[LISTEN] How will adult learning shape the future of work?

The future of work is humans. XPRIZE imagines a future in which people can rapidly attain new and more relevant skills to their current workplace -- and their next one, enjoy gainful employment and meaningful work, and use AI, automation, and disruptive technologies to improve human training, productivity, and work experience. Novel solutions developed in the $5M XPRIZE Rapid Reskilling competition will uplift the labor market in the U.S. and close the widening skills gap by providing free, fast-paced skills training to under-resourced communities facing systemic barriers to learning, mobility, and progress. With an unprecedented digital disruption and adoption caused by COVID-19 comes a new opportunity to radically change the lives of millions of Americans.

XPRIZE, the world's leader in designing and operating incentive competitions to solve humanity's grand challenges, presents XPRIZE's Crazy Ideas, a new weekly Twitter Spaces series bringing together experts to discuss innovations that are radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. In this installment of Crazy Ideas (pre-recorded on June 24, 2022), we asked leaders and innovators in adult learning and workforce development to share their thoughts on adult learning's impact on the future of work. 

Topics included in the panel discussion:

• Skills, credentials, and competencies that best complement the future of work. 
• Trends and shifts (e.g., employment, technological, policy, etc.) that have been the most transformative, surprising, or impactful in workforce development/adult learning.
• Creating an infrastructure that will achieve the future of work.
• Supporting humans holistically in the future of work.

You may listen to the recording here. 

Follow us on Twitter (@XPRIZE) for more Crazy Ideas! Tweet your questions or reactions using #AskXPRIZE. For more information about XPRIZE Rapid Reskilling, email rapidreskilling@xprize.org.

Panelist Bios:

Dr. Monique Golden-Harrison (moderator; @MGHphd) is the technical lead in the learning, innovation, and society domain at XPRIZE. She oversees the judging, field testing, and data collection aspects for the Rapid Reskilling Competition and Digital Learning Challenge. Monique comes to XPRIZE Foundation with experience in higher education and nonprofit organizations, providing teaching, research, career training, and success coaching in elementary through postsecondary education. She received her Ph.D. in leadership and education policy from the University of Connecticut. 

Jeff Wald (@jeffreywald) is the founder of Work Market, an enterprise software platform that enables companies to manage freelancers (acquired by ADP). Jeff is an active angel investor and startup advisor, as well as serving on numerous public and private boards of directors. Jeff is the author of the best seller The End of Jobs: The Rise of On-Demand Workers and Agile Corporations. Jeff holds an M.B.A. from Harvard University and an M.S./B.S. from Cornell University. Jeff serves as a member of the Rapid Reskilling advisory board.

Jomayra Herrera (@jomayra_herrera) is a partner at Reach Capital, a venture fund focused on early-stage education technology and future of work-related companies. She focuses on adult learning, future of work, economic mobility, and web3 at Reach. Prior to Reach, Jomayra was a principal at Cowboy Ventures, where she focused on investing in consumer internet and marketplace companies. Outside of work, Jomayra is passionate about improving Latinx representation in venture capital and sits on the board of directors of LatinxVC. Jomayra received her M.A. in Education and B.A. in political science with honors from Stanford University. Jomayra serves as a member of the Rapid Reskilling advisory board.

Dr. Lewis Johnson (@lewisjohnson) co-founded Alelo in 2005 as a spinout of the University of Southern California; under his leadership Alelo has developed into a major producer of innovative learning products focusing on communication skills. Alelo has developed courses for use in a number of countries around the world, all using the Virtual Role-Play method. Dr. Johnson holds a B.A. in linguistics from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in computer science from Yale University. He is an internationally recognized leader in innovation for education and training. Alelo is a finalist team in the Rapid Reskilling competition.

Dr. Manupriya Sharma (@SomaliFamilySvc) is the director of business development and data analytics at Somali Family Service. She also heads the SHIFA360 Workforce Development Project.  Manupriya has a Ph.D. in physics and master's in business administration from Rady School of Management.  She also received her certification in data analytics from UC, Berkeley. She has more than 20 years of experience in education focused on curriculum and instructional design, teaching, creating learning strategies, and building programs leveraging digital platforms. She has developed curricula at the undergraduate and graduate levels. She is extremely passionate about creating student-centric, meaningful, relevant learning programs using sound pedagogical methods for adult education. SHIFA360 is a finalist team in the Rapid Reskilling competition.