- CCGE Fellows 2.0 brings together 10 higher education leaders from five states to explore systems-level transformation through Education Design Lab’s human-centered design process.
- Fellows represent states including Nevada, Ohio, Mississippi, Arkansas, and North Carolina.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Education Design Lab (the Lab), a national nonprofit that innovates more skills-based paths to economic mobility, today announced the launch of its second cohort of Community College Growth Engine Fellows (known as CCGE Fellows 2.0).
The fellowship will support 10 higher education leaders from five states to drive system-level transformation through the design of micro-pathways – or, stackable, job-relevant credentials that can be completed in one year or less – that help align community college programs with regional workforce needs, ensuring learner-earners are equipped with the skills needed for high-growth career opportunities.
Why it matters
As traditional higher education models are being called into question, community colleges are looked to as regional talent hubs that can respond to labor market needs through meaningful partnerships with local industries. The future also demands a higher ed system that is more flexible and affordable for New Majority Learner-Earners, the 62% of Americans who don’t hold a four-year degree, and the individuals for whom college was not designed. Instead of taking two or more years to earn a degree, learners will take accelerated micro-pathways that can lead directly into the workforce with industry-recognized skills and credentials.
Since 2020, the Lab’s Community College Growth Engine (CCGE, or Growth Engine) has supported over 100 colleges to design over 200 micro-pathways to connect low-wage and entry-level workers to in-demand jobs that pay at-or-above median wage and put them on a path toward an associate degree.
“Fostering collaboration between dynamic ecosystems is a critical component of system-wide transformation and driving economic mobility in communities,” said Dr. Rachel Kahn, Senior Director of the Community College Growth Engine. “With community colleges best positioned to be talent suppliers to employers in their communities and across their state, the CCGE Fellows 2.0 program will focus on leveraging the skills-focused CCGE micro-pathway model, rooted in human-centered design, to drive statewide workforce development strategies. These best practices will empower systems, and institutions within those systems, to be flexible and adaptive to the ever-changing needs of employers and learners.”
About Fellows 2.0
Fellows 2.0 builds on the success of the first cohort of the CCGE Fellows program, in which representatives from both state systems and individual institutions collaborated to share insights and address challenges unique to their educational ecosystems. The Lab team captured these learnings in a series of briefs and a 90-minute webinar highlighting key insights that resonate across diverse contexts.
Over the next year, Fellows 2.0 will design blueprints for the implementation of micro-pathways within their community college systems with the support of former Fellows and a network of peers through CCGE’s community of practice. Fellows 2.0 will also participate in both in-person and virtual design sessions, and complete a CCGE Micro-pathway Design micro-credential.
Meet the Fellows
This second cohort of the CCGE Fellows program includes:
- Daniel Archer, Nevada System for Higher Education
- Natalie Brown, Nevada System of Higher Education
- Andrea Crowley, North Carolina Student Success Center
- Tola Francis-Sanusi, Marion Technical College, Ohio
- Andrew Gardner, North Carolina Community Colleges System
- Crystal Jones, Ohio Association of Community Colleges
- Seth Kamen, North Carolina Community Colleges System
- Blaise King, Accelerate Mississippi
- Tina Moore, Arkansas Division of Higher Education
- Kyla Waters, Center for Workforce for Arkansas Community Colleges
Walmart has generously provided funding for the CCGE Fellows program.
About Education Design Lab
Education Design Lab (the Lab) is a national nonprofit and intermediary with a mission to co-design an inclusive, skills-based learn+work system that facilitates upward economic mobility and closes opportunity gaps for the New Majority Learner-Earner. Our facilitated design process helps employer and education stakeholder groups co-design and launch scalable, skills-based, education-to-work pathways that align talent supply and demand.
