The 2020 election cycle is a crucial opportunity to raise the visibility of the overwhelming public support for skills training. And National Skills Coalition is leading the field in making sure candidates and the press understand voter views on skills training as well as the policies that can support a competitive workforce – policies developed and vetted by our diverse national coalition of business, labor, colleges, community organizations, advocates, and public officials based on what’s working in their communities.
With first in nation status, Iowa’s February 3rd caucuses transform the state into the epicenter of candidate activity and media attention during December and January. That’s why the NSC team is on the ground in the state making sure that skills are in the spotlight.
On December 13th, NSC’s press secretary Ayobami Olugbemiga joined local, national, and international press in Des Moines for a tour of the Iowa Caucus Consortium’s media filing center – home base for the media during the February caucuses. Ayobami met with reporters and previewed polling that NSC will roll out in January that explores skills training as a voting issue for caucus goers.
On December 17th, NSC sponsored the Iowa Caucus Consortium’s community forum on the future of work in Des Moines. CEO Andy Van Kleunen talked about the need to harness digitalization, automation, and artificial intelligence – which will impact 60% of today’s jobs – by developing a comprehensive skills policy response. He highlighted NSC polling which found that 87% of Iowa voters support a comprehensive policy that would provide skills retraining at no cost to any worker who loses their job due to automation.
Andy was joined by Tej Dhawan, Chief Data Officer at Principal Financial; Christina Trombley, Executive Director of Online Programming at Drake University; and Mary Bontrager, Executive Vice President of Talent Development at the Greater Des Moines Partnership. Watch video of the event here.
The NSC team will be back in Iowa in January for an Iowa Caucus Consortium CEO forum sponsored by NSC’s Business Leaders United. NSC’s Voices for Skills campaign is sponsoring the Consortium’s candidate forums leading up to the caucuses (watch candidates talk about skills training at these forums at our Voices for Skills Facebook page). And our team will be on the ground during the caucuses making sure the media understand voter views on skills training.
But we won’t be stopping in Iowa. NSC will continue to raise the visibility of skills training throughout the primaries and through the general election. Want to get involved in our educational ground game over the next year or just stay up to date on what candidates are saying about skills? Visit www.voicesforskills.org and sign up to be a voice for skills and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
