The Metro Atlanta Chamber’s Educated Workforce Council met this month to discuss recent developments and activations in education for the metro Atlanta region.
By Patrick Adcock
This article is part of a continuing series of posts on the Metro Atlanta Chamber’s council groups. Learn more about the Chamber’s work by exploring these leadership councils and the impact they have on the metro region.
The Metro Atlanta Chamber’s Educated Workforce Council met this month to discuss recent developments and activations in education for the metro Atlanta region.
The council featured several prominent speakers across the range of businesses, schools and government organizations that make up the group. Among them were representatives from Learn4Life, Georgia Department of Education, Atlanta CareerRise and Georgia Business Leaders United.
Ken Zeff, executive director with Learn4Life, gave a brief update on the work of the initiative, taking time to highlight the six key indicators of growth stages in education that are key to students. The six measures include kindergarten readiness, third grade reading, eighth grade math, high school graduation rate, post-secondary enrollment and post-secondary completion – of which the first two stages are the initial priorities of Learn4Life.
Learn4Life’s baseline report of metro region schools found that our students were lacking in these key areas. The report set a baseline for the region which will serve as a call to action for our community. Zeff urged interested parties to become involved – more information can be found here.
Kyle Hood, economic development liaison with the Georgia Department of Education, presented a new tool for businesses and students alike to find out more about our industry workforce through the Georgia Career Pipeline. The resource allows businesses to search for young talent in technical education pathways while also giving students an idea of the career opportunities available to them in specific fields.
Atlanta CareerRise Regional Sector Partnerships Manager Helen Slaven provided an update on the High Demand Career Initiative. Through a metro Atlanta sector partnership grant, $400,000 has been awarded to the region’s local workforce development board by the Georgia Department of Economic Development to build and support employer-led collaboratives in key sectors.
Mike Kenig, vice chairman of Holder Construction, gave the final update of the meeting on Georgia BLU – Business Leaders United. Georgia BLU allows the business community to jointly communicate with policymakers, members of the press and the public on workforce strategies.
The Educated Workforce Council strives to deliver workforce solutions by aligning our city’s workforce development efforts with education initiatives for lasting impact. The council is chaired by Steve Lewis, managing partner, Troutman Sanders, and co-chaired by Glenn Mitchell, managing partner, EY.
