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Transforming Learning into Actionable Impact
We strive to be at the forefront of innovation and to deliver measurable results through our tenacious and endless curiosity.
Our Learning and Impact Lab advances individuals skilled through alternative routes (STARs) through action research, worker journey insights and transformative success stories of workers attaining economic mobility.
By leveraging our comprehensive platform analytics, STARs feedback and a coalition of partners who serve STARs directly, we improve products and services and drive collective systems change across the workforce ecosystem.
Looking for a partner to test, iterate, and innovate with? Inquire on our partner form.
Test, Learn, Iterate.
Questions We're Currently Researching
Can AI Better Coach STARs Toward Good Career Paths?
SkillUp Quality Standards
What Makes Our Career Platform Different
Our goal is to make every career and training opportunity on SkillUp valuable for workers. We assess offerings using labor market data, employer needs, and local wage benchmarks, focusing on in-demand jobs, affordable short-term training, and meaningful credentials.
SkillUp’s high-quality standards are built in alignment with some of the most respected voices in workforce and education reform. We draw on and integrate frameworks and data from:
Opportunity@Work, Onet, CareerOneStop, Bureau of Labor Statistics and Lightcast
The gateway labor data and career categories form the foundation of how we define and present high-potential career paths for STARs.
America Succeeds
The durable skills framework helps ensure job seekers know what transferable, human-centered skills they need to succeed across industries.
American Opportunity Index
This informs our filters and highlights employers committed to job quality and advancement.
API Partners
Willow Education, Kuder, American Student Assistance (ASA) and Overgrad use to embed trusted content directly into their own platforms, extending SkillUp’s impact and ensuring quality guidance meets job seekers where they already are
Steven Lee, CEO, SkillUp Coalition
"At SkillUp, we strive to be data-driven, heart-led."
We are thrilled to lead a “worker-first” learning agenda backed by data and action research, which we believe is essential in the field. Our Learning and Impact Lab leverages SkillUp’s unique capabilities to drive innovation and actionable “worker-first” insights for the workforce ecosystem. It utilizes our internal expertise, real-time platform and campaign analytics, qualitative research, and partnerships with leading organizations, positioning us to adapt to the shifting marketplace and drive systemic change.
See Our Latest Research & Innovation
Article
Empower Work & SkillUp Coalition Selected As Workplace Innovation Now (WIN) Challenge Awardee
Report
Integrating AI into Career Navigation Services SkillUp’s Journey and Lessons Learned
Article
Skilled Trades, Community Value and Building Purpose-Filled Careers
People-First Webinar
People, Purpose & the Promise of Human-Centered AI in Workforce Development
Join us to explore how workers who are skilled through alternative routes (STARs) engage with AI-enabled and human-centered career support. Drawing on early evaluation data from SkillUp’s My Career Coach AI, this conversation will explore where STARs lean in, where they disengage, and what the data is beginning to show about the role of purpose, self-knowledge, and human connection in keeping workers on a forward trajectory. Panelists will bring cross-ecosystem perspectives as practitioners, researchers and philanthropic funders to discuss why they’re investing time and resources into AI solutions that center human agency, and what responsible, people-first technology requires to deliver economic mobility.
Attendees will leave with early learnings from a specific human-centered AI pilot (SkillUp’s My Career Coach beta), including early impact data from MDRC's independent research, frontline coaching insights from Empower Work, and how funders approach human-centered initiatives in an AI-powered world. They will also gain a practical lens on emerging patterns around user motivation, pain points, and the moments where human interaction is irreplaceable by technology.
Monthly Newsletter
Keep a PULSE on SkillUp
Keep a pulse on SkillUp and STARs with our monthly newsletter. Subscribe if you’re looking for data, strategies and inspiration culminating in success stories of people transforming their lives and careers. Here are our most recent releases:
A real-life impact story from our partnership with EmpowerWork
How Dawn Utilized SkillUp & Text-Based Coaching to Become a CNA
After months of long-term unemployment, Dawn felt like she'd exhausted every option and had nowhere left to turn. Through SkillUp, she was connected to resources like our career coaching; that's when she reached out to Empower Work. Learn how a conversation with a peer counselor helped her regain confidence and change the trajectory of her work life. Read more about our lessons from working with Empower Work.
Get to Know Us
About SkillUp
Our staff and coalition partners are contributing time, energy and resources to provide the best upskilling and career resources to workers across the country.
What we've accomplished thus far is a direct result of our Core Values:
- Champion Worker-First
- Empower Impact
- Embrace Collaboration
- Exemplify Curiosity
- Embody Accountability
