The Problems I Seek to Address

How Can Organizations Respond to Federal Crisis?

The Trump Administration has created a period of crisis for the United States. What will remain the same, and what may fundamentally change? I can help in two ways:

  1. Drawing on my expertise with policy implementation, I can help organizations develop customized plans for responding to instability, including scenario planning techniques that translate general anxiety into concrete problems, guides major decisions; and helps communicate about unknowns with stakeholders. See here for a sample scenario-planning tool I have developed for these times.

  2. Supporting mission-oriented organizations to more effectively support our democratic system of government. See here for five immediate actions that nonprofits and philanthropies can take to address encroaching authoritarianism.

How Can States Create Better Infrastructure Jobs?

Many states are struggling to connect the dots among different pots of infrastructure funding, including in areas of technical assistance, aligning policies, and multi-stakeholder communities of practice. Much remains to be done. Read more here about how I see this challenge, and how I can help solve for infrastructure jobs.

How Will States and Localities Integrate K-12, Higher Education, and Job Training?

Strict divisions among K-12 schooling, higher education, and job training are no longer tenable. The Big Blur is an apt metaphor for the direction we need to go, but in each state and locality that “blur” must come into focus on a different combination of institutions. At the federal level, it’s time to radically rethink the authorizing laws for these systems. States must integrate data, funding, and systems. And at the local level, these opportunities must become discernable to individuals.

What Is the Vision for the Transition to Adulthood?

First-time, full-time college attendance has plateaued. Meanwhile, the percentage of young people participating in the labor force has been declining for 40 years. Young people are more anxious about the future than ever before, delaying or missing traditional milestones in the journey to adulthood. What is our vision for the transition to adulthood, and policies to enact that vision? Read more here about my perspective on this issue and where we need to go.