This past December 3rd and 4th, 2019, a group of 66 professionals representing trade Associations, businesses and other organizations interested in Career and Technical Education gathered together for the Workforce Development Through CTE Summit 2.0.

WFD-CTE Summit 2.0 was a continuation of last year’s inaugural Workforce Development Through CTE Summit held in November 2018 in San Antonio, Texas. This 2019 event was hosted by the Association for Career & Technical Education (ACTE), Ford Next Generation Learning (Ford NGL) with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The purpose of the Summit was to focus on what the Coalition can do to support the businesses and industries that are represented by the participating organizations, to share updates on the initiatives formulated last year and set goals for the coming year. Last year’s initiatives included those of awareness raising, creating tools and resources, and creating a WFD-CTE Technical Assistance Center to support educators.

WFD-CTE Summit 2.0 focused on providing tools, resources, and best practices for associations and businesses to create partnerships for working collaboratively with education.

Specifically, the following three goals gave structure to the Summit:

Goal #1: Understand what career and technical education is and its importance in the development of a robust, talented pipeline
Goal #2: Better understand how to engage with educators through low- and high-intensity projects
Goal #3: Pursue opportunities for engagement between industry trade sector organizations with CTE through events and activities that connect them with educators, parents and others to identify new tactical approaches that support CTE programs ability to deliver skilled candidates.

Attendees participated in multiple sessions throughout the day – there were a variety of speakers and two panels (one from the industry side and one from the education side), as well as a number of table discussions and an individual goal setting session. Networking was also a key part of the day. An optional second day of the WFD-CTE Summit 2.0 included a morning workshop on How To Create Dynamic Student Learning Experiences by Creating Powerful PartnershipsPowerful Partnerships, hosted by Ford NGL. The afternoon included a visit to the ACTE’s Career Pavilion.

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