The Key to Opening Doors with Kirstin Yeado, Shaniqua Corley-Moore and Mike Gutman

06/06/24 • 54 min

In the second episode in our Pathways and Policies to Ensure Rural Learners Succeed in Place and Why it’s Essential for America’s Future series, we begin our episode focused on “The Key to Opening Doors” with Kirstin Yeado, Senior Program Officer at Ascendium Education Group. In this role, Kirstin is responsible for strategic grantmaking to advance Ascendium’s Support Rural Postsecondary Education and Workforce Training focus area, which seeks to expand education and workforce training opportunities for rural learners.

During this discussion, Kirstin shares an overview of the landscape of post-secondary education opportunities in rural communities including identifying gaps and access to supports like transportation, childcare, mental health resources, or attending an institution with robust advising services. Michelle and Kirstin also discuss how philanthropy plays a role in closing gaps, breaking cycles, building capacity and partnerships, and growing pathways for rural communities to have access to education and training pathways.

Michelle also welcomes Shaniqua Corley-Moore, Head of Tech Talent Development, and Mike Gutman, Workforce Development Manager at the Center on Rural Innovation (CORI). Shaniqua drives national initiatives to boost rural tech skilling and employment. Her strategic partnerships with key educational and tech organizations are aimed at integrating regional workforce needs with national talent development strategies. Mike works as part of a team to build tech and digital talent pipelines in rural communities. In his role, he focuses on working with employers to understand hiring demands, building upskilling programs to meet those demands, and then enrolling students into those programs to graduate and get higher-paying tech and digital jobs.

In this second part, Shaniqua and Mike share how CORI is impacting rural workers and organizations by expanding their tech workforce through several key initiatives. They also discuss the importance of growing local talent, providing mentorship, understanding the obstacles rural employers face, building infrastructure and community partnerships, and developing responsive training programs. Finally, they highlight how philanthropy and federal dollars make it possible to do their work.

This episode of The Rural Impact podcast is sponsored by Ascendium. Ascendium believes that learning after high school has the power to transform lives. Driven by this belief, their philanthropy focuses on systemic change to elevate opportunity for learners from low-income backgrounds. Ascendium has a special interest in elevating rural postsecondary education and workforce training. They fund research and resources that can be used to ensure more rural learners have pathways to good jobs that lead to upward mobility. Want to connect with Ascendium? Visit their website at ascendiumphilanthropy.org, sign up for their newsletter, and follow them on social media.

Previous Episode

The Rural Reason to Focus on Workforce Policy with Manny Lamarre, Mary Wurtz and Andrew Campbell

In the first episode in our sixth series, Pathways and Policies to Ensure Rural Learners Succeed in Place and Why it’s Essential for America’s Future, we begin our episode The Rural Reason to Focus on Workforce Policy with Deputy Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training for the U.S. Department of Labor, Manny Lamarre. DAS Lamarre’s experience spans across workforce development policy, program, and research across the federal, state and local levels. After previously serving as a Governor appointee, he is now a political appointee leading key workforce policies and programs including sector-based initiatives and investments, Registered Apprenticeships, Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act, industry engagement and Artificial Intelligence.

During this discussion DAS Lamarre shares the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration’s mission and vision for opportunities for vulnerable populations and communities, industry partnerships, care economy including long term care, short term care, and childcare, and the future of work. Michelle and DAS Lamarre also discuss how the ETA is engaging with rural communities, rural workforce opportunities, grants and initiatives, partnerships, as well as strengthening civic engagement and public sector employment through apprenticeships.

In the second half of this episode, Michelle talks with Mary Wurtz, a Policy Analyst at The Council of State Governments, specializing in registered apprenticeship and other work-based learning opportunities. While at CSG, Mary has provided technical assistance to support public sector apprenticeship programs in Maine, Idaho and Colorado to facilitate new career pathways into public service for low-income, historically underserved communities. Also, in this conversation Michelle speaks with Andrew Campbell, Policy Program Manager in the Research to Action Lab at the Urban Institute. In his role, he contributes specialized knowledge and project leadership to a range of research, technical assistance (TA), and philanthropic advising engagements focused on workforce development and inclusive economic mobility. Campbell is also a core contributor to Urban’s body of work on apprenticeship programs, where he has helped lead a partnership with the Council of State Governments focused on the expansion of public sector apprenticeships in state and local government.

In this second part, Mary, Andrew, and Michelle discuss workforce challenges and opportunities in the rural public sector, how apprenticeship removes barriers for individuals to access quality jobs, the myths and facts around apprenticeship, technical assistance tools and resources for employers, and how CSG and Urban Institute are working together to use the grant received from Ascendium Education Group on a three year pilot program to work directly with two states to build out apprenticeship programs in state and local government.

Next Episode

Rural Health Leaders Overcoming Challenges with Alan Morgan, Kathy Kuepers and Steve Tenhouse

In the What’s Your Impact special episode supported by Wipfli, Michelle begins the episode with Alan Morgan, Chief Executive Officer of the National Rural Health Association (NRHA). This discussion, recorded just one day after the White House announced news about a dynamic partnership designed to provide support to combat cyber-attacks, focuses on how cybersecurity impacts health systems, as well as solutions. Alan shares details about the important partnership NRHA entered into with Microsoft to provide free technical analysis and reasonably priced products to safeguard rural hospitals against growing cyber security threats.

In the second part of this episode, Michelle speaks to rural health leaders making an incredible impact on their critical access hospitals and communities, Kathy Kuepers and Steve Tenhouse. Steve has spent the last 22 years, serving the past 19 as CEO, at Kirby Medical Center; an independent, not-for-profit, critical access hospital located in Monticello, Illinois. Kathy Kuepers, CEO of Memorial Hospital of Lafayette in Darlington, Wisconsin since 2018, has over four decades of experience in the healthcare industry, including 18 years as a clinical nurse.

In this discussion Steve, Kathy, and Michelle discuss several factors that influence a rural health organization’s growth and vitality, as well as discuss the vision and challenges that come with a replacement facility project. Also covered is trust building and stakeholder engagement, operational excellence and financial confidence, as well as building a thriving brand. They also share what is in their advocates toolkit, and how they engage with those who represent their service area.