Breakout Sessions
The NCPN CONNECT 2025 breakout sessions are carefully curated to align with the CORD Framework for Career Pathways Alignment, ensuring educators, employers, and community partners collaborate effectively to support student success.
Session Strands/Tracks
Each session is categorized into one or more of the four program strands/tracks:
Examples:
- Local, regional, or state cross-agency partnerships
- Workforce system/board partnerships
- Enhancing/sustaining partnerships
- Federal and state funding to support pathways (WIOA, Perkins, foundation, etc.)
- Connecting education partners across the community
- Policy and program alignment
Examples:
- Strategic employer relationships
- Work-based Learning (for example: internships, co-ops, experiential learning, externships)
- Apprenticeship/Pre-apprenticeship
- Industry-recognized credentials
- Business and Industry Leadership Team (BILT) Model
- Employability skills/soft skills/power skills
Examples:
- Credit for prior learning
- Curriculum models that support all learners (IET, Corrections, etc.)
- Dual and articulated credit
- Stackable credential/micro-credential models
- Continuous Improvement and sustainability
- Pathways for emerging careers
Examples:
- Support strategies for every learner
- Mental wellness and career development
- Career coaching and advising
- Supporting special populations
- Recruitment and retention strategies
Employer Engagement | Pathway Design | Learner Supports
Adopting a Career Pathways Framework that Supports and Sustains Innovation
Hope Cotner, President & CEO, CORD, Waco, TX; Jennifer Jirous-Rapp, VP – Pathways and Partnerships CORD, Waco, TX
Pathway Ecosystems | Employer Engagement | Pathway Design
Building a Sustainable Early Childhood Education Solution
Miranda Hutcheson, Director of CTE, Greater Lafayette Career Academy, Lafayette, IN
Pathway Design
Designing a Data Analytics Pathway (Including AI) for Future of Work Jobs
Paul Hansford, Associate Professor, Sinclair Community College, Dayton, OH
- Slides
- Data Analytics COP and Resource links
- CORD Resources
- NCPN Workshops
- NAAIC National Applied AI Consortium
- Replication Guide
- Gender Study
Pathway Ecosystems | Employer Engagement | Pathway Design | Learner Supports
Different Abilities, Different Pathways – One Destination
Lindsay Tipton, Associate Director of Access to Achievement, North Carolina Community College System, Raleigh, NC
Pathway Ecosystems | Employer Engagement | Pathway Design | Learner Supports
Empowering AEL Students: Pathways to High-Growth Careers Through Collaboration and Innovation
Anne Bartlett, Vice President, Industry and Community Resources, Brazosport College, Lake Jackson, TX
Pathway Ecosystems | Employer Engagement | Pathway Design
Florida’s CDL Consortium: Training Tomorrow’s Drivers Today
Terri Clark, CDL Consortium State Director, State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota, Bradenton, FL
Pathway Ecosystems
Grant Writing Strategies for National Science Foundation ATE Proposals
Greg Kepner, Principal Investigator, Hillsborough Community College, Tampa, FL
Pathway Ecosystems | Employer Engagement | Learner Supports
Health Heroes in the Making: Inspiring the Next Wave of Healthcare Professionals
Jackie Esselman, Dean, Recruitment and Admissions, Mid-State Technical College, Wisconsin Rapids, WI
Employer Engagement
Industrial Metaverse and Skills for the Future
Gail Norris, Siemens
Employer Engagement | Pathway Design
The Nuts and Bolts of Adopting the Business and Industry Leadership Team (BILT) Model
Hope Cotner, President & CEO, CORD, Waco, TX; Ann Beheler, Director of Innovation, CORD, Waco, TX
Pathway Ecosystems | Employer Engagement | Pathway Design | Learner Supports
S.E.E.D. – Growing Tomorrow’s Workforce Today Through Pre-Apprenticeships
Kristie Sauls, Executive Director of Apprenticeships and Career Development, Wayne Community College, Goldsboro, NC
Employer Engagement
Transform the Workforce: Empowering Employers with Game-Changing Tech Apprenticeships
Megan Scott, Technical Assistance Consultant, American Institutes for Research, Peoria, IL
- Slides
- AIR: Leaders in Advancing Apprenticeship
- Rapidly Deploy and Scale Apprenticeship: Employer Resource
- Brochure: Apprenticeships for Tech
- Per Scholas Dallas Fact Sheet
