Talent developers across greater Houston have a new tool to help them directly connect clients without bachelor’s degrees to employers specifically seeking to hire them. The tool, Stellarworx, is a robust talent marketplace designed exclusively for jobseekers Skilled Through Alternative Routes (STARs) – those other than a bachelor’s degree. Stellarworx is now available to help the Houston region’s 1.6 million STARs jobseekers join candidate pools for good jobs through a new collaboration between the nonprofit social enterprise organization Opportunity@Work, the American Petroleum Institute, Chevron, and the Partnership through its UpSkill Houston initiative. “We know that talent developers can struggle to identify players who are actively hiring STARs and spend months build relationships with employers and compete for a limited number of jobs available for STARs,” said Opportunity@Work’s Nicole Daniels in a recent meeting hosted by UpSkill Houston. “The employers on Stellarworx have chosen to come to us because they want to embrace skills-based hiring and they want to hire STARs, and they recognize the diverse skills and perspectives that STARs bring to the table.” STARs account for about 70 million workers nationwide (60 percent of the American workforce) and cut across all demographics and people groups, according to Opportunity@Work. They have developed skills employers seek and value through avenues including community college, military service, and on-the-job training, but are often screened out of talent searches because they do not hold a bachelor’s degree. Thanks to degree requirements used as proxies for skills – or what is called “the paper ceiling” – these workers only have access to about 26 percent of all new jobs created. The paper ceiling has long-lasting effects on workers’ earning power, as it takes a STAR 30 years to reach the wages of a recent college graduate.  Stellarworx is helping change this by providing talent developers an easier way to have their clients recognized by employers hiring for good jobs with good pay and opportunities for career advancement. All jobs posted on Stellarworx come with a minimum wage of $20 per hour, and they all must lead to a career pathway. The talent marketplace: Uses skills-based matching to identify employers and jobs best suited to enrolled STARs. Offers talent developers a one-stop-shop to aggregate labor market supply and demand information. Supports a healthy feedback loop between talent developers and employers to drive better client outcomes long term. Provides talent developers data and insights to track their clients’ career searches. The Stellarworx talent marketplace was launched in late 2020 is currently operating in three U.S. cities (and counting). More than 110 employers utilize the platform to find talent from its 2,100 talented STAR users. Opportunity@Work, which developed the platform, works to rewire the labor market open pathways for STARs to work, learn, and earn to their full potential.  “If they have the skills to do the job, they should be able to get the job,”  the organization’s Bridgette Gray said. Talent developers who are interested in learning more can contact Opportunity@Work’s Nicole Daniels directly at nicole@opportunityatwork.org.   Related: Recognizing Workforce STARs a Competitive Advantage The Partnership’s UpSkill Houston initiative works to strengthen the talent pipeline employers need to grow their businesses and to help all Houstonians build relevant skills and connect to good careers that increase their economic opportunity and mobility. Learn more.

United Way of Greater Houston and the Partnership’s UpSkill Houston initiative have convened the first cohort of career coaches from across the region to provide professional training to strengthen their capacity and skills. The cohort evolved from discussions among United Way of Greater Houston’s workforce coaching network and UpSkill Houston leaders around how to empower area residents and students to navigate a rapidly changing labor market successfully. The cohort will advance work already underway by United Way and UpSkill Houston to provide coaches additional support and to build a coaching community of practice. Training is being offered through the Skilling America learning platform and is meant to help greater Houston coaches explore new, innovative ways to work with and support clients to obtain better jobs and careers and improve their economic mobility. Effective career coaching and guidance is a key pillar of UpSkill Houston’s long-term strategy to help all Houstonians develop relevant skills and connect to good careers that increase their economic opportunity and mobility. Skilling America’s e-learning platform provides competency-based training on coaching tools, technology, data, and methods complete with a resource library and community forum space for coaches to connect with peer navigators. The standardized training sets forth a common language and offers best practices and will help the region’s coaches support clients struggling to navigate the workforce system, rebounding from life events, and looking to upskill and advance into better careers.  “Developing a shared language and approach to career coaching is critically important as we build a collaborative community of practice. Our vision is that, regardless of size and resources, all agencies will be equipped to provide the same level of quality services throughout the region. This platform helps us get there,” said Aaron Sturgeon, senior financial literacy program manager with United Way of Greater Houston. Houston’s cohort will work through the courses and meet as a professional learning community to discuss the concepts and lessons, and how to apply them in coaching settings.   The training modules can be helpful for new coaches but also as a tool for agencies to leverage, David Fernandez, program manager with The Alliance, a Houston non-profit serving refugee, immigrant and other underserved populations, and United Way workforce coaching work group facilitator, told the cohort. “The platform modules were designed by practitioners for practitioners, he said, with much of the information “immediately actionable and relevant to the work that you’re doing,” he said. Skilling America is a national initiative born out of training piloted by Hope Street Group and Goodwill Industries Inc. The use of the platform in Houston was proposed by Goodwill Industries of Houston and assessed by United Way workforce coaching network leaders. United Way and the Partnership’s collaboration to provide additional training for coaches is partially funded through a grant from Texas Mutual Insurance.    The Partnership’s UpSkill Houston initiative works to strengthen the talent pipeline employers need to grow their businesses and to help all Houstonians build relevant skills and connect to good careers that increase their economic opportunity and mobility. United Way of Greater Houston, Goodwill Industries of Houston, The Alliance, and Texas Mutual Insurance are among the initiative’s more than 200 employer, education, and non-profit partners across the region. Learn more.