In this episode, Joe and guest co-host Laura Hopkins, Executive Director of the Healthcare Training Fund, chat with Dr. Metoka Welch, Executive Dean of the Apprenticeship College of Health (ACH); Dr. Anastasia Wickham, Provost and Chief Academic Officer at Reach University; and Melody McKee, Director of Behavioral Strategy at the Healthcare Training Fund. Together, they discuss the impetus and origins of the ACH, why apprenticeship degrees are needed in behavioral health, how the ACH differs from other healthcare apprenticeship pathways, how the ACH will maintain a rigorous curriculum while supporting workers from all walks of life, how the ACH is reinventing how behavioral health employers develop and retain talent, and so much more.

Learn more about the ACH at www.healthapprenticeship.org.

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In this episode, Joe chats with Heather Terenzio, Director of the Incubation practice at JFFLabs, and Carlos Vazquez, Founder of GoSprout. Together, they discuss the upfront questions to answer when starting an apprenticeship program; how startups should think about compliance and governance when launching and growing an apprenticeship program; building apprenticeship into a lean startup, without compromising quality or learner outcomes; how federal and state policymakers can further incentivize employers to expand apprenticeship programs; advice for entrepreneurs looking to create their own apprenticeship programs; and much more.

Music by Evgeny Bardyuzha from Pixabay.

In this episode, Joe and guest co-host Dr. Eric Dunker, Chief Engagement Officer at Reach University, chat with Diego Mariscal, Founder and CEO of 2Gether-International (2GI); Philip Minardi, Co-founder of BuildWithin; and Dr. Susan Crystal-Mansour, Interim Executive Director at the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. Together, they discuss apprenticeship pathways for executives with disabilities; standardization and measurement of registered apprenticeship for startup executives; scaling apprenticeship across massive, high-turnover industries and barriers to expansion; constraints that often break inclusive apprenticeship models at scale; how 2GI's model could serve as a basis for other startup apprenticeship models; and much more.

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In this episode, Joe and guest co-host Dr. Eric Dunker, Chief Engagement Officer at Reach University, chat with Ivy Love, Senior Policy Analyst in the Center on Education and Labor at New America; Laura Love, Senior Vice President, Work-Based Learning, at Strada Education Foundation; and Michael Horn, Author, Adjunct Lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and Co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation. Together, they discuss the impetus and findings from New America's recent report, Mapping the Landscape of Degree Apprenticeship: Expanding a Promising Model for Mobility; whether work-embedded degree models layer credentials onto existing roles or disrupting the status quo of the relationship between work and higher education; barriers to scaling accessibility, responsiveness, affordability, sustainability, flexibility, and collaboration in work-based learning; effective policy levers for effective degree apprenticeship growth; where this is all headed; and much more.

Dive into Mapping the Landscape of Degree Apprenticeship: Expanding a Promisng Model for Mobility.

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In this episode, Joe chats with Matthew McKenney, President and CEO of JobForward. Together, they discuss Matt's background as a welder and a CNC machinist apprentice, how that background connects to the work JobForward is doing now, the organization's customizable-but-scalable approach to apprenticeship, overcoming complexities and upfront barriers in apprenticeship program development, how Matt and JobForward define and track success, opportunities to strengthen apprenticeship pathways moving forward, and much more.

Music by Evgeny Bardyuzha from Pixabay.

In this episode, Joe and guest co-host Dr. Holly Smith, Executive Director and Vice President of Apprenticeship Degree and Design at Reach's National Center for the Apprenticeship Degree, chat with Courtney Kinkade, Vice President of Organizational Learning and Workforce Strategy at TRIMEDX, and Danielle McGeary, First Vice President of Healthcare Technology Management at the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI). Together, they discuss the partnership between TRIMEDX and AAMI in creating an apprenticeship program for aspiring biomedical equipment technicians (BMETs), how their collaboration has evolved thus far, how the program's hybrid model has proved effective, how the model has opened the door to candidates from nontraditional backgrounds, the importance of cultivating a sense of community and belonging among apprentices, and much more.

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In this episode, part two of our two-part year-end roundtable series, Joe and guest co-host, journalist Paul Fain, chat with three of the top reporters in the apprenticeship space: Colleen Connolly, freelance journalist and regular contributor to Work Shift; Rebecca Griesbach, Senior Data Analyst at the Cowen Institute and former reporter for AL.com and Alabama Education Lab; and Kelly Field, freelance journalist and contributor to The Chronicle of Higher Education and The Hechinger Report. The discussions highlight the top developments in apprenticeship and job-embedded higher education from 2025, as well as the top developments to watch for in 2026.

Read Colleen's recent articles:

• "Caring for Patients for 26 Years—and Still Not a Nurse" in Work Shift
• "In Alabama, Nursing Apprenticeships Aim to Fix a Broken Career Ladder" in Work Shift
• "Nursing apprenticeships are starting to fix a broken career ladder, amid national shortage" in The Hechinger Report

Read Rebecca's recent article for AL.com: "Low-cost Alabama program takes new approach to train teachers: 'Transformational'"

Read Kelly's recent articles:

• "The Slow Rise of the Apprentice Degree" in The Chronicle of Higher Education
• "The US wants more apprenticeships. The UK figured out how to make them coveted roles" in The Hechinger Report

This episode was recorded on Dec. 15.

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In this episode, part one of our two-part year-end roundtable series, Joe chats with the top executives at four funders in the apprenticeship space: Keith Witham, President and CEO of Ascendium Education Group; Ruth Watkins, President of Postsecondary Education at Strada Education Foundation; Jamie Merisotis, President and CEO of the Lumina Foundation; and Julie Lammers, President and CEO of American Student Assistance. Keith and Ruth join Joe in the first half of the episode, and Jamie and Julie join Joe in the second half. The discussions highlight the top developments in apprenticeship and job-embedded higher education from 2025, as well as the top developments to watch for in 2026.

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In this first-ever Between the Lines edition of Apprenticeship 2.0, Joe, Kiko, and Reach University Provost and Chief Academic Officer Dr. Anastasia Wickham discuss several recent news articles on apprenticeship and higher education. Joe, Kiko, and Anastasia discuss the potential impacts of these reports amid an evolving education environment in the United States. The articles are as follows:

Read "California greenlights $25M for apprenticeship programs" by Matthew Thibault in Construction Dive.

Read "Dismantling of ED Earns Some Praise Amid the Gloom" by Jessica Blake in Inside Higher Ed.

Read "It's Too Early to Write Off College Degrees" by Callum Borchers in The Wall Street Journal.

Read "Empowering every learner: What the US can learn from the Swiss about apprenticeships," a commentary from the National Governors Association.

Read "What the Outrage over Nursing Loan Limits Gets Wrong" by Preston Cooper in AEIdeas.

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In this episode of Apprenticeship 2.0, Kiko chats with Christopher Carter, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Approyo. Together, they discuss Bloomberg Intelligence's projections for a rapidly growing AI market, the importance of AI literacy in apprenticeship and internships, how AI can help employers foster more effective apprenticeship opportunities, how companies like Apprenti are deploying innovative apprenticeship models, how one educator in North Dakota is embracing AI and helping to shape district AI policy, and much more.

Learn more about Chris and Approyo.

Read Bloomberg Intelligence's article, "Generative AI to Become a $1.3 Trillion Market by 2032, Research Finds."

Learn more about Apprenti.

Read Andrew Weeks' article in the North Dakota Monitor, "AI allows more time for students, North Dakota educators say."

Music by Evgeny Bardyuzha from Pixabay.