In this episode of The Balance, I talk with Shira Woolf Cohen, co-founder of Innovageous and author of Leading Future-Focused Schools: Engaging and Preparing Students for Career Success.

With nearly three decades in education and workforce development, Shira shares why the gap between what students learn in school and the skills needed in today’s workplace demands urgent attention. We explore what it means to cultivate a future-focused mindset, why every teacher is a “career teacher,” and how schools can embed career-connected learning across grade levels and subject areas.

Shira offers strategies for building on student strengths, examples of what this work looks like in practice, and actionable steps leaders can take to begin designing future-focused schools.

Connect with Shira Woolf Cohen and learn more about her work.