A new campaign – Tear the Paper Ceiling – launched by Opportunity@Work and the Ad Council encourages companies to overlook the requirement for a college degree. The message says employers should consider the talent pool of people who are skilled through alternative routes or STARs.

Michelle Hillman, chief campaign development officer with the Ad Council, says half the U.S. workforce is missing opportunity because they don’t have college degrees.

She says The Paper Ceiling campaign will have a far reach. “The campaign is going to be seen anywhere that employers and STARs themselves will be experiencing media. It’ll be television, digital, out of home in their social media feeds.”

“The hope is that people are going to see the stories of the STARs. They’re going to hear about the employers that are making this change in behavior. And then people are going to tearthepaperceiling.org so that STARs can share their stories. Employers can share their success stories, and then employers can find a toolkit with a resource book that’s really going to help them retool the way that they’re approaching, hiring those that are skilled through alternative routes.”

Learn more about The Paper Ceiling.
Learn more about Opportunity@Work.
Learn more about the Ad Council.