Q&A: Vision-Setting in Employer Partnerships
Teens at Project Success (Minnesota) participating in an active learning session on solar paneling.
In part I of our blog series, we explored why building mutually beneficial programming for employers and learners is key to effective employer engagement in career-connected learning. Now we take a closer look to see how grantees from Educate Texas, The New Trade Program, and Project Success formed their employer partnerships before they had success stories or data to prove the return on investment.
One theme clearly emerged across our conversations with Educate Texas, The New Trade Program, and Project Success: the most successful partnerships are with employers who are values-aligned, willing to co-create programs, and believe in the long-term vision of investing in young people. When aligned values drive the vision for a partnership, early uncertainty becomes easier to navigate.
This Q&A brings together insights from grantee leaders and an employer partner to explore why values and vision-setting are foundational to strong employer partnerships. We connected with Emily Heagle and Elia Dimayuga-Bruggeman at Project Success and their employer partner, Drew Hood, Administrator at Oak Terrace Senior Living; Ellen Hatcher and Monica Jones Prewitt at Educate Texas; and Salim Holder at The New Trade Program.
These conversations have been edited for length and clarity.
Sometimes it’s hard to know where to start in building meaningful employer partnerships for career-connected learning. How did you identify employer partners who shared your vision for developing young people?
Salim, The New Trade Program:
"Some of our earliest partners were small, locally owned businesses that needed help and valued the opportunity to train, guide, or hire students as paid interns or for full-time roles. They were willing to take a risk on someone new, which was better than having no help at all. We also engaged larger employers who wanted to shape our curriculum around the skills they knew new hires would need."
Ellen, Educate Texas:
"Ascension Seton was identified by Workforce Solutions Capital Area, which knew the hospital needed to build a talent pipeline. They specifically wanted to reach students outside of Central Austin—places where these kinds of opportunities were not typically available. Leadership wasn’t sure that they wanted to invest the resources into paid internship opportunities, but the Catalyze funding filled that gap."
Elia, Project Success:
“We surveyed the need for career pathways in Mankato and the Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) pathway really came up. A faculty member at the community college referred us to Drew at Oak Terrace.”
Asking employers to host high school-aged interns who may not enter the workforce immediately requires a vision for the long-term impact of early career exposure. Why is this exposure to career-connected learning so important for employers?
Drew, Project Success Employer Partner:
“I’m on the board of the National Centers for Assisted Living, representing 50 states in the long-term care industry. There really is a workforce need out there. We’re always hiring because we’re always going to have turnover.
We need to develop both short- and long-term strategies. And employers need to understand that just because we’re doing something that might not always help us now, that doesn’t mean it’s not successful. I need to introduce people to long-term care and get them having experiences with seniors. That doesn’t mean that every person is going to come and work in long-term care, but maybe they’ll recommend a friend. We need to introduce and show the benefits and joys of working with the elderly across the board.”
Monica, Educate Texas:
“We’re not asking students to be doctors or nurses tomorrow. But when they go through the proper training for patient care or phlebotomy, those students are prepared to enter the workforce as soon as they finish the certifications. It’s so helpful for employers to see what others are doing and what is possible, especially in the health care sector. Having an employer say, ‘We were successful, and this is what we did,’ reduces the fear for other employers.”
We know how challenging it can be to demonstrate the ROI of employer engagement with career-connected learning. What motivated you or your employer partners to work with learners?
Drew, Project Success Employer Partner:
“It’s more important than ever to treat employees with respect. One of the reasons why we haven’t had staffing challenges as much as others is because we try to form strong relationships with Project Success and South Central College, and the school district. Our feeling is that the more people we get in the door to show them that we’ll treat them with respect, they will want to work here.”
Monica, Educate Texas:
“The workforce is completely different from what it was five, ten years ago, and we can’t source talent like we did previously. We help employers gain greater knowledge about what’s taught in schools today and what the modern learner looks like so they can develop talent pipelines.”
It sounds like a shared vision really emerged as one of the most powerful predictors of a strong partnership. Why is finding an employer partner who shares your vision so important?
Salim, The New Trade Program:
“You need to understand why an employer is partnering with you. Are they in it to check a box, or are they really in it because they believe in the value of creating talent or hiring talent from your program? Because if they’re committed to the program and the ideals of it, they’re committed to going through all the ups and downs. They’ll recommend changes and say, ‘You should think about this, maybe we should try this route…’ And they lean in and partner.”
Ellen, Educate Texas:
“We were so lucky to have an advocate in Dena Shirley at Ascension Seton who wanted to find a way to offer paid internship opportunities, especially to students from schools that typically don’t have access to these types of opportunities. Elevating a voice like Dena’s has helped other employers see how they can do this work as well—a case study for others.”
What advice do you have for others looking to double down on their partnerships with employers?
Salim, The New Trade Program:
“Finding alternative paths for people to be able to achieve career success is a top-of-mind conversation for every organization, school, and potential partner I’ve spoken to—whether they partner with us or not. If you’re just starting out, find those organizations that are really leaning in to the vision that you’ve set, and they’ll be a true partner. ”
Monica, Educate Texas:
“Be brave, be courageous, and be bold. We’re going to try something new that helps us prepare the talent that we need for the future.”
As these grantees demonstrate, the strongest employer partnerships emerge from a shared vision of developing young people, even before tangible results exist. Early investment in learners doesn’t just benefit programs—it builds stronger pathways for the workforce of tomorrow.
