Our Solutions
Opportunity@Work is part of the growing movement of employers, training providers, entrepreneurs, and other advocates working to bridge the opportunity gap for the millions of workers in our country who are Skilled Through Alternative Routes (STARs) and are being left behind in today’s dynamic economy.
For these STARs, access to good jobs has less to do with their skills and more to do with whether and where they went to college, whom they know, and what they look like. But we believe that if you can do the job, you should get the job.
Our strategy begins by increasing STARs’ access to entry-level technology jobs, because the need for tech talent is both acute and widespread. In the coming months, we’ll be working with our partners to launch three bold new initiatives aimed at expanding career pathways for STARs.
Awaken
For decades, workers Skilled Through Alternative Routes (STARs) have been invisible in our labor market. They are screened out by a focus on educational attainment at the expense of other factors.
With a community of partners, we’re awakening employers to the value of STARs talent by gathering, sharing, and publishing data-driven insights that raise STARs’ visibility and change perceptions of workers without a four-year degree.
Connect
Many companies want to hire STARs for entry-level tech roles, but they’re finding it hard to navigate the emerging ecosystem of nontraditional talent sources and determine which training providers to engage for which skills and roles.
We are connecting employers with training providers and STARs through the rapid scaling of our online marketplace which will make it faster and easier for employers to hire STARs.
Accelerate
Employers have committed to solve for racial equality and improve economic mobility, but have struggled to implement the changes they seek. Deeply entrenched practices, cultural norms, and degree inflation can stand in the way of making progress. Those systemic issues must be addressed to affect real and lasting change
The STARs Studio serves as a design and testing laboratory that helps organizations translate their promises into action. We aim to help STARs access higher wage work–and help the businesses who employ STARs fulfill their commitment to a more inclusive labor market.
