The Washington Center

“The Washington Center, a higher-education adjacent non-profit focused on career-connected and experiential learning, launched a Teach to Work Mentor Program in Spring 2023 with a focus on bolstering skills for careers in cybersecurity. Through research in the Center’s Innovation Institute, the program was launched due to the national and global need for career-ready talent to fill millions of cyber jobs. Designed to build skills and provide pathways into the various cybersecurity domains for diverse learners, the pilot program’s priorities were to:

• Provide industry-specific and relevant learning objectives for the field
• Ensure project-based learning and career exploration
• Boost aptitude for diverse learners into the cyber sector
• Provide paid microinternships to participants
• Incorporate trained Teach To Work mentors into the microinternships
• Align closely with employers’ needs in the field.”

Accenture
Jenny Heflin
Senior Manager, Health & Public Service

“Teach to Work Author, Patty Alper, presents a compelling call to action to use the power of mentoring to close the skills gap in America. She first lays the foundation in the section “why mentor” – including the benefits of a workforce that mentors then moves into “how to mentor”, equipping readers with a framework for identifying project-based learning mentoring opportunities and tools for driving high impact mentor-mentee relationships.

City College of San Francisco
John Halpin
Associate Dean, WorkForce Development

“The workforce environment as we know it is undergoing a period of immense change. Fueled in part by the shifts made necessary by the pandemic, we have seen a dramatic increase in remote/virtual work, use of AI technology, and the prevalence of gig work. The educational landscape has had to adapt as well, with institutions having to reinvent the educational experience through virtual learning, the introduction of new disciplines, and new forms of communication. Community Colleges have remained in demand, especially for those adult learners who are looking to upskill and better prepare for new and different employment. These institutions support students from underserved backgrounds, who might be lacking equitable opportunities, role models, or relevant networks to support their goals and dreams. In light of all of these shifts, we ask ourselves: As educators, how can we be sure we are best preparing our students to meet these changes? As students, how can you boost your confidence, create meaningful connections, and graduate with the skills you need to succeed in a workforce that differs from those faced by previous generations?

These questions have guided my work throughout my career. I have been creating and implementing workforce development programs in San Francisco for over 25 years, including the last seven years at City College of San Francisco. My primary goal is to provide resources and support our students as they make progress in their career journey. When I first met Patty Alper, we were part of an eight-person catalyzation session hosted by the Knowledge Impact Network where she was the featured guest. At the time, she was describing her vision for bringing together the business community and academia. She asked an impactful question, “What would education look like, if we added skilled, trained practitioners to mentor students while they worked on projects within their field of choice?” Her concepts and methods, based on her model of Project Based Mentoring®, are spelled out in the book you now hold in your hands.”

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Wendy Dougherty
Chief Operating Officer, Californians Dedicated to Education Foundation (CDE)
School Board Trustee, San Carlos School District, San Carlos, CA

“I really appreciate your Teach to Work Book. Your approach resonates with what I believe is a real need in our education system at multiple levels… What you have outlined is a clear road map and structure for schools to offer mentorship, such that when a CEO now asks to get involved there is a clear system in place.”

Rebecca Corbin, Ed.D.
President & CEO, The National Association of Community Colleges Entrepreneurship (NACCE)

“I put off reading your materials until I could focus my mind and heart on your message. I have to tell you, your work gave me goosebumps. Not only do I love your writing style, I think it’s great that your work is grounded in your personal experience. Most importantly, your message reflects the core tenets of our organization’s mission and coincides with our professional beliefs.”

Carole Basile, Ed.D.
Dean of Education and Professor, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College
University of Arizona

“No longer can today’s education be one teacher in front of 30 students. Your book and materials reflect where I see education heading: students who enjoy a multitude of stimulus and experiences from throughout the community, with field trips, engagements, and community educators.”

Carlene Hurdle
Director of Corporate Training, Laurel Ridge Community College

“I truly feel that the Teach to Work program has lasting impacts on both economic and workforce development initiatives. My wheels have not stopped spinning thinking about the evolutionary and revolutionary impacts we might have in actively involving businesses into the process of closing the skills gap!”

Eliza Wilson, Ed.D.
Individual Giving Officer
Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology

“Wanted to thank you again for sharing your work with us. As we complete our pilot Teach to Work model for Mentorship at Franklin Cummings Tech, I am considering what our long-term adoption process and approach may look like. I’ve thought carefully about the future of Teach to Work and have found it helpful to consider where it will ‘live’ on campus – Is this a student affairs program? Is this an academic program? What centers or programs see the greatest benefit? And the answer to all is – yes! This model is not fit for just one department or academic concentration – it is fit for all. For these reasons, we will continue to administer the Teach to Work Mentoring Model in the Development office. From my perspective, I am so thrilled. During the pilot phase, it has provided me with an incredible engagement opportunity with both individuals and their respective organizations and firms. This has allowed me to expand the traditional 3 Ts of development (time, treasury, and talent) to 4 Ts (time, treasury, talent, and ties). This model has allowed me focus on deepening the ties individuals experience with the campus community, and it has empowered me with a unique development request of an individual. The request to consider serving as a mentor.

This recent High-Profile feature, How the ‘Teach to Work’ Mentorship Program is Equipping the Next Generation of Construction Professionals | High-Profile Monthly shines a light on the experiences and perspectives of our student and their mentor. Of note, a few things have taken flight as a result of this pilot experiment. 1. The mentee was offered a job at the firm, 2. The mentor has become further engaged with our campus and more invested in our students – just recently pledging $10,000 our student scholarship fund. 3. Three other firms have reached out to me due in part to reading about the pilot model in the HP article and are interested to learn what it takes. These firms include a $1.3 billion national construction management firm with offices in Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Providence, Las Vegas, New Haven, Miami, Irvine, and West Springfield – a European company of 128,000+ employees worldwide working on energy and automation digital solutions for efficiency and sustainability – a local Boston-based commercial real estate company focusing on development and investment opportunities throughout New England.

In addition to this recent engagement, I have also been in collaboration with Alvin Townley, Founder of https://www.skillpointefoundation.org/ – through the foundation, Alvin and his colleagues have raised $2M + since 2021 to provide scholarships to skills based training programs across the nation. Please know I suggested the Teach to Work model to Alvin – as an example to make a lasting impact and contribute to the transformative power of education for the student learner – is to include mentoring along with a scholarship gifts. For instance, I suggested to Alvin that we might consider the SkillPointe’s Home Depot Foundation’s Path to Pro Scholarship for Women as a great potential Teach to Work mentorship. In fact, next week (6/7) Alvin is flying up from Georgia for a campus visit and chat about scholarship opportunities that may be available for our students.

Also, I want to share with you that we were so inspired by our experience with the Teach to work model, that we incorporated it into a recent NSF Grant submission that would further expand project-based learning across the curriculum. As we discuss in the proposal, this new modality of teaching will meet the needs of our students learning style whether it is visual and/or kinesthetic learner. The Teach to Work mentorship model reinforces this project-based curriculum.

Patty, thanks so much for creating a framework for us to continue to build on. This model really does make a world of difference.”