Transformative grant will accelerate national
nonprofit's effort to drive $20
billion in wage gains for workers Skilled Through
Alternative Routes (STARs)
WASHINGTON, July 16,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Opportunity@Work, a
national nonprofit focused on catalyzing economic mobility for the
American workforce, announced today that it has received a grant of
$20 million from Yield Giving, the
groundbreaking philanthropy founded by MacKenzie Scott. The unrestricted funding will
support Opportunity@Work's mission to generate a $20 billion boost in annual earnings for workers
who are Skilled Through Alternative Routes (STARs). There are more
than 70 million STARs in the U.S. (over 50% of all U.S. workers),
all of whom have gained their skills on-the-job—such as through
military service, community college, partial college completion,
workforce training programs, skills bootcamps, and more—rather than
through a bachelor's degree.
"Today's labor market is not working for the half of U.S.
workers who are STARs," said Byron
Auguste, co-founder and CEO of Opportunity@Work.
"MacKenzie Scott and Yield Giving's
commitment affirms the critical role that STARs play in building
our economy and brings us closer to fulfilling our mission of
building a skills-first labor market that works for STARs—one where
if you can do the job, you can get the job. This investment allows
us to capitalize on our years of foundation-building to now
generate skills-based hiring solutions for scale."
MacKenzie Scott and Yield Giving
represent the latest philanthropic commitment to the STARs
movement, joining other philanthropic partners investing in impact
solutions for STARs hiring and mobility. Opportunity@Work will
utilize this investment over the next four years to:
- Equip large companies and the public sector to hire STARs into
good, in-demand jobs;
- Shift employer behavior to include the STARs talent pool in
regional and industry initiatives; and,
- Engage large-scale talent technology platforms to incorporate
STARs-centric data and workflows.
"Building a labor market around skills rather than pedigrees is
not an easy task. It will take rigorous research, visionary
leadership, and a commitment to collaboration to translate these
ideas into reality for employers and workers alike," said
Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn
and Chair of Opportunity@Work's Board of Directors.
"Opportunity@Work is bringing all three of those crucial qualities
to bear on leading the skills-first movement, along with leaning
into scaling tactics with GenAI and talent tech integrations.
They're proving that while there's still a long way to go, the
shift to skills is not a fad—it's a major step towards
sustainability in ensuring that STARs can succeed across all levels
of the U.S. economy."
The organization is working closely with key partners to develop
a nationwide initiative, formally launching in January 2025, to create a powerful platform for
regional, industry, philanthropic, and policy leaders to empower
STARs—the majority of whom are also Women, Black, Hispanic, Rural,
and Veteran U.S. workers—to work, learn, earn, and contribute to
their full potential, enriching communities and industries as they
do.
Over the past four years, Opportunity@Work's landmark research
proved that millions of STARs have demonstrated skills for roles
with salaries at least 50% higher than their current jobs, but have
been blocked from those roles by a "paper ceiling" consisting of
degree screens, stereotypes, biased hiring algorithms, and more.
The organization introduced public and private sector employers to
STARs as a "skilled talent category" by launching the award-winning
"Tear the Paper Ceiling" campaign in partnership with the Ad
Council and Ogilvy, generating over 5 billion media impressions in
just the first 18 months. The campaign has generated commitments
from 70+ national corporate, technology and non-profit partners to
adopt new systems and standards for skills-based hiring – including
the world's largest job site and Fortune 500 employers.
Opportunity@Work also created the STARs Public Sector Hub for
federal, state, and local leaders, in direct response to and
collaboration with the 22 states that have recently removed degree
requirements from public-sector job postings. This means a total of
500,000 jobs that were once inaccessible to STARs are now within
reach.
Opportunity@Work developed the "STARs" language to change the
false and damaging narrative that "low wage equals low skill."
Across the country, STARs have identified with this new community
and have shared that they now feel seen, understood, validated, and
empowered. "I never got a college degree. But I am a skilled
worker, and now a CEO," says LaShana
Lewis, who is also a member of Opportunity@Work's STARs
Advisory Council. "Opportunity@Work has created, alongside STARs, a
powerful call-to-action for employers to realize this talent, right
in their backyards. A few years ago, no one identified as a STAR,
but now, thousands do—it's a spotlight based on what we as STARs
can do, not on what we aren't. This investment in Opportunity@Work
is an investment in STARs; it's an incredible and powerful
signal."
In the years ahead, Opportunity@Work and its private and public
sector partners will work towards economic mobility for STARs
together, on purpose. The organization welcomes all who wish to
advance STARs' career mobility and earnings while building a
stronger US economy to learn more at opportunityatwork.org.
About Opportunity@Work
Opportunity@Work is a national nonprofit dedicated to re-wiring
the labor market so that all individuals skilled through
alternative routes (STARs) can work, learn, and earn to their full
potential. Opportunity@Work engages with companies, public sector
employers, philanthropic institutions, and workforce partners to
directly address the barriers that STARs face, recognize STARs'
talent, and transform STARs hiring and mobility practices. Learn
more at www.opportunityatwork.org.
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SOURCE Opportunity@Work