Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, the Markle Foundation, and 20 States Launch the Skillful State Network; Introduce Skillful State Playbook

Governors of 20 founding member states join together to share and accelerate workforce innovation.

Announcement marks national expansion of Skillful, an initiative to create a skills-based labor market that better serves all Americans in a rapidly changing economy.

DENVER & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, Zoë Baird, CEO and president of the Markle Foundation, announced that twenty governors are joining together to form the Skillful State Network, a collaboration to transform the U.S. labor market at scale to one that is skills-based, in which people can demonstrate or obtain the skills needed for good digital economy jobs. The Network marks the national expansion of Skillful, a Markle Foundation initiative incubated in Colorado, which leverages data and the very technologies that are disrupting the economy to achieve a skills-based labor market where employers are able to find the talent they need and individuals can continuously acquire new skills and keep up with the pace of change. Founding governors are committed to sharing what works and have made partnership and innovation in workforce development a state priority to enable their residents and local employers to thrive in the digital economy.

“As governors, we are joining together around a shared commitment to support a variety of career paths to good-paying jobs, and expand the talent pool for employers who need skilled workers to grow,” said Governor John Hickenlooper. “We twenty governors, Republican and Democrat, are serious about transforming our labor markets in ways that will benefit our nation for decades to come. In a short time, Colorado’s partnership with Skillful has provided incredible value in supporting a skills-based, industry-driven talent marketplace.”

“Millions of Americans need to get connected to the skills and the jobs of our fast-changing digital economy,” said Baird. “The Skillful State Network was born out of the tremendous interest we’ve received from other states based on our work in Colorado. Governors have asked me to bring Skillful to their state and forming the Skillful State Network is a way to share our approach, tools and assets quickly. It also allows all of us to build on the great work being done in these states. States have always been laboratories for innovation and today are leading the transformation to the digital economy.”

The 20 Skillful State Network Founding Members
Colorado	Gov. John Hickenlooper
Arkansas	Gov. Asa Hutchinson
Delaware	Gov. John Carney
Illinois	Gov. Bruce Rauner
Indiana	Gov. Eric Holcomb
Massachusetts	Gov. Charlie Baker
Montana	Gov. Steve Bullock
New Jersey	Gov. Phil Murphy
North Carolina	Gov. Roy Cooper
North Dakota	Gov. Doug Burgum
Ohio	Gov. John Kasich
Oklahoma	Gov. Mary Fallin
Rhode Island	Gov. Gina Raimondo
South Dakota	Gov. Dennis Daugaard
Tennessee	Gov. Bill Haslam
Utah	Gov. Gary Herbert
Vermont	Gov. Phil Scott
Virginia	Gov. Ralph Northam
Washington	Gov. Jay Inslee
Wisconsin	Gov. Scott Walker

The Skillful State Playbook, introduced today with the Network, lays out the steps needed to create a skills-based labor market. The Playbook offers tools and resources jointly developed by Skillful, the state of Colorado, and numerous employers, tech companies including Microsoft and LinkedIn, educators, and community organizations. The free and public availability of the Skillful State Playbook establishes a model for the open sharing of best practices. Skillful State Network members may tailor or improve tools in the Playbook and add their own tools and resources to the Network’s portfolio.

The Skillful State Network will support transformation at a scale and pace not possible through individual state actions. The Network will elevate and advance practices and ideas that states can adopt to achieve their workforce goals, including aligning education with industry; providing robust data to jobseekers; or training employers on skills-based practices. The Network is open to all interested states.

“In just our formative conversations, I am so inspired by the variety of programs as well as cutting-edge pilots each Skillful State Network member is bringing to the table,” said Beth Cobert, CEO of Skillful. “Each state is unique, yet shares a commitment to collaboration, experimentation, and progress.”

Skillful State Network members will have the opportunity to:

• access the Skillful State Network portfolio of tools and data
• learn how to implement the tools and assets featured in the Skillful State Playbook
• share and learn from the unique insights drawn from each other’s efforts
• foster innovative partnership opportunities
• hone methods of engagement within their labor markets
• receive advisory support from Skillful staff
• gain access to Markle’s cross-sector network of national leaders and partners

For quotes from Skillful State Network governors and descriptions of current workforce initiatives, go here.

For more information on the Skillful State Network, go here. Those states interested in joining the network should contact Skillful CEO Beth Cobert at [e-mail], [phone].

Download the Skillful State Playbook here.

Find more information about Skillful here.

For media inquiries, please contact Markle Foundation’s Claudia Husemann at [phone] or Mary Allen at [phone].

ABOUT THE MARKLE FOUNDATION

The Markle Foundation works to realize the potential of technology to achieve breakthroughs in addressing some of the nation’s most pressing issues. Working as an operating foundation, Markle challenges itself and diverse partners to deploy their varied expertise to identify solutions and achieve systemic change. Today as advanced technology and automation change the very nature of work, Markle’s priority is advancing solutions towards a skills-based labor market that will enable Americans to transition to the opportunities of the digital economy. Markle’s workforce initiatives include Skillful and the Rework America Task Force. They follow Markle’s success in creating the policy and technology architecture that has enabled improvements in healthcare, national security, and access to the Internet. For more information, visit markle.org, follow @MarkleFdn and @ReworkAmerica on Twitter, and read our book, America's Moment.

ABOUT GOVERNOR JOHN HICKENLOOPER AND COLORADO

John Hickenlooper is the 42nd governor of Colorado. Since taking office in 2011, the Governor and his team have endeavored to make Colorado the most pro-business state, with the highest environmental and ethical standards. Learn more at www.colorado.gov.

ABOUT SKILLFUL

Skillful, a non-profit initiative of the Markle Foundation with many partners, is working to achieve a skills-based labor market to help millions of Americans overcome barriers to obtaining better-paying jobs in today’s digital economy. Skillful helps employers achieve the workforce they need by providing data, tools, and resources that enable the adoption of skills-based hiring and training practices. Coaches and digital services enable job seekers to learn what skills are in demand and access training at any stage of their career. At the same time, Skillful aligns employers and educators so that their training programs teach the skills required to succeed in today’s economy.