• 84% of voters want to make federal financial aid available to anyone seeking skills training, not just those seeking college degrees
• 90% of voters want to provide access to digital skills training for workers throughout their careers so they can adapt to new technologies at work
• 91% of voters want the creation of closer partnerships between training providers and businesses to train people for the jobs that businesses need to fill.

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• Submit formal comments on a State BEAD Action Plan or BEAD Initial Proposal (especially Volume II).  
• Submit informal comments to a state broadband office or related state agency  
• Comment on other state policy documents related to BEAD, such as draft Requests for Proposals for BEAD funds. 

The recommendations cover why states should invest in broadband workforce development and digital skills as part of their federal BEAD spending, what program models and strategies they should focus on, and how they can measure the success of their efforts.  

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• Submit formal comments on their State Digital Equity Plan
• Submit informal comments to their state broadband office or other state agency stakeholders
• Comment on draft state Requests for Proposals or Solicitations for Grant Applications for digital equity funds.

The recommendations cover why states should invest in digital skills as part of their federal Digital Equity Act spending, what program models and strategies they should focus on, and how they can measure the success of digital upskilling programs.

The nonprofit World Education maintains a list of state agencies overseeing Digital Equity Act funds. State advocates can find their state and visit their state agency’s website to see which opportunities for comment are coming up. Even if the initial deadline for State Digital Equity Plan public comments has passed, advocates will have other opportunities to submit comments on related issues in early 2024 – NSC strongly encourages states to submit informal comments in the meantime, to ensure that state leaders hear how important these issues are to your community.

The post National Skills Coalition Comment Template: Measuring Digital Skills appeared first on National Skills Coalition.

Over 90% of jobs require digital skills, but one-third of workers can’t access the foundational digital skills necessary to enter and thrive in today’s jobs. This digital skill divide disproportionately impacts workers of color, low-income individuals, and rural residents. Fortunately, new once-in-a-generation federal investments – along with efforts across the private sector – present an opportunity to close the digital skills divide.  

As part of National Digital Inclusion Week, National Skills Coalition and Business Leaders United hosted a Fireside Chat with Comcast’s Dalila Wilson-Scott. She joined NSC CEO Andy Van Kleunen and a panel of thought leaders for a dynamic conversation about how private sector leaders – from small local firms to Fortune 500s – are collaborating with community partners to close the digital skill divide and drive a more equitable, inclusive economy. 

Moderator: Andy Van Kleunen, CEO, National Skills Coalition 

Featured Guest: Dalila Wilson-Scott, EVP and Chief Diversity Officer, Comcast Corporation and President, Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation 

Response Panel:

• Peter Beard, Senior Vice President for Workforce Development, Greater Houston Partnership.
• Ankur Gopal, CEO, Interapt
• Angela Siefer, Executive Director, National Digital Inclusion Alliance

The post Fireside Chat: Private Sector Efforts to Close the Digital Skill Divide with Dalila Wilson-Scott appeared first on National Skills Coalition.

Written by NSC’s Government Affairs team, this agenda will guide the strategic work of the organization, and our networks, aligned to our four issue campaigns that prioritize the ways that federal and state policymakers can most effectively expand high-quality skills training and drive toward an inclusive economy:

• Congress should ensure that cost isn’t a barrier to training;
• Congress should help workers and small businesses engage in industry partnerships; and
• Congress should support state and local data collection to measure equitable outcomes.

Skills policy alone can’t correct every economic inequity, but investments in inclusive skills policy can begin to address the disproportionate impact of major economic shifts on workers of color, immigrants, and workers with a high school diploma or less; the essential role of small businesses who hire locally and invest in their people; and the moral and economic imperative to dismantle structural racism within workforce education and training.

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As state policymakers grapple with closing the digital divide and effectively deploying resources from the historic $2.75 billion Digital Equity Act, National Skills Coalition, in partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, has released new research that could help guide the way.

Based on an analysis of 43 million job postings, Closing the Digital Divide is a first-ever, real-time snapshot of digital skill demands in the US labor market. It finds that 92% of jobs require digital skills spanning all industries and occupations. It also finds that states that target public resources toward digital skill building could generate measurable monetary benefits for workers, small businesses, and the broader economy.

Join us for a conversation with the report authors to learn more about the groundbreaking research and how it can inform digital equity conversations in your state.

– Amanda Bergson-Shilcock, Senior Fellow, National Skills Coalition
– Nye Hodge, Research Analyst, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
– Roderick Taylor, Research and Policy Analyst, National Skills Coalition

Moderated by Rachel Unruh, Chief of External Affairs, National Skills Coalition

Resources shared by NSC:

• Webinar Slide Deck: https://nationalskillscoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Digital_Skill_Divide_Webinar_Slides.pdf
• Closing the Digital Skill Divide Report and Methodology: https://nationalskillscoalition.org/resource/publications/closing-the-digital-skill-divide/
• Sign the Digital Equity @ Work Petition: https://secure.everyaction.com/pXKp6xURlkq3_iJp9IgSmw2
• Digital Equity Act State Implementation Policy Recommendations: https://nationalskillscoalition.org/resource/publications/expanding-digital-inclusion-via-the-bipartisan-infrastructure-law/
• How to get started with the Digital Equity Act: https://nationalskillscoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/4.26-NSC-digital-equity-act-factsheet_v3.pdf

The post Closing the Digital Skill Divide: The Payoff for Workers, Business, and the Economy appeared first on National Skills Coalition.

Closing the Digital Skill Divide finds strong demand for digital skills across every industry (dispelling misconceptions that demand exists primarily in the tech sector) and in almost every occupation, including entry-level and frontline positions. The report also finds that the digital skill divide disproportionately impacts workers of color, low-income individuals, and rural residents, due to historic underinvestment and structural inequities.  

The findings come at a pivotal moment as states plan to implement the historic $2.75 billion Digital Equity Act, part of the bi-partisan infrastructure law. The program provides funding to advance digital equity among populations most impacted by the digital divide. 

The findings suggest that states that target resources toward digital skill building could generate measurable monetary benefits.

View the fact sheets for your state here:

Alaska Digital Divide Fact Sheet

Arkansas Digital Divide Fact Sheet

California Digital Divide Fact Sheet

Colorado Digital Divide Fact Sheet

Florida Digital Divide Fact Sheet

Georgia Digital Divide Fact Sheet

Illinois Digital Divide Fact Sheet

Indiana Digital Divide Fact Sheet

Maine Digital Divide Fact Sheet

Michigan Digital Divide Fact Sheet

Nevada Digital Divide Fact Sheet

New Mexico Digital Divide Fact Sheet

North Carolina Digital Divide Fact Sheet

Ohio Digital Divide Fact Sheet

Pennsylvania Digital Divide Fact Sheet

Tennessee Digital Divide Fact Sheet

Texas Digital Divide Fact Sheet

Utah Digital Divide Fact Sheet

Vermont Digital Divide Fact Sheet

Virginia Digital Divide Fact Sheet

Washington Digital Divide Fact Sheet

Wisconsin Digital Divide Fact Sheet

View the Closing the Digital Skills Divide webinar: https://nationalskillscoalition.org/resource/webinars/closing-the-digital-skill-divide-the-payoff-for-workers-business-and-the-economy/

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But what will the funding do? And what should workforce & education advocates, practitioners and state officials do to make the most of this once-in-a-generation investment in digital skills, inclusion, and equity?

We helped advocate for this investment – and now it’s time to help implement the law so the funding improves the economic and civic life of our communities.

Expanding Digital Inclusion via the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law  is designed to help state officials and skills advocates:

• boost the number of residents with in-demand digital skills;
• close the “homework gap” and other digital inclusion challenges facing students and workers;
• ensure that local employers have the workforce they need.

These recommendations can also help states’ broadband deployment projects succeed by ensuring that they have sufficient well-qualified workers for new infrastructure projects.

These recommendations were made possible by generous support from Walmart. We thank them for their support but acknowledge that the findings, conclusions, and recommendations presented in this report are those of National Skills Coalition alone, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Walmart.

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Moderator: Andy Van Kleunen, CEO, National Skills Coalition

Featured Guest: John Furner, President and CEO, Walmart U.S.

Respondents:

• Bridgette Gray, Chief Customer Officer, Opportunity@Work 
• Ryan Campbell, Business Leaders United Member and Co-Owner, Director of Strategy and Operations, Chris’ Caribbean Bistro
• Valerie Richardson, Business Leaders United Member and Director, Workforce Development, Prisma Health

The post Fireside Chat: Walmart U.S. President and CEO John Furner appeared first on National Skills Coalition.

The fact sheet is designed for advocates in workforce boards and American Job Centers, community colleges, nonprofit community-based organizations, labor-management partnerships, adult education providers, and immigrant-serving organizations who are curious about how this new funding can support workers.

The post Implementing the New Digital Equity Act: What Workforce and Education Advocates Need to Know appeared first on National Skills Coalition.

It’s time for policies to change so that every Californian can equitably participate in the economy and society. Four Ways to Promote Digital Inclusion for California’s Workers offers four steps that California’s policymakers can take to ensure digital skill building is a part of their state’s recovery strategy.

The post Four Ways to Promote Digital Inclusion for California’s Workers appeared first on National Skills Coalition.

Policymakers and workforce need to ensure skill-building policies are intentionally inclusive of the young parent population and can help to ensure a level playing field for all of America’s workers, regardless of their age or parental status. These skill-building efforts are especially important for young parents, because their early embrace of parenthood often means their families are more economically fragile.

Young Parents and Workforce Development in a Post-Pandemic World offers how and why workforce policies will affect and matter to young parents, while adding the three major touchstones policymakers and skills advocates should keep in mind when developing new policies.

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