Big Bet: Build the capacity of America’s community colleges to connect low-income students to the jobs created and shaped by emerging technologies, regional innovation ecosystems, and tech-based economic development.
Project: The Accelerator for Community Colleges in the Innovation Economy, a strategic initiative of New America and the U.S. National Science Foundation, builds the capacity of community and technical colleges for regional economic development partnerships focused on frontier and emerging technologies — ranging from AI to biotechnology to quantum computing and renewable energy.
Community colleges serve large shares of low-income and first-generation adults and youth alike, but they often lack the resources and institutional infrastructure to keep pace with the impact of technological change on the labor market. The Accelerator addresses this gap by helping colleges build next-generation systems, partnerships, and strategies needed to expand workforce pathways into quality jobs and promote inclusive economic development. By doing so, the Accelerator ensures that community colleges can widen the gates to the future of work, the middle class, and the American Dream.
Shalin Jyotishi is pioneering a new model to strengthen the community college sector in tech-based economic development. At New America, he leads an amazing team advancing policy solutions and practice changes to better link tech-driven growth with expanded economic security and well-being for workers and families. He also serves as a Forbes contributor and a visiting scholar at Arizona State University, specializing in the intersections of science, workforce, and industrial policy. Shalin’s insights have appeared in USA Today, Fast Company, NPR, Financial Times, and Politico, as well as on stages at the World Economic Forum Davos Agenda, the United Nations, and SXSW. He has been appointed to advisory boards for the Education Writers Association, the Bipartisan Policy Center, and the MIT Science Policy Review.