digital Learning and Employment Records – Nov 8

Posted by SkillsFWD on October 24, 2023

SkillsFWD issues request for proposals for development and application of digital Learning and Employment Records

Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, with support from a collaboration of funders led by Walmart.org, has announced SkillsFWD—an initiative to advance skills-based hiring and economic mobility through the development and application of digital Learning and Employment Records (LERs).

SkillsFWD will grant a maximum of eight teams up to $1.5 million each to bring to life interoperable LER ecosystems that use digital records to support equitable lifelong learning and working and address labor market demands. SkillsFWD is intended to catalyze organizations already implementing foundational strategies and infrastructure around LER systems. Applicants are expected to build upon existing tools or systems to demonstrate how to make LERs more interoperable, increase awareness and capacity to scale adoption and use, or work to expand access to a new user group.

Grantees are expected to align their proposed intervention(s) and desired outcomes with the five objectives of the SkillsFWD initiative, which are: 1) launch LER lifecycle infrastructure that successfully connects learners and workers to education and workforce opportunities, and lay the groundwork to scale lifecycle LER infrastructure across the learning and working ecosystem; 2) define and demonstrate a clear value proposition for one or more stakeholders to develop, issue, use and adopt LERs; 3) generate insights, outputs and outcomes to demonstrate the success of proposed LER ecosystem interventions, such as progress towards interoperability and progress through the lifecycle, from developing and issuing digital records to adoption and use; 4) identify outstanding needs for additional research, technical assistance and coordination to enable mass adoption of skills-based hiring systems that utilize LER tools; and 5) inform state and national policy changes needed to overcome barriers to equitable LER infrastructure adoption, such as recommendations related to quality assurance of digital credentials in career pathways, data interoperability, and increasing trust through policies about data privacy.

The opportunity is open to all U.S.-based entities leading cross-stakeholder partnerships to fill specific gaps in education and/or talent pipelines. All populations and parties participating in the demonstration project must reside within the United States.

For complete program guidelines and application instructions, see the SkillsFWD website.

Deadline: November 8, 2023