2021 GlobalMindED
The Future of Work is Diverse, Inclusive, Just and Equitable
GlobalMindED closes the equity gap by creating a capable, diverse talent pipeline through connections to role models, mentors, internships for low-income students, returning adults, First Gen to college and inclusive leaders who teach them, work with them and hire them.
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As we celebrate International Women this month, we feature outstanding women every day. Today, we meet Becky Takeda-Tinker, an enterprising former College President of CSU Global and now Chief Educational Innovation Officer for the Colorado State University System. Becky is a full advocate for education, and helping students by providing them with opportunities that will lead them to secure their success. Start your day with her story and prepare to be inspired!
Upcoming March Equity Events Celebrating Inclusive Women- 2:00 MST/4:00 EST click link to register, details below:
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What is your personal story and path to success that led you to the highest levels of academia?
My father was first in his family to earn a bachelor’s degree, and that elevated him to be able to help the rest of his family. Growing up it was always just expected that my sisters and I would attend a university after high school, and so we did, and we have all achieved our career goals.
That said, nowadays I see multiple pathways to personal and professional success. Given the speed of change we are all experiencing with the infusion of technology, I am a big advocate of working and learning simultaneously so that learners can keep up with the pace of industry while applying what they are learning in school in the same week if not the next day; and then where possible, transferring applicable learning experiences over time toward a college degree. In my new role, I’ve meet often with industry executives. They see the value of on-the-job experience paired with a bachelor’s degree as evidence of a job candidate’s ability to learn, think critically, and be socially responsible humans – it is their gold standard; so, I believe that as educators we have a role in ensuring that employability to help both our students and our employers.
Back in the early 2000s, I was doing business turnaround and transaction work, and I was frustrated with the highly educated employees that were seemingly unequipped to help ensure their companies’ success. When I decided that the next phase of my life would be devoted to giving back to society, I chose to stop complaining about college graduates and start helping them to be better qualified in the real-life work environment. The barrier to entry to do that work is typically having a doctorate, so I worked on achieving that credential as a part-time student while working. When my husband and I selected Colorado as the place to finally settle, my intention was to teach part-time and try to help one non-traditional student at a time toward his or her workplace and academic success.
As fate would have it, in those early days I could not secure a part-time role at the local community colleges, but somehow CSU Global HR found me, and I took on projects of developing career-relevant curriculum in business and leadership. I soon became a full-time CSU Global faculty member just prior to its opening to 200 students in September 2008. I subsequently left the institution only to return in the fall of 2009 to ensure its viability and ongoing success as it does not receive state financial support by state statute, and then went through the CSU System hiring process to be appointed as its first president.
Fast forward to today, I am proud that CSU Global is fully and independently accredited, annually serves about 20,000 students that reside in every Colorado county, every U.S. state and territory, and more than 60 countries, while recording:
- above the national average in salaries by graduated cohort for both bachelor’s and master’s degree graduates, both 1-year and 5-years post-program completion;
- employer satisfaction with its graduates at 98% are Very Satisfied or Satisfied with their CSU Global graduate employee; and
- student affordability by not increasing its tuition rates since 2012, charging students for tuition only on a per-credit basis when taking a course, and by refraining from charging student fees.
Notably, CSU Global was ranked in 2019 by U.S. News & World Report as #1 in Colorado and #8 in the nation for Best Online Bachelor’s Degrees 2019; and #1 in Colorado and #7 in the nation for Best Online Degrees for Veterans.
As of September 1, 2020, I moved to the CSU System as its Chief Educational Innovation Office to lead initiatives that drive workforce and industry success. Among a variety of activities to support the CSU System and our great state of Colorado, I also now work with business and industry leaders to identify training and upskilling needs that can be met through the CSU System and our other State institutions and organizations.
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You are a passionate advocate for First Gen to College and underrepresented students. Where did this motivation and purpose come from?
I am passionate about helping people help themselves, so for my work in education, I believe that clearing obstacles to securing education or training is key to providing opportunities toward economic mobility. And, as a results-oriented person from outside of higher education, I believed and still do, that things could be done differently to improve institutional outcomes and to broaden its reach to uplift all students of diverse backgrounds and circumstances who need different types of services and pathways to meet their individual needs and goals.
First Gen and underrepresented students face a sea of unknowns. I had my father and all of his campus tours of his alma mater, a mother who attended college, and a network of friends who were similarly college-bound, so preparing to go to a university was not intimidating and our family navigated the undertaking together. However, looking at higher education through the lens of a First Gen or underrepresented student, I see that higher education has its own vocabulary, processes not found in other industries, and a host of rules and regulations that could be overwhelming to students who do not have family members or friends who have had a higher education experience. That’s why I continue to challenge what has been put into place decades ago and to question whether or not such things make sense given outcome data, as I seek to streamline and simplify so that the path to a living wage through higher education is not so daunting. We need learners to focus on the skills and knowledge they need for academic and workplace success, not on trying to navigate educational infrastructures that might be detrimental to the goal-achievement of both institutions and students.
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As an innovator in education, what do you most want to accomplish in your current role?
There are natural intersections between industry needs, education and training providers, and learner workforce success. My time in private industry and in education at the operational, managerial and leadership levels, and then the experience and knowledge gained while being part of a public state entity, has provided me with insights and knowledge that I can share. My ability to connect the various organizations, people, and resources toward collaborative and efficient pathways that facilitate win-win scenarios for all parties involved, is a value-added way that I can serve the CSU System and our State while adding value.
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What does higher education need to do to get more women, people of color, and underrepresented talent into the Higher Education completion/employment pipeline as well as Higher Ed leadership?
Since my time on the inside of the industry, I have found that people in education are generally passionate about students, their spans of control, and their areas of expertise. I believe that encouraging increased flexibility, examination of decades’ long practices, and a willingness to experiment and pilot new ways of serving students while also reimagining staff and faculty processes and what we think education leaders should look like, will be key to the increased engagement and the outcomes of students, leaders, and employees of underrepresented stakeholders.
Currently, I am particularly excited about the strong emphasis on workforce development in the State of Colorado. As demonstrated by the work at CSU Global and at other less traditional institutions across the globe, when industry leaders and educators meaningfully collaborate on learning that delivers work-ready students and graduates, the shift can be transformative in achieving increasingly better outcomes through a wider range of informed participants. I look forward to witnessing the impact of that on who is included in the future of our educational structures and how they serve, and who engages with them and their corresponding data of academic and workplace success.
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What do you most want your legacy to be at the end of your career?
I hope that I remembered for being a positive force for needed and eventually embraced change in all that I committed to participating in. I also hope that by stepping out in the various places that I have, that I am motivating others to do the same – each of us are stakeholders of our communities and of society, where action and leadership can deliver the environment and outcomes we seek … but just watching and complaining does not.
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Click below to watch the Inclusive Leader Award Ceremony featuring inspirational messages from the diverse Award Winners
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GlobalMindED and the SDG Impact Fund are delighted to announce GlobalMindED's Donor Advised Fund. 2020 is the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations and the 25th Anniversary of the Beijing Women's Declaration and Action Platform. Many from around the world are thinking of 2020 as the gateway to our most vital decade for delivering equity, the Sustainable Development Goals, and a world where all can thrive. Our key time for these outcomes is 2020-2030.
GlobalMindED DAF and the SDG Impact Fund are a powerful combined force for good as the 2019 year comes to a close and we reflect on the gratitude and the commitments we make to the causes we care most about. The DAF offers immense power and flexibility for giving prior to the year's end as you plant seeds of generous intention for 2020 and the decade ahead.
When you contribute to GlobalMindED, you support First Gen students. We have served more than 400 students by connecting them to role models, mentors, internships and jobs. Your generous support will allow us to take our work 10x and reach these talented students at scale who lack the resources and support we provide. Your support also helps teachers who can't afford the conference fees, faculty at colleges which are under resourced and students who persist at those universities despite food insecurity and/or housing insecurity.
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Links to read about Inclusive Leaders, many of whom are African American and people of color:
Curated sessions from GlobalMindED 2020 YouTube channel:
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From the Center for Positive Organizations:
From the Economist:
From Forbes:
From Harvard Business Review:
From the World Academy of Art & Science and UN; Geneva Global Leadership in the 21st Century econference:
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Listen here for an interview with Pam Newkirk, GlobalMindED speaker and author of Diversity Inc.: The Failed Promise of a Billion- Dollar Business.
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Meet GlobalMindED Founder, Carol Carter as interviewed by Tim Moore on his podcast Success Made to Last: From Success to Significance
Listen to Part 1 of Carol's interview
Listen to Part 2 of Carol's interview
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Recent GlobalMindED Newsletter Profiles:
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Since 2006 when the flagship TGR Learning Lab opened its doors in Anaheim, CA, TGR Foundation has had a lot to celebrate, including its most recent milestone of one million students impacted by TGR EDU: Explore, alone.
Developed in partnership with Discovery Education, TGR EDU: Explore is a free digital resource library that offers interactive web experiences, lesson plans, training videos and tools for educators, students and families to explore new disciplines and gain skills for a modern and expanding workforce.
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As you start the New Year, are you looking for ways to re-engineer your classroom culture? Check out Designing the Future: How Engineering Builds Creative Critical Thinking in the Classroom. The associated website has lots of activities, projects, and resources you can implement immediately. Our fall workshops using the book as a roadmap for change have been highly successful. Start designing the future today - try using the customized Study Guide for a book study in your PLC. Or contact ProjectEngin or Solution Tree to learn how you can bring professional development based on Ann's book to your school, district, or conference.
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THE FLYOVER NATION
Energy's Role in a Troubled Heartland
By J.C. Whorton
A unique and timely discussion of the challenging issues facing the country’s troubled Heartland.
Since the beginning of westward expansion into the Heartland’s vast regions, natural resource development has played a historic role in shaping its communities. Today, domestic oil and gas development offers one of the strongest prospects for the Heartland’s present and future prosperity as well as the nation’s re-emergence as a dominant player in the global energy economy.
The U.S. is now the world’s largest producer of crude oil and natural gas, two circumstances that are universally disrupting international geopolitical order. The earth has a finite supply of natural resources and a rapidly growing and over consuming population.
As America positions itself for a very uncertain and constantly evolving global marketplace, will the Heartland become America’s “great connector” or “great divide”?
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J.C. Whorton is a senior level energy and financial professional with over forty years of essential experience. Having a ranching and Native American heritage, Mr. Whorton is a strong advocate for rural education and economic development initiatives.
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