This week, the ESC received notice that it has been selected to be one of only 10 finalists nationally in the U.S. Department of Education’s (USDOE) Career Z Challenge: Expanding Work-Based Learning Opportunities for Gen Z (Career Z Challenge). The Career Z Challenge is an open innovation prize competition seeking creative solutions to expand student access to high-quality work-based learning (WBL) opportunities that will prepare them to be contributing members of today’s workforce and propel them into successful careers of the future.

Through the Career Z Challenge, the USDOE invited schools, districts, and consortiums to share their ideas for creating or enhancing WBL opportunities that engage collaborative ecosystems of educators, employers, industries, and community stakeholders and also engage students across grades 9-12 in meaningful career exploration and development. The lessons learned from the Career Z Challenge are expected to inform resources and models that will foster growth and expansion of high-quality, sustainable WBL experiences for students nationwide.

With support from many organizations throughout the Central Ohio area, the ESC submitted a systemic plan as part of Phase 1, laying out the project’s goals, strategies, potential outcomes, sustainability plan, and more. During Phase 2 (September 2023-July 2024) of this project, the ESC received technical assistance to support the development, implementation, and expansion of the region’s WBL ecosystem. The ESC and its partners participated in a community of practice and received access to webinars, toolkits, mentorship, online collaboration space, resources, and support services.

At the onset of Phase 3 (August 2024-July 2025), the ESC and other finalists will be immersed into an accelerator—an intensified segment where they will play an active and collaborative role in the Phase 3 design. Finalists will use the lessons learned, noteworthy practices, and problem-solving methods of Phase 2 to inform the execution of the accelerator and intensify its effectiveness. During Phase 3, finalists will receive enhanced and tailored technical assistance, coordinated by Kaptivate, to accelerate the expansion and sustainability of their WBL Ecosystem. This intensified technical assistance will include one-on-one coaching, online collaboration space, resources, and in-person or virtual events. At the end of Phase 3, finalists will submit a report on the Career Z Challenge website, hosted on Challenge.Gov, detailing their accelerated implementation, project results, and sustainability plan. Each finalist who completes the Phase 3 requirements will be eligible to receive a prize award of $150,000.

To learn more about the Career Z Challenge, see here: https://www.challenge.gov/?challenge=careerzchallenge&tab=overview 

To learn more about the ESC's Central Ohio Workforce Readiness Collaborative, see here: https://www.escco.org/WorkforceReadinessCollaborative.aspx

For more information regarding the ESC and its plan, please contact Robb Gonda, Director of College and Career Success, at [email protected].