Maryland hosts career pathways summit.

On September 23, the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation’s Division of Workforce Development and Adult Learning hosted the first ever Maryland Career Pathways Summit to mark the beginning of the state’s implementation of a new career pathways framework for addressing the needs of low-skilled workers. The event convened over 250 workforce and education stakeholders representing the public workforce system, educational institutions, human service agencies, community-based organizations and employers to explore strategies for implementing a career pathways system to provide integrated education, occupational training, and employment opportunities. The Summit was the outgrowth of Maryland’s participation in the U.S. Department of Labor’s (USDOL) Career Pathways Institute, which brought together eleven states to participate in an in depth planning process to support the development of career pathways.

Summit attendees were joined by Brenda Dann-Messier, Assistant Secretary for Vocational and Adult Education at the U.S. Department of Education, who discussed the importance of strengthening career pathways to meet President Obama’s 2020 goal of being first in the world in college graduates and to ensure that America remains competitive in the global marketplace. Also participating were representatives from the USDOL Career Pathways Institute Team, Minnesota’s FastTRAC program, Mott Community College in Michigan and others.

While the Summit served as the culmination event for the purposes of their USDOL planning grant, Maryland officials are hopeful that the Summit will drive future innovation and the future expansion of career pathways strategies at the local and regional level.

The goals of the Summit were to:

• Convene state and local policymakers and other stakeholders from business, education (including Adult Education providers), workforce development and state government leadership;
• Create greater awareness in Maryland of the national career pathways movement and an understanding of the six key elements in the development of career pathways;
• Understand critical components and required partnerships to the implementation of the career pathways approach;
• Identify key roles for both state and locals—Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs), community colleges, Adult Basic Education (ABE), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), career and technical education (CTE), and other local partners; and the importance of cross-agency partners; and
• Provide tools to begin planning and implementation of components in developing an Implementation Plan.

For further information on Maryland Career Pathways Initiative contact Trudy Chara (tchara@dllr.state.md.us) with the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, Division of Workforce Development and Adult Learning.