How do you build skills and cause proven, sustained wage gains for young adults in the US? Just ask Gerald Chertavian, founder and CEO of the youth workforce development non-profit, Year Up. 

Tune into this episode of An Educated Guest and join Gerald and host Todd Zipper, Executive Vice President and GM at Wiley, to learn how Year Up is closing the Opportunity Divide, returning $2.46 to society for every $1 invested in the organization, and teaching employers how to implement inclusive, skills-based hiring. 

Key Takeaways:

Year Up’s leadership in operationalizing emergent talent at scale by combining workforce and youth development 

How the organization has caused the largest proven sustained wage gains for young adults in the US 

How Year Up provides high support and high expectations through its multi-modality, three-stage program 

Why social capital and building higher socio-economic connections are critical to talent career success 

Year Up’s virtuous, ecosystem approach of bringing young adults and employers together through skills-based hiring 

Guest Bio

Gerald Chertavian is dedicated to closing the Opportunity Divide that exists in our nation. Determined to make his vision a reality, Gerald combined his entrepreneurial skills and his passion for working with young adults to found Year Up in 2000. 

 Gerald’s commitment to working with young adults spans more than 25 years. In 1999, he sold his technology company, Conduit Communications, and left his career on Wall Street to help low-income, at-risk youth. A year later, in 2000, Year Up was born. 

Gerald holds a B.A. in Economics from Bowdoin College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. He’s also a New York Times best-selling author of his book published in 2012 called A Year Up.

What does it mean to be an equity-serving institution? And how can universities actually serve learners for life?

Michelle Marks, Chancellor of the University of Colorado, Denver (CU Denver), sheds light on these topics in the quest to redefine the public, urban research institution. On this episode of An Educated Guest, hosted by Todd Zipper, EVP and GM at Wiley, Todd and Michelle explore CU Denver’s ambitious strategic goals to equitably serve a diverse population of students for life.

Key Takeaways:

How CU Denver is redefining the public urban research institution

The impact of CU Denver partnering with Apple and K-12 to teach tech skills early

How the university’s Smart Cities living laboratory can improve Coloradans’ quality of life

How CU Denver’s work as an “age-friendly university” is creating a new, non-traditional learner demographic

Guest Bio

Michelle Marks is the Chancellor of the University of Colorado, Denver, as well as a tenured professor. She is well-known for developing innovative programs that help students succeed, attracting new student populations, facilitating research opportunities, and driving new revenue growth.

Previously, Michelle served as vice president for academic innovation and new ventures at George Mason University. In this role, she focused on leading strategic partnerships to deliver online programming at scale and support adult degree completion.

Michelle holds a BS in psychology from James Madison University and an MA and PhD in industrial/organizational psychology from George Mason University.

To value student centricity is easy. But to prove these values are actualized in student outcomes bears asking, “How do we really know we do what we say we do?”

This is one among many spirited insights from guest Dr. Gregory Fowler, President of the University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC), in this episode of An Educated Guest. Dr. Fowler and host Todd Zipper, Executive Vice President and GM at Wiley, discuss a wide range of topics in career-connected education, such as the true implications of student centricity, how to meaningfully surface skills through lifelong learning, and the broader implications of AI and ChatGPT.

Key Takeaways:

What led UMGC to become the number one college serving transfer students 

How the university is experimenting with a “metaversity” to help learners develop skills 

The importance of learners’ dispositions beyond knowledge and skills

How successful student outcomes hinge on validating and communicating skills 

Guest Bio

Dr. Gregory Fowler is the President of the University of Maryland Global Campus, the largest public online university in the US, with courses offered online and in more than 20 countries and territories worldwide. Gregory is a nationally recognized scholar and leader in developing innovative learning models and experiences for adult and non-traditional learner populations.  

Prior to UMGC, he served on the leadership teams of Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) Global Campus and Western Governor’s University. At SNHU, he led efforts to develop competency-based online and hybrid programs that respond to the rapidly changing demands of the workforce and global communities, including disadvantaged students in Los Angeles, refugees in Africa and the Middle East, and learners in Mexico and Columbia.

In addition to his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Morehouse College, George Mason University, and SUNY–Buffalo, Gregory holds an MBA from Western Governors University and completed programs at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education and Business School.

Power skills. Capability academies. Learning in the flow of work. Cutting-edge concepts will redefine how higher ed and corporations innovate learning. And one HR guru is leading the charge: Josh Bersin.   

In this episode of An Educated Guest, Todd Zipper, Executive Vice President and GM at Wiley, welcomes Josh Bersin, founder and CEO of The Josh Bersin Company. Todd and Josh explore new frontiers in skill- and capability-building that higher ed institutions and employers need to future-proof themselves. 

Key Takeaways:

Why all businesses have a skills gap and how the evolution of business is making it worse 

Why “power skills” are the most essential and in-demand yet hardest to teach 

Why educators and business leaders should be developing capabilities, not just skills 

How apprenticeships and ‘hire-train-deploy’ models create long-term value

Guest Bio

Josh Bersin is the Founder and CEO of The Josh Bersin Company, a global leader in research, advisory services, and professional development for HR teams around the world. He is known as an analyst, author, educator, and thought leader focusing on the global talent market and the challenges and trends impacting business workforces around the world.

Recently, he launched the Josh Bersin Academy. In his role as dean, Josh guides program offerings, interacts with members, and shares relevant research and insights to help HR and talent professionals stay current on the trends and practices needed to drive success in the modern world of work. 

Josh has a BS in engineering from Cornell University, an MS in engineering from Stanford University, and an MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.

Greg Shove made it his mission to provide learners with the value of an elite business degree at a fraction of the cost. But how did this big idea become a reality?

In this episode of An Educated Guest, Todd Zipper, EVP and GM of Wiley University Services and Talent Development, welcomes Greg Shove, CEO of Section4. They discuss how Greg and founder, Scott Galloway, are making elite business education more relevant, accessible, and affordable to all. 

Key takeaways:

How Section4 brought key features of in-person learning online at scale 

How the company aims to disrupt the business school market through its 80-10-1 model 

Why Section4 vets students “on the way out,” not on the way in 

The benefit of “live learning” from today’s top business leaders 

Guest Bio

Greg Shove is the CEO of Section4, a new business school designed to help curious, ambitious thinkers excel in the tech economy. He believes that business education needs to be reinvented. That’s why Section4 offers affordable and accessible all-access membership plans for online courses featuring cohort-based learning, a mix of lesson videos with live lectures, and TA office hours.

Prior to Section4, Greg founded five companies resulting in three exits, two of which were over $100M (2Market to AOL, SocialChorus to Sumeru Equity Partners). He is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario and Stanford Graduate School of Business.

How can higher ed ensure everyone has the opportunity to live a healthy and productive life? That’s precisely the question The Gates Foundation seeks to answer through its US Program in Postsecondary Success.

In this episode of An Educated Guest, Todd Zipper, EVP and GM of Wiley University Services and Talent Development, welcomes Patrick Methvin, Director of Postsecondary Success at The Gates Foundation. Todd and Patrick discuss the role of philanthropy in higher ed and how the postsecondary sector can help fulfill the promise of economic mobility for all, regardless of race, gender, or family income.

Key Takeaways:

The Gates Foundation’s roots in funding education

The importance of higher ed advancing socioeconomic mobility

How their education funding stacks from K-12 to postsecondary to the workforce

Postsecondary funding areas the Gates Foundation targets

How the Foundation seeks to close attainment gaps

Guest Bio

Patrick Methvin is the Director of Postsecondary Success at The Gates Foundation. He oversees work designed to significantly increase the number of Americans achieving post-high school credentials and eliminate educational attainment disparities by race and income.

Previously, Patrick served as a principal in the Boston Consulting Group’s Social Impact and Consumer Goods Practice Areas. In this role, he supported higher ed institutions in managing operating model changes required by their rapidly changing funding environments.

Patrick holds an MBA from the Wharton School, a master’s in educational leadership from the University of Pennsylvania, and a BA in Economics and Political Science from the University of North Carolina.

“The next step is not your last.” That’s why Amazon is focused on creating new paths to career success with the Career Choice program.

In this episode of An Educated Guest, Todd Zipper, EVP and GM of Wiley University Services and Talent Development, welcomes Tammy Thieman, Global Program Director of Amazon Career Choice. Todd and Tammy explore how Amazon is providing a workplace where employees can advance their careers through access to “industry-busting” education providers and skills training.

Key Takeaways:

How Amazon Career Choice created a 45% enrollment increase in the first six months of 2022 

How Career Choice helps employees be good consumers of their education and land opportunities wherever their careers take them 

Why they rigorously vet education providers in their network 

How Career Choice is part of Amazon’s greater education pledge of $1.2 billion by 2025 

Why the program will continue measuring results relentlessly and share learns widely 

Guest Bio

Tammy Thieman is the Global Program Director of Amazon Career Choice. Currently available in 14 countries with over 80,000 participants, Career Choice is Amazon’s education program focused on career advancement and skills training for hourly employees with the goal of helping move them into higher-paying, in-demand jobs. 

In her time at Amazon, Tammy has focused on upskilling initiatives such as supporting veteran hiring in tech and launching Amazon’s first Department of Labor-registered apprenticeship program.

Tammy began her career as an active-duty Army officer and recently retired as a Lieutenant Colonel from the U.S. Army Reserve where she was the Pacific Northwest leader for Command and General Staff College. She currently lives in Las Vegas with her husband and two children.

Higher ed was never designed around students. But Dr. Bridget Burns is determined to disrupt that.

In this episode of An Educated Guest, Todd Zipper, EVP and GM of Wiley University Services and Talent Development, welcomes Dr. Bridget Burns, Founder and CEO of the University Innovation Alliance (UIA). Together, they explore how empathy, design thinking, accessible data, trusting each other to fail, and the UIA’s six policy areas have innovated scalable solutions for student success.

Key Takeaways:

• Why tools like predictive analytics and proactive advising are fundamental to diagnosing students’ problems and providing immediate support

• How chatbots can resolve students’ issues and help staff be more effective

• Why career services need to become part of every classroom experience

• How $1000 grants have ensured students graduate on time

• How creating the social safety to fail is key to innovation

Guest Bio

Dr. Bridget Burns is the founder and CEO of University Innovation Alliance, a multi-campus laboratory for student success innovation that helps university leaders implement scalable solutions to increase the number and diversity of college graduates.

In 2020, Bridget was recognized by Diverse Issues as one of "35 Leading Women in Higher Education" and named one of the “16 Most Innovative People in Higher Education” by Washington Monthly magazine. In addition, her work has been highlighted in national outlets like The New York Times, Fast Company, and 60 Minutes. She was also featured in the documentary “Unlikely."

Bridget received her bachelor’s degree in Political Science and master’s degree in Public Policy from Oregon State University and her Doctorate in Higher Education, Leadership & Policy from Vanderbilt University.

Imagine a future where learners can instantly verify their skills, credentials, and employment. Thanks to the National Student Clearinghouse, this future is already becoming a reality.

In this episode of An Educated Guest, Todd Zipper, EVP and GM of Wiley University Services and Talent Development, welcomes Rick Torres, President and CEO of the National Student Clearinghouse. They discuss topics such as the “K-20 to workforce continuum”, the top factors accelerating enrollment declines, and how a “point of no return” now requires higher ed to pivot for good.

Key Takeaways:

How the Clearinghouse is evolving paper transcripts into a digital credentials wallet

How the credentials ecosystem is becoming less of a “wild west”

Why employers have been upskilling talent in-house and how higher ed institutions can help

Understanding recent enrollment declines via the community college sector

Why universities, states, and federal policy makers must work in tandem to track education and job outcomes

Guest Bio

Rick Torres joined the National Student Clearinghouse as President and CEO in 2008. Under his leadership, the Clearinghouse has provided access-driven educational reporting, data exchange, verification, and research services to help learners, institutions, and organizations maximize human potential across the “K-20 to workforce continuum.”

Rick currently serves as a board member of the John Tyler Community College Foundation and Achieving the Dream. He is also a founding member of the Groningen Declaration Network Group, a multinational group of leaders dedicated to developing a trusted international data exchange ecosystem. Rick holds an MBA in international finance from Georgetown University and undergraduate degrees in both marketing and management from Manhattan College.

“Are we the problem?” This simple question would lead Dr. Tim Renick to leverage big data at scale and profoundly improve Georgia State University (GSU) students’ outcomes.

In this episode of An Educated Guest, Todd Zipper, EVP and GM of Wiley University Services and Talent Development, welcomes Dr. Tim Renick, founding Executive Director of Georgia State University’s National Institute of Student Success (NISS). They explore how personalized approaches to data and technology have revolutionized student success, created equitable career outcomes for historically under-resourced learners, and increased revenue at GSU.

Key Takeaways:

• How GSU dramatically improved outcomes for low-income students and students of color

• How proactive chat technology helped reduce GSU’s summer melt by over 30%

• The unique strategies GSU uses to help students connect education and career

• How Tim founded NISS using a systematic, data-informed, and technology-enhanced approach

• The four service areas NISS offers to help universities boost student success

Guest Bio

Dr. Tim Renick is the founding Executive Director of Georgia State University’s new National Institute for Student Success. Immediately before his transition, he served as Professor of Religious Studies and Senior Vice President for Student Success at GSU. Under his leadership, the university has produced one of the fastest-growing graduation rates in the nation and has eliminated achievement gaps based on students’ race, ethnicity, and income levels.

Tim has testified before the U.S. Senate on strategies that help university students succeed and has been invited to speak at the White House twice. In addition, his work has been covered by national news media, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Time, and CNN. He is also the principal investigator for a $9 million U.S. Department of Education grant to study the impact of predictive-analytics-based advisement on 10,000 low-income and first-generation students. Tim graduated summa cum laude from Dartmouth College and holds master’s and doctor’s degrees in religion from Princeton University.