The playbook is the culmination of a multi-year collaboration between the Project on Workforce at Harvard and Education Design Lab.
What does it take to design a more responsive community college that can change as fast as today’s economy? There’s a new playbook (and webinar) to help!
We’re proud to contribute to the release of “The Agile Community College: Dynamic Labor Market Alignment in an AI-Driven Economy,” which shows how to translate data into design.
The playbook is the culmination of a multi-year collaboration between the Project on Workforce at Harvard and Education Design Lab and draws on in-depth case studies, interviews, and micro-pathway design sprints.
Built for community college innovators, this guide can can help college leverage data and technology as they grapple with four recurring workforce development decisions:
- Program portfolio: How should colleges decide which programs to launch, expand, redesign, or sunset?
- Curriculum design: How should programs evolve as occupations, skills, and AI continue to change?
- Career navigation: How can colleges equip students with better information and guidance about education and career pathways?
- Resource allocation: How should institutions prioritize investments to maximize workforce and student outcomes?
Playbook webinar: Recorded Aug. 27, 2026
In the webinar now available on YouTube (above), Labbies including Rachel Kahn and Joseph (Joe) Davis, explored how colleges can apply these insights in practice.
We’re grateful for our partnership and excited to see how colleges across the country use this work to keep learners at the center and drive more economic mobility.
And thanks to the colleges that participated in Lab design sprints: Community College of Aurora (Colorado), Riverland Community College (Minnesota), Hudson County Community College (New Jersey), and Victoria College (Texas).
