SESSIONS
Career Advising & Navigation
We’ve invested heavily in pathways—and still LEAVE too many learners to figure them out alone.
Advising is the missing link between pathways and outcomes. Across sessions, explore how leaders are embedding career navigation into coursework, work-based learning experiences and postsecondary advising, while strengthening transitions from high school to college and beyond. From frameworks focused on agency and purpose to strategies that explore purpose-driven pathways, this strand tackles what it takes to help learners move forward with clarity.
Beyond Compliance: Measuring What Matters in Career Navigation
Presenter: Lisa Richardson, Common Group
Learn how organizations are measuring career navigation success through meaningful student outcomes rather than compliance metrics.
Building and scaling the COSI ASAP Model Across Colorado
Presenter: Alison Grendhal, Colorado Department of Higher Education
Learn lessons from Colorado's effort to expand a proven student success model through coordinated supports and innovative funding strategies.
Career Pathways: Take students from interest to valuable skill building
Presenter: Sami Mooney, Colorado Workforce Development Council
Discover how Colorado's new Quality Career Pathway framework helps organizations identify strengths, address gaps, and align with workforce needs.
From Research to practice: creating a coherent college & Career Advising Strategy centering student agency
Presenters: Kevin McNulty, Denver Scholarship Foundation & Dr. Ryan Burton, DSST Public Schools
See how integrated college and career advising helps students make more informed postsecondary decisions.
Make It Work! Launching ISPs and SBEs Where Industry Partnerships Are Limited
Presenter: Katie Kraft, Colorado Education Initiative
Hear how Colorado districts are using Industry Sponsored Projects and School-Based Enterprises to create high-quality career-connected learning experiences with limited employer access.
Making the Big Three Work: Why Essential Skills Are the Missing Link for an AI-driven Workplace
Presenter: Christy Biedron, Junior Achievement - Rocky Mountain
Discover practical strategies for embedding and measuring durable skills as a core component of postsecondary and workforce readiness.
Preparing Young People to Flourish in an AI-Shaped Labor Market
Presenters: James Cryan, Willow Education, Scott Laband, Colorado Succeeds
Explore how education and workforce leaders are preparing young people to succeed in an AI-driven economy.
Scaling Career-Connected Learning: Integrating Career Readiness into Curriculum and Student Employment
Presenter: Sarah Trzeciak, University of Colorado Denver
Learn how career readiness is being embedded into curriculum and student employment to strengthen workforce outcomes.
What Young Adults Actually Need to Thrive: A New Framework for Program Design That Boosts Confidence & Readiness
Presenters: Richard Maez, Elijah Huff, David Martinez, Ednium: The Alumni Collective
Discover a research-based framework for building confidence, agency, and readiness among young adults.
DATA & EVIDENCE BUILDING
We can’t defend what we can’t measure.
Data is shaping what gets funded, scaled, and sustained. Sessions highlight how leaders are using wage outcome data, statewide tools, and emerging AI-supported evidence models to guide decisions and prove impact. Go beyond dashboards to explore how data is driving policy and enabling stronger alignment across education and workforce systems.
AI-Augmented Clearinghouse to Facilitate Evidence-Based Decision-Making and Workforce Development: A Conceptual Framework
Presenters: Pamela Buckley, PhD, University of Colorado Boulder, Diana Fishbein, PhD, National Prevention Science Council to Improve Lives
Explore a new approach that brings together living evidence reviews and artificial intelligence (AI) to make decisions about which programs to adopt, how to allocate limited resources, and how to demonstrate real impact.
Data Driven Workforce & Economic Development Policies
Presenters: Derek Jones, Barbara Larsen, Workforce Intelligence & Data Experts, Colorado Workforce Development Council
Discover the role workforce data and cross-sector collaboration plays in shaping Colorado's economic development strategies and policy decisions.
Fireside Chat: Colorado's Data Vision
Presenters: Kate Akers, PhD, Data Quality Campaign, Heather MacGillivary, PhD, State Longitudinal Data System
Hear how Colorado is strengthening data systems to better connect education and workforce outcomes.
From Idea to Implementation: Lessons from Launching Colorado’s Pay It Forward Workforce Fund
Presenter: Joshua Nathan, Social Finance
Learn lessons from launching Colorado’s innovative Pay It Forward workforce funding model.
From Prototype to Scale: Unlocking Wage Outcomes for Career Development Programs
Presenters: Ernest Boffy-Ramirez Ph.D, Elysia Versen, Colorado Evaluation & Action Lab at the University of Denver
See how wage and employment outcome data can be leveraged to improve programs and demonstrate impact.
Funding What Works: How Colorado Is Building the Infrastructure to Know Whether Workforce Programs Deliver
Presenter: Alison Griffin, FutureRise
Explore how outcomes-based funding models are reshaping workforce investments and accountability in Colorado.
Making Demographic Data Work for You: Utilizing the State Demography Office Website
Presenter: Nancy Gedeon, Colorado State Demography Office
Learn how Colorado's State Demography Office data can help answer questions about population change, workforce participation, and regional growth.
Modeling Workforce Investments: A Simulation Approach to Cross-Sector Decision-Making
Presenters: Lauren Kerr, MPH, Sarah Scott, MD, MSC, Josh Barocas, M.D., University of Colorado Anschutz
Discover how microsimulation modeling shows how health research partners can bring insight to economic issues to enhance messaging and stakeholder investment.
Unlock the Potential of Data: A Deep Dive into Colorado Data Connections (COdata)
Presenter: Michelle Kincaid, Colorado Data Connections (COdata)
Get a first look at COdata's newest dashboard, which connects high school, postsecondary, and workforce data to better understand learner journeys and outcomes.
Employer Led InNOVATIONS
If employers aren’t leading pathways design, we’re already behind.
Industries are evolving in real time, and talent systems must keep up. Sessions showcase how employers are co-designing career pathways, expanding apprenticeships (including healthcare and teacher pathways), and shaping policy such as Workforce Pell. From internships and work-based learning strategies to sector-based collaborations in advanced and emerging industries, this strand highlights what it takes to build responsive, employer-driven talent pipelines.
Building Bridges to Opportunity: An Overview of Workforce Services and Programming
Presenters: Larisa Romagnoli, Tanya Jo DeBardelaben, Arapahoe / Douglas Works!
Gain a practical overview of successful workforce services, programs, and partnership opportunities.
Building Talent Pipelines: Employer-Driven Internship & Work-Based Learning Strategies
Presenter: Jamie Fisher, Arapahoe / Douglas Works!
Learn employer-driven strategies for expanding internships and work-based learning opportunities.
Calling all Space Cadets: Incorporating Space Content into all Disciplines
Presenter: Grace Cain Wright, Amy Nave, Arapahoe Community College
Discover techniques for bringing aerospace concepts into any classroom.
Cultivating the Next Generation of Dental Professionals
Presenters: Alyssa Collado, The Human Strategy, Daniel Sandoval, Pickens Technical College
Explore innovative approaches to introducing students to careers in dental health professions.
From Classroom to Career: Empowering Students Through Mentorship and Real-World STEM Innovation
Presenter: Alex Grab, Space Foundation
Explore a high-impact model for for career-connected STEM learning through mentorship and real-world problem solving.
From Passage to Implementation: What You Need to Know About Workforce Pell
Presenter: Alison Griffin, Future Rise
Understand what Workforce Pell means for learners, providers, and employers in Colorado.
From Training to Mobility: How Durable Skills + Coaching Can Improve Workforce Outcomes
Presenter: Mirna Villa, Upskilling U Consulting & Training LLC
See how durable skills training and coaching can improve retention, advancement, and mobility.
NASA STEM and Workforce Development: A Shift in Perspective
Presenter: April Lanotte, NASA
Explore innovative approaches to engaging learners and building STEM and aerospace talent pipelines.
The Apprenticeship Effect: Future-Ready Pathways
Presenter: Maddy Oaks, Apprenticeship Colorado
Learn practical strategies for connecting CTE programs, Registered Apprenticeships, and employer partnerships into stronger career pathways.
Trailblazing a new nursing pathway: Apprenticeship degrees to fuel Colorado’s healthcare workforce
Presenter: Christine Heitz, Colorado Thrives
Learn how Colorado is building nursing apprenticeship pathways to address workforce shortages.
LEARNER & EARNER EXPERIENCE
Systems work better when learners help design them.
Too many pathways miss the mark because they ignore real experience. Sessions center learner voice, rural access challenges, and models like Virtual Reality-based career exploration and apprenticeship pathways that connect learning to opportunity. Explore how programs are being redesigned to prioritize agency, relevance, and mobility, including emerging approaches that address financial barriers and long-term economic success.
From Research to Reform: Using the DEEP Framework Data to Innovate Concurrent Enrollment Policy & Practice
Presenter: Shari Culver, Arapahoe Community College
See how practitioners are using the DEEP Insights framework to strengthen advising, pathway alignment, and student outcomes.
Listening to Learners
Presenters: Nancy Westfall, South Central BOCES, Amanda Cornelius, Fremont Multidistrict Initiative
Hear directly from learners about what supports—and hinders—their education and career pathways.
Virtual Training: Real Opportunity
Presenter: Amy Raya, San Luis Valley BOCES
See how virtual reality is expanding access to career exploration and workforce training.
World Builders: Constructing a Healthier Future
Presenters: Jennaya Colóns, Highroots Wellness & Consulting, Claudia de Santiago, Taryn Frazier, Peak Education
Discover how youth health ambassador programs create early pathways into healthcare careers.