J-WEL announces Global Opportunities Initiative webinar series
February 2, 2022
New webinar series explores facets of a rapidly evolving labor market
To many in the global workforce, these warnings are all too familiar and all too real. From veterans transitioning into civilian careers, stay-at-home parents returning to work, refugees starting over in new countries, to workers currently stuck in dead-end jobs, millions around the world are feeling the effects of these challenges in complex and unique ways. Efforts to solve them exist, but many use outdated approaches or overlook the dynamic nature of workers’ experiences. In a new webinar series, the Global Opportunity Initiative (GOI) will bring these stories—and their implications for workforce learning—to the forefront of conversations on the future of work.
The first webinar, “Bridging the Education/Workforce Gap: The Role of Education Policy,” is scheduled for February 14, 2022. Members of MassBridge—a training program in advanced manufacturing developed by the Massachusetts Center for Advanced Manufacturing in collaboration with experts from MIT, industry, community colleges, vocational high schools, and federal and state agencies—will examine the gaps in the current landscape of workforce training and share the program’s progress in closing these gaps.
Other key topics the GOI webinar series will highlight include emerging tools that help people navigate their career options; the role of digital technologies in verifying employees’ credentials and connecting their skills to the right opportunities; and non-traditional mechanisms for bringing out-of-workforce populations back into employment. GOI plans to host one to two webinars per month. All events are open to the public.
For decades, experts have warned of numerous changes to the global economy and their consequences for the workforce. Robots replacing human workers. Growing demand for new skills. Few opportunities to acquire them. Entire populations left behind. Around the world, hundreds of organizations, including nonprofits, government agencies, and initiatives at MIT and other higher education institutes, are pioneering solutions to the most pressing challenges facing today’s workforce.
The GOI was founded to support and amplify these efforts—to build a community of organizations of all kinds working to help people take charge of their careers. The webinar series is a critical part of this mission. Along with sharing the stories of the workforce and the organizations helping them, GOI is creating space for all those invested in solving workforce challenges to discuss the issues that matter most to them, to learn from each other, and most importantly, to bring the right skills to the right people in the right way.
Officially launching later this year, the Global Opportunity Initiative is based out of the MIT Abdul Latif Jameel World Education Lab (J-WEL) at MIT Open Learning and welcomes members from around the world. Look for more information in the coming months in the J-WEL newsletter and on our website.
Back to All News & Research