Big Bet: Help residents in Memphis, Tennessee — especially those facing barriers like low income, childcare, and transportation — secure stable, living-wage jobs by connecting fragmented workforce efforts into one coordinated system of training, supports, and employer-linked opportunities.
Project: Pathways-to-Prosperity is building a more connected workforce system in Memphis so residents can move from interest to training to a stable, living-wage job. Instead of creating a new program, the project links existing organizations through shared referrals, coordinated supports, and common tracking so people don’t fall through the cracks. It provides flexible funding for essentials like childcare, transportation, tools, and fees — barriers that often prevent people from completing training. Employers help shape pathways to ensure training leads to real jobs, while partners align funding and data to improve results. By turning a fragmented system into a coordinated one, the initiative helps more residents complete training, secure jobs, and grow earnings over time.
Marshall Ogier is the Director of Economic Development and Workforce Systems at Seeding Success, where he leads Pathways-to-Prosperity — connecting residents to high-quality training, barrier-removal supports, and living-wage jobs through a coordinated workforce system. He co-developed the Economic Development strategy for the $1.4B More for Memphis Economic Mobility plan. Marshall convenes cross-sector partners, aligns employer demand with credential pathways, and builds shared data infrastructure to improve placement, retention, and wage growth. He holds an M.S. in Education from Johns Hopkins and a B.A. in Economics and Sociology from UC Davis.