Education and training programs that allow students to build and try out skills while earning industry-recognized credentials and getting a feel for real work will continue to help inform good education and career decisions.

The Partnership's UpSkill Houston and Houston Back on Track initiatives will continue to enable and advance the good work underway across our region to elevate awareness of good careers and career pathways, close skills gaps, and prepare diverse talent and support an inclusive post-pandemic recovery.

See full Partnership coverage of its 2022 Annual Meeting.

Watch a recording of the proceedings here.

Starting a career can be daunting for any recent college graduate; the challenges can be greater for first-generation graduates and others without a connection to a professional network to share career information and openings. But Houston’s first-generation and low-income college students can tap into a ready-made network, complete with advisors, internships, and job opportunities, through the online platform CareerSpring.

Launched in 2020 by UpSkill Houston executive committee member Paul Posoli, CareerSpring harnesses the expertise and commitment of working professionals to inform students of career options, provide mentorship, and help place students and graduates in career-starting internships and jobs. In two years, it has grown to 750 volunteer professional advisors, 121 partners, and more than 3,500 student advisees from over 400 colleges and universities using the platform.

Read the full story.

The City of Houston has been awarded a $150,000 grant from the National League of Cities (NCL) to help it promote equitable career opportunities for marginalized youth. The funds will be used by the Mayor's Office of Education to support the Hire Houston Youth program and specifically connect diverse opportunity youth to STEM and technology workforce development.

According to the City, marginalized youth and young adults are disproportionately represented in areas most affected by the pandemic, like health care, hospitality and childcare. Houston will also receive specialized assistance from NCL staff among other national experts to advance its efforts to STEM career pathways for marginalized youth.

Hire Houston Youth links Houstonians between the ages of 16 and 24 to internship and job opportunities. Since 2016, Hire Houston Youth has worked with 102 corporate and non-profit partners to provide job and internship opportunities, and reached more than 30,000 youth. Hire Houston's Youth's 2022 campaign is underway, and employers may access the job portal to list their opportunities now.

Read more from the Mayor's Office. Visit the Hire Houston Youth internship and job portal.

Career and Technical Education (CTE) is integral to preparing the highly skilled workforce Houston will need to remain competitive in the global economy of the future. Employers rely on CTE programs to teach students key technical and skills for high-wage and high-demand careers from construction to business management, health care to IT, manufacturing to transportation.

Nationally, 92% of high school students and nearly 70% of college and adult students are involved in a CTE program, according to the Association for Career & Technical Education® (ACTE). According to ACTE, 94% of CTE high school students graduate, nationally, and most enroll directly in college. And, CTE associate degrees can pay $10,000 per year more than associate degrees in other fields, and more than bachelor's degrees in many cases.

UpSkill Houston invites employers, educators and community partners to recognize and publicize the importance of these critical programs and those who provide them by celebrating CTE Month® in February via community and social media outreach.

The ACTE has created a suite of tools and fact sheets to help employers and education providers tell CTE stories and organize site and program visits, target media and engage with potential partners and policymakers. Partners can share (and see) CTE programs at work on social media using the hashtag #CTEMonth.

Access ACTE's full suite of CTE Month tools here.

See UpSkill Houston's full "My Life As..." series; Access UpSkill Houston's social media kit.

Houston Back on Track is off and running in 2022, working in new ways to connect to the community.

We are collaborating with our partners to distribute printed materials to underserved neighborhoods, in both English and Spanish. Because so many Houstonians prefer Spanish language, we are busy updating our website to embrace this bilingual approach. Complementing these efforts is our renewed push to reach people via social media, and stories in print and on local television. When more of our neighbors know about the great jobs our employers offer, we know they will pursue these opportunities.

Connect with Houston Back on Track.

Childcare issues result in an estimated $9.39 billion loss to the Texas economy, annually, according to a recent study conducted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. This staggering figure — derived from absences and employee turnover, and lost tax revenue — illustrates the economic value of childcare in the state, and the effects of insufficient access and rising costs have on workforce productivity and the overall economy.

The U.S. Chamber highlights the data behind this value and other consequences for families with childcare needs, such as foregoing work promotions or postsecondary education, in its report "Untapped Potential in TX." The report presents why a diverse set of childcare solutions are needed to fully bring Texans back into the workforce.

Read the full report here.