and the frequencies for Wi-Fi systems.

WorkforceRx Live Book Launch: Forming an Echo Chamber of Support

Futuro Health — Tue, 18 Jan 2022 16:54:10 +0000

Van Ton-Quinlivan, CEO of Futuro Health and host of the show, is also author of the new best-selling book, WorkforceRx: Agile and Inclusive Strategies for Employers, Educators and Workers in Unsettled Times. In this episode, Van welcomes some of the nation’s leading workforce development experts to discuss the strategies and insights from Chapters Five and Six that resonated most with them. Check out their lively discussion about building consortiums of industry players and educators to develop meaningful career pathways, redesigning the community college system, new approaches to credentialing, how to scale up innovations and much more from this powerful new playbook for the future of work. Joining the host are: Chauncy Lennon, Vice President, Lumina Foundation; Earl Buford, Chief Executive Officer, Council on Adult Experiential Learning; Rock Pfotenhauer, Chair, Bay Area Community College Consortium; Amrit Ahluwalia, Editor, Evolllution; Jim Caldwell, Chief Executive Officer, Workforce Incubator; Amy Schulz, Dean, Sierra College; and Steve Wright, ICT Statewide Director, California Community Colleges.

Tracy Palandjian, CEO of Social Finance: The Impact of Private Investment in Workforce Development

Futuro Health — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 15:03:00 +0000

The practice of impact investing -- also known as socially responsible investing – has been in place in the U.S. for decades, but more recently, a subset of that field has focused on improving economic mobility. In this episode of WorkforceRx, Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan is joined by Tracy Palandjian, CEO of Social Finance, who is focused on reimagining the role of the capital markets in enabling economic progress. “Our societal challenges are so vast, they require more than what philanthropy and the government can give. So, increasingly, people are asking the question, "What is the role of investors in driving social change?" Tune in to learn about a new way to fund education and training called Career Impact Bonds, collaborations at the state level to support workforce development in key industries, and how these efforts are targeted at people who face significant barriers to workforce participation. This is a great opportunity to learn about innovative alternatives for funding a critical need as labor shortages continue to challenge the U.S. economy.

Special Episode: WorkforceRx Live Book Launch

Futuro Health — Wed, 15 Dec 2021 14:27:21 +0000

Van Ton-Quinlivan, CEO of Futuro Health and host of the show, is also author of the new best-selling book, WorkforceRx: Agile and Inclusive Strategies for Employers, Educators and Workers in Unsettled Times. In this episode, Van welcomes some of the nation’s leading workforce development experts to discuss which strategies and insights from Chapters Three and Four resonated most with them. Check out their lively discussion about giving employers a role in shaping curriculum, making education and training more affordable and flexible, finding an ecosystem of willing partners and much more from this powerful new playbook for the future of work.

Joining Van are: Rachel Unruh, Chief of External Affairs with the National Skills Coalition; Amy Wallace, former Deputy Director at the California Workforce Development Board; Debra Jones & Lynn Shaw, former system leaders with the California Community Colleges; Flannery Hauck, Director with SEIU-UHW; Kai Drekmeier, Chief Development Officer with Inside Track; Fred Freedman, Chief Executive Officer of Pima Medical Institute; and Katie Nielson, Chief Education Officer of EnGen.

Katie Nielson, Founder of EnGen: Tapping into the Hidden Workforce

Futuro Health — Sun, 21 Nov 2021 21:44:19 +0000

As U.S. employers continue to struggle to find workers, they may want to turn their attention to populations who have the skills they need but lack proficiency in English. This describes many people in immigrant and refugee populations who are currently overlooked by employers and make up part of what is called the “hidden workforce.” On this episode of WorkforceRx, Katie Nielson, PhD, joins Futuro Health CEO Van Ton Quinlivan to describe how she works with employers to tap the potential of this talent pool. Nielson has a growing sense of urgency on this issue due to the fact that by 2030, every baby boomer will have reached retirement age and 97% of net workforce growth will be immigrants and their children. “The biggest barrier to integration in general and, definitely to promotion and advancement in the workforce, is English skills,” she says. “If we think about English as something that we can do to help upskill our workforce, then we’ll be able to get those learners not just the English skills but also the workforce skills that they need to succeed.” Tune in to learn about Nielson’s blend of tech-enabled study and interaction, the wisdom of taking a “backwards design” approach, and how workplace-based language programs can help employers achieve goals around diversity, equity and inclusion.

Maria Flynn, President & CEO of Jobs for the Future: Now Is the Time to Ask the Hard Questions

Futuro Health — Tue, 19 Oct 2021 19:24:56 +0000

The combination of a unique economic moment and major new funding out of Washington is creating an opportunity to rethink workforce development policies and programs. But will the tough questions be asked that will lead to a significant reshaping of the nation’s approach? Maria Flynn, president and CEO of Jobs for the Future, is hopeful, but is not yet seeing the “blue sky redesign” discussion she thinks is necessary. “We are largely operating public systems that were designed for a different era. A lot of the conversations now are about funding but are not questioning those underlying assumptions of 'are these the systems that we need for today and the future'? My answer to that is largely no,” says Flynn. There’s a lot to learn in this probing conversation with Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan about transforming American education and workforce systems, the growing corporate role in education, helping employers deliver on diversity, strategies to boost innovation, taking a regional approach to economic development and much more.

Scott Cheney, CEO of Credential Engine: Creating Order in the Credentialing Jungle

Futuro Health — Wed, 22 Sep 2021 13:13:24 +0000

It’s estimated there are one million unique credentials in the United States when you count all of the degrees, certificates, licenses, badges, and apprenticeships offered. But how are employers, educators and learners supposed to determine their validity and whether they might actually help someone advance economically? “It’s our job to make sure information about credentials is accessible in a web-based format and comparable so employers and others can make their own determinations about what’s valid for their purposes,” says Scott Cheney, CEO of the nonprofit Credential Engine. One upside of having a robust, transparent basis for comparison of credentials might be the erosion of entrenched biases toward the value of degrees over other qualifications. “It might be that a really good apprenticeship or an industry license is what you need in order to advance your own preferences and goals.” As he explains to Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, Cheney thinks more and better data on credentials will also enable customized career pathways and make it easier to see the fundamental value a person brings despite restrictions they may face in access to education. This episode of WorkforceRx is a great opportunity to learn more about this increasingly important area of education and employment and how it might empower learners and job seekers from all backgrounds.

Ryan Craig, Managing Director at Achieve Partners: Designing Solutions for 10 Million Unfilled Jobs

Futuro Health — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 09:07:12 +0000

If you’re wondering why there are ten million unfilled jobs in the U.S. despite having an unemployment rate above pre-pandemic levels, Ryan Craig has part of the answer: traditional higher education is too expensive and can’t keep up with changes in the labor market leaving millions of Americans in need of other ways to obtain the skills that will lead to good jobs. Craig, a prominent investor and thought leader, captures the frictions impeding learners and employers — and offers solutions for them — in both his book A New U: Faster + Cheaper Alternatives to College, and in regular columns for Forbes and other leading publications. But he’s not just writing about these issues. Through his firm Achieve Partners, Craig is working to create modern apprenticeships facilitated by intermediaries between the education and employment sectors. “If you can fast forward a decade and imagine dozens of new apprenticeship pathways emerging in tech and healthcare, I believe we’ll have a very different view of socioeconomic mobility and the American dream.” Join Craig and Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan for a provocative discussion about learning and earning that touches on last mile solutions for students, a GPS for human capital development, “talent as a service” and innovative companies on which to keep an eye.

Daniel Bustillo, Healthcare Career Advancement Program (H-CAP): Advancing Job Quality and Racial Equity in Healthcare

Futuro Health — Mon, 23 Aug 2021 20:40:17 +0000

If you want proof of how the pandemic has taken a toll on the healthcare workforce, look no further than a recent national poll showing that nearly 30% of nurses, doctors, and allied professionals might leave their profession within the next year. Daniel Bustillo, whose work as executive director of the Healthcare Career Advancement Program (H-CAP) gives him a national perspective, thinks that number might even go higher. This sobering reality makes organizations like his, which promote innovation and quality in healthcare career education, more important than ever. “Our work is really focused at the intersection of skills attainment, racial and gender equity, and job quality,” says Bustillo. Key to that work is creating opportunities for career mobility, which, as he explains to Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, can be achieved through a blend of apprenticeships, effective mentorship, and robust supportive services. Check out this illuminating conversation to learn more about reimagining workforce development, a historic opportunity to fund home and community-based services, and H-CAP’s new Center for Advancing Racial Equity and Job Quality in Long-Term Care.

Rachael Stephens, National Governors Association: State Innovations to Meet Unique Labor Market Challenges

Futuro Health — Wed, 11 Aug 2021 11:52:35 +0000

The nation’s governors have their hands full navigating an uneven economic recovery and turbulent labor market. Fortunately, they can draw on the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices to help guide their decision making. “Governors are focused on getting people safely back to work and filling jobs that are open right now and looking for ways to get people quickly skilled up for new jobs if that’s what they need. They’re also looking at how they can build on existing efforts to develop career pathways that lead to good jobs in the longer term,” says Rachael Stephens, director of the Center’s Workforce Development and Economic Policy Program. Those efforts include the NGA’s Workforce Innovation Network which, as Stephens tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, is sparking creative solutions in states from Vermont to Alabama. Check out this episode for an informative scan of innovative approaches to today’s complex economic challenges that include supporting a growing on-demand workforce and improving hiring practices to create a more equitable job market.

Wayne Skipper, CEO of Concentric Sky: Future-Proofing with Digital Badges

Futuro Health — Sun, 25 Jul 2021 10:51:32 +0000

As more and more people acquire skills and credentials outside of structured degree programs, employers are looking for credible ways to assess what potential employees have learned. One increasingly popular and agile approach to meeting this need is digital badging, and in this episode of WorkforceRx you can learn all about it from one of the pioneers in the space, Wayne Skipper, the founder and CEO of Concentric Sky, makers of Badgr http://www.badgr.com. Skipper likens digital badges to mini-transcripts with supporting evidence that is independently verifiable by third parties. “Digital badges allow institutions, which are now measuring student success through the lens of job placement, do a better job of helping employers understand what is meant by a credential and what proficiencies a learner who goes through their program can demonstrate.” As co-founder of the Open Skills Network, Skipper is also behind efforts to provide meaningful tools to reduce the bias that can result if only machine learning is involved in assessing proficiencies. Join host Van Ton-Quinlivan for this fascinating discussion about the potential threats and opportunities for educational institutions and employers as the shift to skills-based hiring continues to gain momentum.

Chad Evans, Council on Competitiveness: We Need a 10x Boost in Innovation

Futuro Health — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 11:50:00 +0000

“We’ve got 200 million Americans who are not benefiting from what we think of as the most important engine of growth in our economy – innovation,” says Chad Evans, executive vice president and secretary to the board at the Council on Competitiveness. That reality helped spark creation of the Council’s National Commission on Innovation and Competitiveness Frontiers which has already developed 50 recommendations to put in place the talent, capital and infrastructure necessary to increase U.S. innovation capacity. Small steps are not in the mix. In fact, the Commission is calling for a 10x improvement in innovation leadership, the pace of innovation, and the number and diversity of Americans engaged in innovation, among other goals. Check out this expansive discussion with Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan to learn how broadband access, AI, higher education and hiring practices fit into the strategy, and how the U.S. can better position itself as a global innovation leader.

Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO of Coursera: Remote Possibilities - Pandemic-Driven Explosion in Online Work and Learning

Futuro Health — Thu, 17 Jun 2021 20:03:04 +0000

Presiding over an online platform with 82 million learners and hundreds of millions of course enrollments gives Jeff Maggioncalda a unique view of what’s happening around the world in higher education and training. What he’s seeing is growth and opportunity. The Coursera CEO says the number of people accessing its catalog of thousands of courses and certificate programs from top universities and corporations nearly doubled in the pandemic, with women driving up the numbers and consuming STEM content at an increasing rate. Coursera’s newly released Global Skills Report, based on data from 100 countries, shows the most sought-after skills are in business, technology and data. But the most important development coming out of this challenging year, he says, is that access to learning and jobs is becoming much less dependent on location. “We’ve seen that online learning allows anyone, anywhere to have access to high-quality learning. I think remote work, spurred on by the pandemic and digital jobs, will allow almost anyone, anywhere to have a range of job opportunities that they would never have had.” Maggioncalda is also encouraged by the growing power of certificate programs to unlock access to degrees and careers, and the creative institutional collaborations enabled by Coursera’s content and commitment to partnerships. You won’t want to miss this lively conversation with Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan packed with insights into the increasingly accessible, affordable and stackable world of upskilling and education.

Byron Auguste, CEO of Opportunity@Work: Seeking Skilled Workers? Look to the STARs

Futuro Health — Mon, 24 May 2021 13:01:00 +0000

Finding qualified workers has become a chronic and deeply concerning struggle for U.S. employers, but as our guest on this episode of WorkforceRx sees it, this is a self-inflicted problem. Byron Auguste, a PhD economist and former White House economic policy official, says the skilled workers are there but are routinely screened out of the applicant pool by hiring processes that only consider those with college degrees. “When you exclude people who don’t have a bachelor’s degree, you’re excluding almost 70 percent of African-Americans, 80 percent of Latino and Latina workers, and almost 80 percent of rural Americans of all races,” he says. That’s why the non-profit he co-founded and leads, Opportunity@Work, is asking employers to dip into the overlooked talent pool of the 70 million Americans who are Skilled Through Alternative Routes (STARs). “This is the golden age of new ways to learn new skills, and yet you have these very old, backward-looking bases for hiring. We need to have hiring catch up to learning.” Check out this compelling and thought-provoking conversation with Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan on transitioning from a pedigree-based to skills-based approach to hiring.

Shalin Jyotishi, Senior Policy Analyst at New America: Aligning National R&D and Workforce Development

Futuro Health — Mon, 26 Apr 2021 09:00:00 +0000

“I think we have a moment in this new decade we are in to start fresh when it comes to how we build our economies and build our communities and build our society,” says Shalin Jyotishi, senior policy analyst at New America. An important part of this fresh start is to further connect workforce development with the nation’s R&D and doing so beyond the nation’s tech corridors. Jyotishi says universities and community colleges have a role to play, but so do faith-based organizations, unions and state governments. A self-described public interest technologist, he counsels against being afraid of the rise in automation in favor of seeing people as the ultimate arbiters of how technology is applied. Join Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan for this insightful exploration of emerging ideas in education, training, tech and public policy that could reshape our economy and society for the better.

Stuart Andreason, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta: Bridging Research and Reality in the Job Market

Futuro Health — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 00:49:32 +0000

As signs of economic recovery in the U.S. continue to build, some experts are predicting a “jobless recovery,” while others are more optimistic about job growth. Will hard hit sectors bounce back? What changes do we need in job training and education to spur a post-pandemic economy? For answers to these and related questions, Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan turns to Stuart Andreason on this episode of WorkforceRx. As director of the Center for Workforce and Economic Opportunity at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Andreason tracks changes in the economy to determine what skills workers and businesses need to be successful. This research also informs policies and programs to help people succeed in the labor market, especially low-and moderate-income workers. “What we strive to be is a bridge between the research and the real world. We want to learn from what people are doing in workforce development and bring promising practices back to the research that we’re doing to hopefully learn from and maybe find ways to commit some support to those practices.” He and his Fed colleagues around the country have also developed tools to help people research job opportunities that do not require a degree and discover options for career mobility based on their skills.

Dr. Sunita Mutha, Director of Healthforce Center at UCSF: Bridging Cultural Gaps to Provide Better Care

Futuro Health — Mon, 29 Mar 2021 08:00:00 +0000

Dr. Sunita Mutha thinks if health care providers consistently asked themselves one question, it would lead to reducing health disparities based on race, income and other factors: “Who does this advantage, and who does this disadvantage?” In her extensive research at the intersection of health disparities and quality improvement, she’s come to understand there are predictable things providers do that influence inequities in care. Looking at the current COVID vaccine rollout provides a fresh example. “If your main strategy is to reach out to patients electronically, it leaves out people who don’t have online access, who might be monolingual, who might be elderly and isolated. You could have predicted who you would leave out by the strategies you chose to use.” As director of Healthforce Center at the University of California San Francisco, Mutha works with organizations nationwide to reduce disparities and build a culturally-competent workforce, but also to address a wide range of other challenges in healthcare, from the impact of electronic health records to nurse staffing ratios. As she explains to Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan in this episode of WorkforceRx, training emerging leaders is another special focus at Healthforce Center. “They are the glue that keeps an organization functioning and effective. They mobilize the frontline teams. So, in our training we try to instill in them both confidence and skills so they can be really effective.” Check out this episode for an expert view of current and future workforce challenges in healthcare, and the role of research and capacity-building to meet them.

Howard Brodsky, CEO of CCA Global Partners: Capitalism with a Heart

Futuro Health — Wed, 10 Mar 2021 21:54:16 +0000

What if there was something business owners could do to boost employee retention 65%, increase worker loyalty and perfectly align company and employee goals? Oh, and by the way, give people a sense of hope and increase their wealth at the same time? Well, according to Howard Brodsky, that “something” is using a shared ownership model. Brodsky, a globally recognized pioneer in cooperatives, co-founded and leads CCA Global Partners, one of the largest retail companies in America serving over one million family businesses. The profitable $12 billion organization is the parent company for 14 other businesses in flooring, carpeting, lighting and other sectors, including child care. In this revealing conversation with Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, Brodsky describes creating a new economic environment where instead of subsidies to repair the damage caused by chronically low wages, there is shared ownership and prosperity. “I think there has to be more distribution of wealth at the base level, not distribution after somebody makes a fortune and they decide where they want to give money to. People need opportunity, not subsidies.” Brodsky says the model is much more resilient in tough economic times, too. With an estimated 25-30 percent of family businesses failing in the U.S. during the pandemic, the closure rate among CCA Global’s members is only 1- 2 percent. This is a conversation that will leave you thinking.

Jamie Merisotis, CEO of Lumina Foundation: The Robot Zombie Apocalypse is Not Coming

Futuro Health — Sun, 28 Feb 2021 18:26:47 +0000

“We know from history that technology both creates and destroys jobs, and we don’t know what will happen this time around,” says Jamie Merisotis, author of the new book Human Work in the Age of Machines, “but I do think we should be more interested in the work that humans can do, because that is clearly something we can control by better preparing people for that human work.” That preparation needs to focus on nurturing “foundational human capabilities” that set us apart from machines – compassion, empathy, ethics and creativity to name a few. As he reveals in his book, Merisotis believes the end result can be a collaborative relationship between workers and technology. As President and CEO of Lumina Foundation, Merisotis has been a driving force in increasing access to post-secondary education not only for its economic benefits but because of the role education plays in cultivating the critical thinking essential to a functioning democratic society. Check out this revealing conversation with Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan about rethinking how we can restructure education, work and benefits to better meet the challenges and opportunities upon us.

Dr. Ashwini Davison, Director of Strategy and Transformation for the Informatics Education Program at Johns Hopkins University – Data’s Big Impact on Care and Careers

Futuro Health — Fri, 29 Jan 2021 22:23:32 +0000

For someone interested in the interplay of technology and healthcare, the timing has always been right for Dr. Ashwini Davison. Implementation of Electronic Health Records was just starting to take off when she was an internal medicine resident at Johns Hopkins a little over a decade ago. As the adoption of EHRs and digital health applications rose, so did the potential for big data as a tool to advance medicine. Opportunities opened for her to help healthcare companies analyze data to enhance efficiency and improve patient outcomes. “My career naturally progressed to being at the cutting edge of the ‘next big thing’ whether that be clinical informatics or, subsequently, online education and precision medicine.” She’s now at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Medicine and the School of Public Health creating learning programs and opportunities for students at the intersection of healthcare, technology, education and research. If you’ve wondered how AI, precision medicine, cloud computing and other innovations are impacting patients, you’ll want to check out this dynamic conversation with Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan. You’ll also learn about a collaboration between Johns Hopkins, Futuro Health and Coursera to create a new entry level path into health IT careers, how virtual reality and mobile technology is applied to healthcare, and what she describes as the “challenging, exhilarating and rewarding” experience of helping professors and students successfully manage the abrupt transition to online learning made necessary by COVID.

Dr. Soon Joo Gog, Chief Futurist at SkillsFuture SG - Staying Ahead of the Skills Curve

Futuro Health — Tue, 19 Jan 2021 21:30:00 +0000

“We want to empower every citizen to be able to make a decision about how they want to invest in themselves and the kind of career they want,” says Dr. Soon Joo Gog, Chief Futurist at SkillsFuture SG in Singapore’s Ministry of Education. That’s obviously an ambitious goal, but this small city-state has a reputation for pioneering new approaches to building a skills ecosystem. To achieve it, the government gives every citizen 25 years of age and older $1,000 in credits toward education and skills training. That jumps to $1,500 in credits once you reach 40. The credits belong to the person, not an employer, making them portable throughout their life. She describes SkillsFuture, where she is also Chief Skills Officer and Chief Research Officer, as a national movement that later developed into a government agency offering job skills insights for individuals, businesses, education and training partners, and policymakers. One of her most important strategies is engaging with companies considered innovative to find out how their use of technology changes worker skills over time so SkillsFuture SG can work with educators to align training programs with future labor needs. Check out this fascinating conversation with Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan and one of the world’s leading workforce innovators to learn about the “trinity of partners” essential to her work, and the role smart dustbins are playing in Singapore’s high-tech, high-skill economy.

Marsha Sampson Johnson, Diversity Advocate and Former CHRO of Southern Company: Diversity Can’t Just Be a Program

Futuro Health — Wed, 06 Jan 2021 18:02:31 +0000

Spurred by heightened activism in 2020 against persistent racism in the U.S., many business leaders are engaged in a reckoning of their own policies, behaviors and corporate culture to determine how those might be contributing to systemic inequity and exclusion. Marsha Sampson Johnson, a leading diversity advocate and veteran corporate leader, has advice for those undertaking this work. “Diversity and inclusion can never just be a program. It can never be a department. If it is not incorporated into every aspect of the organization, it will never be successful.” Sampson Johnson, a retired senior executive from Fortune 200 energy giant Southern Company, has had an extraordinary career as an executive, mentor, writer and international speaker. In this trenchant conversation with Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, she shares insights gained from decades of providing leadership in HR, Talent Management and Diversity, discusses the impact of the pandemic on women in the workforce, and touches on the value of leadership development programs such as those sponsored by the International Women’s Forum where she spent many years as a Global Director.

Andy Van Kleunen, CEO of National Skills Coalition: Finding Common Ground on Job Growth

Futuro Health — Mon, 07 Dec 2020 03:02:29 +0000

As a longtime observer of the Washington political scene and a “go-to” expert on workforce and education policy issues, Andy Van Kleunen thinks that despite the country’s deep political divisions, it’s possible to make generation-defining investments in education and training to spur major employment growth. “There’s not a lot of partisan divide on investing in the retraining of somebody who’s been laid off and now has to look for a new occupation. We’re talking about 80 to 90 percent approval for greater public investments in those kinds of efforts.” Drawing on lessons learned from previous recovery efforts, Van Kleunen believes more needs to be done this time to make sure economic gains are inclusive from a racial and socio-economic standpoint. The organization he leads, National Skills Coalition, also urges policymakers to follow what they have found to be the most effective formula for increasing skills and growing jobs: let localities and states in the nation’s 300-400 regional economies bring stakeholders together to determine where investments should be made. In this timely conversation with Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, Van Kleunen taps into the knowledge gained from his national network of business, education and labor leaders to share the most effective formulas for economic development in this unique political moment.

Eva Sage-Gavin, Senior Managing Director of Accenture's Global Talent & Organization/Human Potential Practice: “The Workforce Has Changed Forever.”

Futuro Health — Fri, 20 Nov 2020 01:28:02 +0000

Workers are showing the strains of social isolation, disrupted work and family routines, and sustained anxiety for personal safety — all induced by the pandemic. Fortunately, employers are taking note according to Eva Sage-Gavin, a former Fortune 500 executive who now advises C-suite leaders on talent strategy for Accenture. Sage-Gavin says employers are realizing they need to take a “whole human” approach to HR to navigate through this crisis of human resilience, and address employee needs for connection, relationship, and purpose if they are going to keep their workforce productive. In this revealing episode of WorkforceRx, Sage-Gavin and Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan – who first met a decade ago serving on President Obama’s Skills for America’s Future initiative – discuss a new global partnership to connect displaced workers to jobs, the worrisome “she-cession” as women drop out of the workforce, the enhanced impact of modern boards, and a key ingredient to helping employers solve problems in these extraordinary times.

Walter Greenleaf, PhD, Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Stanford University: Improving Care with Virtual Environments

Futuro Health — Tue, 10 Nov 2020 01:49:26 +0000

When he first started trying to score clinical research data in the mid-1980’s, Stanford University neuroscientist Walter Greenleaf was using a ruler, pen and paper. Now, thanks in part to his pioneering efforts, similar research can be conducted using virtual reality and augmented reality devices. These technologies are also being integrated throughout medicine, including treatment for various mental health issues, a special focus of his. For instance, patients can be exposed to anxieties or fears through carefully designed virtual environments, allowing them to build confidence while clinicians gauge their progress. Greenleaf, a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Stanford University’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab, also sees broad potential for using virtual environments in workforce development and training, from handling difficult people and situations to bridging cultural gaps. Join Futuro Health’s CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan as she draws fascinating insights from Greenleaf gathered over decades of groundbreaking work in academia, technology development and medical product development, and find out what two skills he believes will open doors for healthcare workers in the decades to come.

Bryan Hancock, Global Leader of Talent Management at McKinsey & Company: Are You Ready for the Impact of Automation?

Futuro Health — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 23:28:08 +0000

Bryan Hancock has spent the last two decades focused on the disconnect between the skilled workers employers need and what is available in the workforce. As Global Leader of McKinsey & Company’s Talent Management Practice, he’s able to tap into the firm’s deep research on workforce trends to advise private and public sector clients and what he’s seeing is an even larger skills gap developing as automation and digitization take over a significant portion of what he calls “the dull and dangerous” work. In fact, McKinsey estimates 30 to 40 percent of all workers in developed countries may need to move into new occupations or at least upgrade their skill sets significantly in the next decade. Despite that daunting challenge, he’s not discouraged because many large employers are making big investments in employee learning opportunities, and technologies like virtual reality are creating fun and effective options for training. He’s also encouraged by growth in the “workforce ecosystem” – independent foundations, companies, and other organizations who are innovating to close gaps in skills and opportunity. Check out this episode of Workforce Rx as Bryan and Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan explore all of those issues plus the growing importance of soft skills, the impact of the gig economy, and how employers can take a “talent first” approach.

Dr. Rishi Manchanda, CEO of HealthBegins: Adding Trusted Community Voices to Healthcare

Futuro Health — Mon, 05 Oct 2020 18:54:48 +0000

You can’t have an effective response to public health challenges without putting racial and social equity at the center of your approach, and one key way to do that is supplementing the healthcare workforce with “trusted voices” from underserved communities. That’s the view of Dr. Rishi Manchanda, a public health veteran and healthcare leader whose career has focused on developing new strategies to improve health in resource-poor communities. Through a mix of frontline and leadership positions, he’s helped provide care for homeless veterans, immigrant workers in rural areas, and communities in South Central Los Angeles. As an author and CEO of HealthBegins, he’s become a leading national voice on shifting the focus of our healthcare system to “upstream” causes of poor health status – such as access to quality food and housing — and creating equitable access to care. Check out this illuminating conversation with Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan to learn about “upstreamists”, the workforce-equity connection, and what COVID is teaching us about our healthcare system.

Jaime Fall, Director of UpSkill America at the Aspen Institute: Invest in a Culture of Learning

Futuro Health — Fri, 04 Sep 2020 17:37:10 +0000

If you want to know how employers are changing their thinking about educating workers in the wake of COVID, Jaime Fall is in a great position to tell you. As director of the Aspen Institute’s workforce development initiative Upskill America, Jaime is constantly in touch with some of the 5,000 businesses in the program’s network and he has plenty of news to share with Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan in this episode of WorkforceRx. From diversity to digital literacy to new safety protocols, businesses have many targets for training and advancement practices that were not necessarily priorities pre-COVID. And have you heard of the new trend in “outskilling”? Jaime is here to fill you in. Bottom line: as the pace of change continues to accelerate, companies need to invest in a culture of learning so their workers will have the skills they need to be effective and productive.

What is Futuro Health?

Futuro Health — Fri, 04 Sep 2020 03:39:42 +0000

A Q&A with Futuro Health’s CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan on the origins of the organization’s groundbreaking model for growing the healthcare workforce, and the innovative ways Futuro is building onramps to education for adult learners.

Meet Our Host

Futuro Health — Fri, 04 Sep 2020 03:30:36 +0000

Van Ton-Quinlivan reveals that her deep appreciation for educational opportunity is rooted in experiences making a new life in the U.S. after her family fled the Vietnam War. Helping others access the same transformational opportunities is her life’s work, and led to her guiding a billion-dollar workforce development program in the largest higher education system in the country, and becoming the founding CEO of Futuro Health.

About the WorkforceRx Podcast

Futuro Health — Tue, 01 Sep 2020 03:35:53 +0000

Host and Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan describes what’s in store for listeners in this new interview series with national leaders and innovators in workforce development.