Jamai Blivin Reimagines the Degree-Before-Work Paradigm
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In today’s episode, Cory speaks with Jamai Blivin, who’s spent her recent career on this dilemma: most people need a high-paying job to afford college, but need college to afford a higher paying job. She is a tireless advocate for the systemic change that would begin to resolve this mismatch. Jamai believes we need to emphasize the importance of actual skills over that piece of paper, and she has ideas about how to make it happen. One of them is pretty simple: our teenagers should prioritize getting a J-O-B. How many parents like the sound of that?
Brought to you by Tutor Corps and Pacific Preparatory.
About our guest:
Jamai Blivin is the Founder and CEO of Innovate+Educate, a nonprofit she started in 2009 to address gaps between education and workforce supply and demand. She authored "STATUS – A Journey of Skills-Based Hiring." After a 15-year career managing over $125 million in assets, she pursued her passion for education, teaching middle school and later working with the North Carolina Technology Association. Moving to Santa Fe in 2008, she collaborated with Intel and Lockheed Martin to launch Innovate+Educate. Jamai serves on multiple national and local boards and enjoys gardening, yoga, and reading. She loves spending time with her husband Dave and their seven children.
Find her at:
Website: innovate-educate.org
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamai-wallis-blivin-b17a854/
Resources mentioned in the episode:
Poverty, by America, by Matthew Desmond
