SkillUp Coalition Impact Report 2022

Impact Report June 2020–June 2022

PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 1, 2022

A Letter to Our SkillUp Community

SkillUp launched in July 2020—in the maelstrom of Covid and the employment wreckage it wrought—with large aspirations, a commitment to move fast, and a willingness to not let perfect be the enemy of good. Over the past two years, it’s been equal parts exhilarating and daunting, but here’s what we’ve learned.

As challenging the task, we, in collaboration with our 90+ Coalition partners, can make a difference and can change lives. Since we launched, we’ve served nearly one million job seekers, spearheaded the launch of nine localization sites across the country, developed a curated catalog of 400+ high-quality, short-term education programs in in-demand fields, and have helped an estimated 5,500+ individuals secure new jobs.

As a “Learning Lab” whose motto is to “Invent Nothing,” SkillUp has had to evolve quickly over the past two years. At the outset, it was about helping displaced workers find jobs. Now, it’s about more than just a job: we’re laser focused on our mission of providing a guided and supported path to ensure every worker has high-opportunity employment.

We’re excited about the work and opportunities ahead, while fully acknowledging the challenges. We take pride in our role as a connector and vetting partner who serves up high-quality jobs and training programs. By connecting workers with the right tools, resources, and support, they can make confident career shifts, find quality living-wage jobs, and position themselves for promising career growth. Most importantly, we’re shifting mindsets, behaviors and actions:

• From a culture of worker isolation to a community of care that fosters social connections and increases access to economic opportunity.

• From a system of worker last to a mindset of worker first, and the idea that those closest to the problem are closest to the solution.

• From an ecosystem of disjointed data to a connected data-driven infrastructure across multiple platforms designed to scale.

• From college-first hiring to skills-first hiring by promoting high quality, short-term credential programs and skills-first employers.

• From barriers to entry to inclusive hiring and a focus on diversity, equity, high-opportunity employment, and job quality.

We hope to change the narrative about what work means in this country. By providing access to high-opportunity employment for all, we hope to live in a world where income inequality and multi-generational poverty aren’t the major fault line of our generation, children are better off than their parents (and their children even more so), and individuals have equal opportunity and access to living wages and in-demand jobs, We know we can’t do this work alone, just like we couldn’t do it alone over the past two years. Whatever we’ve accomplished was made possible because of the guidance, support, and wisdom from our amazing 90+ strong coalition partners. To our partners, workers, learners, employees, and advocates, we say thank you; let’s continue this collective journey together!

Steve Lee

Executive Director

PAGE 1

Josh Jarrett Executive Chair

Table of Contents pg.

3

The Why

pg.

3

Our Partners

pg.

5

Our Reach

pg.

7

Our Impact

pg.

9

Our Platform

pg.

11

Localization Efforts

pg.

12

Employer Partners: Earn & Learn

HEAR MORE OF BRIANNA’S STORY

pg.

13

SkillUp Together Fund

pg.

14

Our Learning Lab

pg.

15

The Future

pg.

16

Audited Financials

pg.

17

In The News

pg.

18

Our Board Leadership

BRIANNA GRIFFIN PER SCHOLAS IT GRADUATE, TOGETHER FUND RECIPIENT

PAGE 2

THE WHY

Who We Are and Why We’re Here OUR ORIGIN: A RAPID RESPONSE TO THE PANDEMIC

When the pandemic hit, there was an urgent need to help workers upskill and reskill at scale. That’s why we formed SkillUp, a coalition of partners with a shared vision to help workers find high-opportunity employment.

CULTURE, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

We developed a web-based tool, leveraging existing partner technology, and saw immediate results. Now that the workforce landscape has evolved, SkillUp is helping workers discover their potential, determine their career destination, and get there faster and more confidently—today, and into the future.

OUR MISSION

OUR VISION

Provide a guided and supported path to ensure every worker has high-opportunity employment.

Every worker gains equity and dignity in the workforce through access to high-opportunity and quality employment.

Our Coalition of Partners

Success in our mission requires that we don’t just accept difference, but that we celebrate it and embrace the diverse community and backgrounds that individuals come from. We recognize that diverse teams make the strongest teams.

We are building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. The more inclusive we are, the better our work will be.

SkillUp is a coalition of 90+ partners spanning training and education providers, tech firms, intermediaries, employers, and philanthropies nationwide.

Operating

Training

Employer

Localization

Outreach & Research

Guild

Apprenti

Accenture/FutureofU *

BLS

JFF

Austin Career Institute

Amazon

Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce

Opportunity@Work

ClimbHire

Bender *

Daytona State College

CollegeApp

Social Finance

CompTIA

Bright Horizons *

Strada Education

Coursera

CSAA*

Creating Coding Careers

Five Guys

edX

Hamilton *

Florida Department of Education

ForgeNow

HCL Technologies *

Future Plans

Generation

HYATT

i.c.Stars

Jason’s Deli

Goodwill Southern California

InsideTrack

Now Foods *

JobTrain

Renown Health *

MedCerts

Sunrun *

Merit America

Tech Elevator*

NPower

TTEC *

Ohio Means Jobs

UC Health *

Per Scholas

UKG* (Kronos, Inc)

Propel America

Verizon *

Simi Institute for Careers and Education

Worthington Industries *

South Louisiana Community College

YUPRO *

Funding Bank of America Barclays Bauer Foundation Catalyze Challenge Charles Koch Foundation Gates Foundation Google.org Irvine Foundation Macquarie Foundation New York Workers Fund Schultz Foundation Sobrato Foundation Stand Together State of Ohio Victory Logistics Walmart Foundation Workday Foundation

PAGE 3

Technical Employment Training Unmudl Vasco Career College

YAI *

Economic Development Agency Western Nevada (EDAWN)

CareerOneStop HOC Lightcast (FKA Emsi/ Burning Glass) MDRC Network of Jewish Human Services Agencies ONet

Greater New Orleans Development Foundation

OneTen

Indian River State College

WhereWeGo

JVS Bay Area

Working Nation

Strategic Education, Inc.

North Louisiana Economic Partnership One Acadiana Philadelphia Works Seminole State College Serve Washington SOAR Stellarworx The GRIT Project Valencia College

*Indicates Earn & Learn Partner

ABOUT OUR TEAM

ARE FEMALE-IDENTIFYING

ARE PEOPLE OF COLOR, 24% ARE LATINO/X

ARE WORKING PARENTS

ARE BILINGUAL

HAVE UPSKILLED TO ACQUIRE A NEW ROLE OR RESPONSIBILITY

ARE FIRST-GENERATION COLLEGE GRADUATES

DO NOT HAVE A COLLEGE DEGREE

ATTENDED DEI TRAINING

HAVE UPSKILLED THEMSELVES, EARNING DEGREES OR CREDENTIALS AS NON-TRADITIONAL LEARNERS

ARE FIRST-GENERATION IMMIGRANTS

STAFF MEMBERS AS OF JULY 2022

Elissa Salas

Vice President, Partnerships and Operations & Pahara-Aspen Education Fellow* Elissa Salas led SkillUp’s summer 2021 participation in Driving Toward Impact in Employment (DTI). This cohort-learning experience brings together social sector organizations to examine the equitable reach of their services through analysis of their performance data, seeking to identify potential bias areas, identify experience and outcomes differences among constituent groups, all with a lens on DEI practices and Monitoring, Learning, and Evaluation culture (MLE).

More than two-thirds of SkillUp staff members have undergone formal DEI training.

*The Pahara Fellowship seeks to strengthen and sustain a diverse community of high-integrity, values-driven leaders who are reimagining public education.

PAGE 4

OUR REACH

Who We Serve Our goal is to empower workers seeking better jobs and economic mobility with the most creative and action-driven outreach possible, and the tools to help them change their lives.

HEAR MORE OF TWANNETTA’S STORY

“SkillUp is a very unique program, a very unique organization. They meet you where you are, whether your educational journey is in process or you’re in the beginning stages of it, whether you are a professional, in early career, or you are looking to transition out of your career.”

TWANNETTA WEAVER BUSINESS & DIGITAL MARKETING CERTIFICATE, LEVELUP FLORIDA

SKILLUP USERS:

Race/Ethnicity

BLACK OR AFRICAN AMERICAN (22%)

WHITE (31%)

ASIAN OR ISLANDER (11%)

HISPANIC OR LATINO (32%)

MULTI-CULTURAL (3%) MIDDLE EASTERN OR NORTH AFRICAN (<1%)

Source for Illustration 1: Estimate based on calculations from SkillUp user profiles and U.S Census Bureau.

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NATIVE AMERICAN OR ALASKA NATIVE (<1%)

SKILLUP USERS:

$20,000–$29,999 (0%)

Income

$10,000–$19,999 (25%)

$30,000–$39,999 (15%)

$40,000–$49,999 (7%) $1–$9,999 (23%)

Source for Illustration 2: 1,605 participants in the SkillUp online survey (Pulse Survey) between August 2021—June 2022. Survey invitations emailed to a stratified random sample of SkillUp users creating an account between July 2020-May 2022.

$50,000–$79,999 (11%)

$0 (16%)

SKILLUP USERS:

$80,000+ (3%)

35–44 (25%)

Age

25–34 (29.3%)

45–54 (15.1%)

55–64 (9%) 18–24 (17.6%) 65+ (4.2%)

Source for Illustration 3: Google Analytics SkillUp account holders between July 2020–May 2022.

of workers are paid hourly (+ 14% also report “gig” wages)

more likely to seek training in a new career field than upskill in current field

don’t feel they can advance in their current role

of workers identify as female

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OUR IMPACT

Thriving SkillUp Workers

WE KNOW OUR COALITION IS MAKING A CHANGE.

into the pockets of SkillUp job-seekers

*Estimate based on actuals from scholarship recipients and calculations based on user self-reported results via monthly Pulse Survey.

“Through SkillUp, I learned how to make myself marketable and build my career path.

I found the resources to interview, negotiate, and secure a job immediately after completing my certificate.”

ERIC TORRES

READ MORE OF ERIC’S STORY

PAGE 7

IT SUPPORT CERTIFICATE, LEVELUP LOS ANGELES

OUR IMPACT

Marketing & Outreach workers SUPPORTED at skillup.org

of SkillUp users COMPLETE TRAINING within 6 months*

*Estimated as measured via the Pulse Survey between October 2021–May 2022

of SkillUp users secure NEW JOBS within 6 months*

sessions of live

CAREER COACHING

WORKER ADVISORY members and 2X MONTHLY advisor panel sessions

GROWTH METRICS: YEAR 1 & YEAR 2 METRIC

ACQUISITION METRICS: DIGITAL MEDIA YEAR 1*

YEAR 2*

GROWTH

336,155

883,080

162%

Weekly Profile Creations

540

582

8%

Catalog Session Duration

1:20

1:52

40%

Total Training Referrals

5,661

20,455

261%

User Save Actions (Career or Program)

6,318

17,503

277%

TOTAL SKILLUP USERS

YEAR-OVER-YEAR INCREASE IN WEB TRAFFIC SOURCED FROM REFERRAL, DIRECT LINK, & EMAIL

COST PER NEW USER ACQUIRED

COST PER CLICK

*Year 1 = July 1, 2020–June 30, 2021; Year 2 = July 1, 2021–June 30, 2022

PAGE 8

CAREERS, TRAINING, & RESOURCES

Our Platform SkillUp offers a web platform custom built to help workers unlock pathways for career growth. We present workers with 31 careers, vetted for offering sustainable wages and benefits in in-demand fields with opportunities for future advancement.

These jobs can be secured with less than 12 months of training.

31 LIVING-WAGE GATEWAY JOBS AS OF JUNE 30, 2022

3

BUSINESS

7

HEALTHCARE

12

SKILLED TRADES

3

SUPPLY CHAIN

6 TECH

Our Training Catalog Our catalog of more than 400 quality, vetted training programs helps workers connect with low-cost (less than $10k), short-term training programs leading to high-growth careers.

We help workers find programs with support and job placement services within five key industries: Business, Healthcare, Skilled Trades, Supply Chain & Logistics, and Technology.

Programs are offered fully online, on-site, or in hybrid formats and many can be completed in as few as three months. Users can easily filter by industry, cost, length of program, and location.

PARTNERS INCLUDE:

PAGE 9

Resources offered

by SkillUp and our partners include:

TOP 8 CAREERS WITH THE HIGHEST VOLUME OF PAGES VISITED 1. HUMAN RESOURCES SPECIALIST

• Career Exploration • Group Career Coaching

2. CUSTOMER SERVICES REPRESENTATIVE

• Facebook Career Community • Digital Skills Training

3. IT SUPPORT PROFESSIONAL

• Job Search Tips • Health & Wellness

4. PHARMACY TECHNICIAN

• Financial Support • Veteran Services

5. MEDICAL ASSISTANT

• Seniors in Tech • Rideshare & Transportation • Food & Housing • Worker Success Stories • Career & Training Blog

6. TRACTOR-TRAILER TRUCK DRIVER

7. ELECTRICIAN

8. CLINICAL RESEARCH COORDINATOR

Workers shared with SkillUp the areas in which they most commonly needed help.

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LOCALIZATION

Leveraging Local Expertise

LEVELUP REGIONAL PARTNERSHIP HUBS EXISTING REGION

PROSPECT REGION

The communities we partner with know their job market and opportunities best.

That’s why we’ve created partnerships with regional experts and workforce development boards to source local training providers and identify the highest-opportunity career paths for workers within, or considering relocating to, these communities. Our localized LevelUp partnerships bring the best of SkillUp resources together with an additional emphasis on local labor markets, worker needs, and community connections.

SkillUp has launched LevelUp local partnerships in:

REGIONAL

TRAINING PROVIDERS

• Greater Los Angeles

Goodwill Industries of SoCal

have connected workers to the most in-demand career programs

• San Francisco Bay Area

JVS, Opportunity@Work, Stellarworx

• Louisiana

LCTCS, North Louisiana Economic Partnership, Greater New Orleans Regional Economic Development, One Acadania

NUMBERS BY REGION REGION

# OF TRAINING PROVIDERS

Los Angeles

32

Bay Area

36

• Ohio

Louisiana

22

• Northern Nevada

Florida

• Florida

Seminole State College, Indian River State College, Daytona State College, Valencia College The GRIT Project, Future Plans Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada (EDAWN)

• Philadelphia

Philadelphia Works, Inc.

• New York City

Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce

PAGE 11

7

Ohio

31

Philadelphia

42

New York City

34

PARTNER SPOTLIGHT We helped upgrade the Philadelphia Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) delivery service system to a more customer-centered, goal-driven approach, with programmatic efficiencies and extensive opportunities for job seekers.

“At a critical juncture during the pandemic, strategic partnerships became a key driver of economic recovery efforts. Individuals wanted both accessible resources and a variety of options to make informed decisions about their careers and their futures. Our SkillUp partnership offered both and more. They continue to be a valuable workforce resource to Philadelphia residents!”

PATRICIA BLUMENAUER VICE PRESIDENT

• Founded in 1999 • 85 Staff • Serves 20,000–40,000 workers annually

EMPLOYER PARTNERS

Earn & Learn

SKILLUP EARN & LEARN:

Employer Partners

For our workers, the opportunity to earn good pay and full-time benefits while at the same time continuing to build their job skills is a powerful combination.

That’s why we launched our Earn & Learn program, helping workers connect with carefully vetted, high-quality jobs where they can grow their job skills while continuing to earn a living wage. Our founding 13 employers provide on-the-job training plus upskilling opportunities that can lead to a certificate of value, industry-recognized credentials, or a higher education degree.

REFERRALS

to our employers since launching Earn & Learn

PAGE 12

SkillUp Together Fund The SkillUp Together Fund derisks the financial component of entering a training program for upskilling. Since the fund’s founding, in partnership with Social Finance in 2021, SkillUp has raised and distributed nearly $2 million in scholarships to workers.

SkillUp Together Fund Training Providers:

19 of the best-in-class training providers delivered $1,000 grants to workers in the form of living stipends, tuition reimbursement, and ISA reductions to workers without a four-year degree and making less than $40,000 a year.

Austin Career Institute (ACI) Apprenti ClimbHire CompTIA Creating Coding Careers ForgeNow

FUND OVERVIEW

Generation i.c.Stars JobTrain MedCerts Merit America

GRANTS AWARDED*

TRAINING PROVIDERS

COMPLETIONS*

NPower Per Scholas Propel America Simi Institute Career & Education SLCC Technical Employment Training (TET)

JOB PLACEMENTS*

UNIQUE HIRING EMPLOYERS

STATES IN GEOGRAPHIC REACH

Vasco Career College Ohio Means Jobs* *Served as Fund intermediary to local providers

IN INCREASED WAGES** RETURN ON INVESTMENT (ROI)

*Through June 30, 2022

PER FUND RECIPIENT IN INCREASED WAGES**

**Among workers who have been placed in jobs after completing their training program. Increase represents the difference between pre-program and post program wages. 60% of workers entering programs are not currently employed; for them the wage increase would be much greater.

Hiring Employers of the SkillUp Together Fund include:

PAGE 13

These providers deliver industry-leading results:

“The financial support from the SkillUp and Per Scholas partnership helped to support me through my IT Support Course by helping to provide me with my essentials and assisting my family with groceries.

I am extremely grateful for this opportunity and I am looking forward to my new career in Information Technology!”

LIA SIMS-OKUNDAYE PER SCHOLAS IT GRADUATE, SKILLUP TOGETHER FUND RECIPIENT

OUR LEARNING LAB

Career, Data, and Worker Insights CAREER BUILDERS ADVISORY PANEL

DATA STANDARDIZATION

Worker voice informs our decision-making for marketing, products, and services. The cohort-based Career Advisory Panel (Career Builders) is a demographically diverse group of advisors guiding SkillUp through regular online sessions.

In exchange for their contributions, workers receive compensation, personalized group coaching from InsideTrack, technology access and support, and the opportunity to be a peer mentor and inspiration to the community. Career Builders expansion plans include a youth-focused career builder cohort and scaling the program to reach more workers.

JFF, the Educational Quality Outcome Standards Board (EQOS, now part of JFF), Social Finance, and SkillUp formed a rapid action task force to align SkillUp data collection metrics with existing postsecondary higher ed and workforce data collection efforts. Together, we piloted the creation of a system to vet education provider partners for partnership and investment, to help inform learner decision-making, provider improvement, and public policy.

CONTINUOUS WORKER INSIGHTS

TRAINING FOR AMERICORPS WA COVID RESPONSE TEAM

In partnership with MDRC and with funding from Strada Education group, SkillUp deploys a quantitative survey panel.

In 15 surveys with five unique cohorts over 10 months, more than 1,600 unique workers—and growing—have shared their experiences, outcomes, and demographic profiles.

This approach addresses current gaps in data systems that track employment and training outcomes and looks at the importance of employment benefits, upward mobility, and experience with discrimination.

In partnership with the Schultz Foundation and Serve Washington, SkillUp was selected to build a supplemental learning experience to support AmeriCorps members transitioning from service into careers. A product experience with curated courses drove 80 fully funded AmeriCorps member enrollments across tech, health care, education, and social justice training courses. The project will be scaled to serve 250 AmeriCorps members across Washington State during the next service year.

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LOOKING AHEAD

The Future of SkillUp Stemming from our core beliefs, our future is aligned with our three core principles: WORKER-FOCUSED We want to hear from, represent, and amplify the voices and journeys of the workers we serve, and build trust with them.

PLATFORM EXCELLENCE We want to build a front end that attracts, engages, and supports the worker. We’re in the process of developing an even more connected and integrated platform, which will help us better engage and support our workers.

We aim to build on the 2022 improvements that resulted in a 36% increase in training referrals.

Expanded reach and focus via new local catalog experiences.

SkillUp intends to offer more locally relevant choices to workers through the expansion of our catalog and deep partnerships in regions across the country. In 2022, with funding from the Bloomberg Philanthropies, we will launch in Dallas with a specific focus on youth, ages 16–24; while in Eastern Kentucky, together with SOAR Kentucky, we’ll grow our existing work in rural Appalachia, adding four new regions into our training navigator.

One-on-one career counseling to support workers.

DATA-DRIVEN CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT Individual worker connection will always be our core ethos. And we’re also deeply rooted in data that drives our decisions, improvements, and services, better connecting our workers to employers and resources.

Expanded user-focused product development.

Based on user interactions, testing, and feedback from our 2022 site launch, this 12-month roadmap focuses on directed career navigation scaffolding and user flow, delivering individualized product experiences, and content based on the user’s goals, timeline, and proclivity for upskilling.

Real time worker insights.

Building on SkillUp’s Pulse Survey, we aim to operate a groundbreaking study of worker learnings across the country.

Unlike typical surveys that take an annual snapshot, the Pulse Survey checks in with the same 2,000+ households quarter after quarter for several years. This approach provides a dynamic view of workers’ and job seekers’ journeys over time, including post-employment.

Individualized career counseling will be offered via a multi-modal mix of tech-delivered and direct-service worker supports. In partnership with the Network of Jewish Human Services Agencies and their 19 network affiliates, we will help pilot and measure the impact of no-cost, one-on-one career counseling delivered to hundreds of SkillUp workers in Fall 2022.

Collaboration on stackable credentials.

Employer best-practice collaboration.

Connected data.

The SkillUp Employer Network, in partnership with the Hire Opportunity Coalition, will bring more than 21 national employers into the new SkillUp Employer Network. This positions SkillUp to connect workers, training providers, and employers in an active dialog aimed at improving the experience for workers and employers alike.

As part of our work to bring together disparate education and workforce systems, we will design and pilot the integration of worker, training provider, and employer platforms. Beginning with key partners, Opportunity@Work and OneTen, our 2022/2023 data integration pilot will pave the way for a new standard for scale and impact across our collective networks.

PAGE 15

Using the micro-pathways model from Education Design Lab, we’ll bring select micro-pathways and two or more stackable credentials, achievable within less than a year, into the SkillUp platform to increase community college representation and measure their appeal and participation among SkillUp users.

2020–2021

Audited Financials 2020

GRANT REVENUE

EXPENSES 5.4%

94.6%

7.9%

92.1%

Unrestricted:

$250,000

Management & General

$182,843

Restricted:

$4,357,697

Program Services

$2,118,109

TOTAL SUPPORT:

$4,607,697

Fundraising

$0

TOTAL FUNCTIONAL EXPENSES

$2,300,952

2021

GRANT REVENUE

EXPENSES 30.6%

13.3% 3.4%

69.4%

83.3%

Unrestricted:

$1,702,417

Fundraising

$186,005

Restricted:

$3,869,000

Management & General

$743,370

TOTAL SUPPORT:

$5,571,417

Program Services

$4,647,028

TOTAL FUNCTIONAL EXPENSE

$5,576,403 PAGE 16

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PAGE 17

VIEW MORE!

MEET OUR BOARD LEADERSHIP

Board of Directors

Benjamin Geyerhahn

Andre Bennin Managing Partner, Juvo Ventures

CEO, Workers Benefits Fund

Josh Jarrett

Maria Flynn

Emily M. Dickens Chief of Staff and Head of Government Affairs SHRM

SkillUp Founder & Executive Chair, SVP Strategy, Wiley

President & CEO, Jobs for the Future

Des Lovell VP Finance, College-Ready Public Schools

PAGE 18

www.skillup.org