“We want to do everything we can to work with the colleges, work with the local workforce investment board to make sure that there is a robust economy of upskilling,” Jaime Fall, workforce and economic strategies director for the Economic Development Collaborative in Ventura County, California.

Fall joined WorkingNation’s editor-in-chief Ramona Schindelheim for WorkingNation Overheard at SXSW EDU 2024 in Austin.

He explains, “We partnered with all of the adult schools in the County, and together they wrote one curriculum, which they had never done before. That curriculum is being given across all of the adult schools in Ventura County to give very basic computer skills. Anyone who completes the class, we give them the Chromebook to keep so they leave with some skills, a device, and hopefully – the confidence to continue [their] education or to be able to seek a better-paying job.

“Instead of creating something new outside the existing systems, which we didn’t want to compete with what was already there – we wanted to try to contribute to fill a void that existed or help make things more efficient,” says Fall.

He notes, “One of our greatest senses of accomplishment was one class in particular, 15 people that enrolled in the class. Nine of those students continued with adult school taking more classes. And that’s so encouraging.”

Learn more about the Economic Development Collaborative.