Overview 

Industry engagement with schools had historically focused on individual activities—career fairs, plant tours, classroom visits, and guest speaking opportunities. While valuable, these efforts were often disconnected and difficult to scale.

I redesigned this approach into a structured education-to-industry ecosystem that positioned educators as workforce development partners. By creating immersive educator experiences, standardized engagement tools, and pathways for classroom integration, the model expanded industry exposure from individual events into a sustainable system reaching thousands of students.

Teacher Externship: Creating Educator Champions

The Teacher Externship became the foundation of the ecosystem by shifting educators from passive recipients of career information into active partners who could translate industry experiences into classroom learning.

I designed and launched the program in under 90 days by aligning internal manufacturing teams, school partners, and workforce organizations around a shared learning experience.

Key Contributions:

• Developed the program framework, timeline, participant experience, and stakeholder coordination model.

• Established pre-experience alignment sessions to connect educator goals with industry learning objectives.

• Coordinated immersive manufacturing experiences exposing educators to operations, technology, culture, and career pathways.

• Created opportunities for educators to translate industry experiences into classroom activities and student learning.

• Built relationships that strengthened long-term collaboration between schools and industry.

The result was a shift from traditional outreach—where companies deliver information to schools—to an educator-enabled model where teachers became multipliers of career awareness.

Cross-Sector Partnership Development

Building a sustainable talent pipeline required alignment across multiple organizations. I coordinated collaboration between:

• School districts and educators

• Workforce development organizations

• Chambers of commerce

• Industry partners

• Community organizations

Through these partnerships, I helped establish a shared approach to career-connected learning that aligned classroom experiences with workforce needs.

Key Contributions:

• Built relationships across education, workforce, and industry sectors.

• Coordinated engagement opportunities that connected students and educators with real-world career pathways.

• Created communication channels and partnership structures to support recurring collaboration.

• Increased visibility of manufacturing careers across regional education systems.

Scalable Engagement Infrastructure

To move beyond one-time events, I developed repeatable systems that enabled consistent outreach and improved volunteer engagement.

Key Contributions:

• Created a "Career Fair in a Box" resource to standardize career engagement experiences.

• Developed outreach resources supporting school and community partnerships.

• Improved plant tour experiences to better connect operations, careers, and student learning.

• Established volunteer engagement structures supporting recurring employee participation.

These tools created a foundation for scalable workforce outreach rather than relying on individual relationships or one-off events.

Student Showcase: Translating Exposure into Application

The ecosystem culminated in a student showcase designed to demonstrate the impact of connecting classroom learning with industry application.

Students presented 26+ projects that connected academic concepts to real-world challenges while engaging directly with educators and industry representatives.

Key Contributions:

• Supported development of a student-centered showcase experience.

• Connected classroom projects with manufacturing applications and career pathways.

• Facilitated interactions between students, educators, and industry professionals.

• Created a visible demonstration of career-connected learning outcomes.

The showcase served as the validation point of the ecosystem—demonstrating how educator engagement could translate into meaningful student experiences.

External Recognition & Community Impact

The education-to-industry ecosystem received formal recognition from district leadership for its impact on:

• Educator engagement with industry

• Student access to career pathways

• Workforce alignment between schools and employers

• Development of a scalable partnership model

This recognition reinforced the value of building systems that connect learning, industry, and workforce development.

Evidence & Artifacts

The resources below demonstrate the design process, implementation, and community impact of the education-to-industry ecosystem.

Program Launch & Engagement

• Article: Teacher Externship Launch  

• LinkedIn: Teacher Externship Recap

• Photos: Mock Line Revival

Student & Educator Impact

• LinkedIn: Student showcase with 26 project examples

• Article/Video: Freshman Ethics Panel

• Article: Every Voice Bilingual Panel and Breakout Sessions 

Recognition & Partnership

• LinkedIn: JCPS Community Partner Awards Nomination

• Linkedin:: HR Shooting Star Award - Externship

Strategic Takeaways

This project reinforced a core principle of workforce development: sustainable talent pipelines are created by building systems, not simply increasing activities.

By shifting school engagement from isolated outreach events into an educator-enabled learning ecosystem, we created a model that could scale career exposure, strengthen industry partnerships, and help students better understand the connection between education and future careers.

The experience also strengthened my ability to design programs around stakeholder adoption—understanding user needs, creating scalable resources, enabling partners, and building sustainable engagement models.

Overview

SummerWorks had provided meaningful summer employment opportunities for more than a decade, but the program had not yet evolved into a strategic workforce pipeline. Participant readiness varied, onboarding lacked consistency, and the experience wasn't intentionally designed to support long-term employment. By redesigning the participant journey, (from recruitment through workforce transition) I transformed SummerWorks into a competency-based workforce development system and laid the foundation for a new Grad-to-Work initiative connecting graduating seniors to full-time manufacturing careers. 

Recruitment & Selection 

The redesign began before participants ever stepped onto the plant floor. I reimagined the recruitment and selection process to improve job fit, set clearer expectations, and better prepare participants for the realities of manufacturing work before they accepted an offer.

Key Contributions

• Redesigned the application questionnaire to assess interest in manufacturing while introducing attendance expectations and the physical demands of the role upfront.

• Redesigned the interview process by blending production hiring practices with early talent recruiting strategies to better evaluate candidate readiness and program fit.

• Increased onboarding communication and support, resulting in a 55% improvement in completion of pre-employment requirements.

5-Day Orientation System

Rather than adding three more days of orientation, I redesigned the experience around the realities of the production environment. By partnering with operations leaders and trainers, we created a more intentional transition into manufacturing that balanced technical training, workplace expectations, and professional development.

Key Contributions

• Partnered with plant leaders, trainers, and ambassadors to redesign orientation around production needs.

• Shifted professional development to the beginning of the program so participants could apply new skills throughout the summer.

• Expanded "Try the Job" experiences and production simulations to build confidence, stamina, and workplace readiness.

• Coordinated a multi-department orientation supporting diverse production areas and schedules.

• Documented workflows, facilitator resources, and lessons learned to improve consistency and support future program expansion. 

Workforce Pipeline Expansion

As new funding opportunities emerged, I worked to extend SummerWorks beyond a seasonal program into a broader workforce pipeline that better connected schools, workforce partners, and long-term manufacturing hiring needs. I led efforts to secure and operationalize external funding that enabled both program expansion and new partnership models.

Key Design Elements

• Secured $30,000+ in external funding to support redesigned SummerWorks and Grad-to-Work programming

• Partnered with KentuckianaWorks to establish GE Appliances as the first for-profit employer in Louisville to receive reimbursement funding for youth programming

• Led cross-functional coordination across finance, legal, sourcing, and KentuckianaWorks to establish reimbursement agreements and operationalize a new funding model. 

Grad-to-Work Cohort

The redesign expanded beyond SummerWorks into a new transition-to-employment pathway for graduating seniors. This required rapid coordination across HR, operations, and workforce partners to redesign onboarding for permanent employees while adapting the experience for a younger population entering full-time manufacturing roles.

Key Design Elements

• Launched a cohort of ~25 graduating seniors transitioning directly into full-time manufacturing roles

• Executed hiring, onboarding, and orientation in five weeks from funding approval to program launch

• Adjusted onboarding content to prioritize benefits, financial literacy, career pathways, and tuition reimbursement over traditional early-career activities

• Partnered with After the Tassel advisors and school counselors to rapidly communicate and scale awareness of the opportunity

• Strategically placed participants on 2nd shift to balance production needs while supporting a successful transition into full-time manufacturing work. 

Executive & Community Engagement

SummerWorks also became a platform for strengthening community partnerships and showcasing manufacturing career pathways across the region. 

Highlights

• Led cross-functional planning for the citywide SummerWorks kickoff hosted at GE Appliances.

• Coordinated executive participation with the Mayor's Office and regional workforce partners.

• Coached a former SummerWorks participant to share his career journey as a featured speaker.

• Supported media engagement and public visibility for the organization's workforce initiatives.

Evidence & Artifacts

The resources below provide additional examples of the program in action, including press coverage, media features, LinkedIn posts, and photos that illustrate both the design process and the impact of the initiative. 

Media Coverage

• WLKY News: 2025 SummerWorks Kick-off featuring GE Appliance Alum

• WHAS 11 News: 2026 Citywide SummerWorks Kick-Off

Mayor Recognition

• Announcement: Mayor Greenburg 2026 Press Release Announcement

Program Highlights

• LinkedIn: 2025 SummerWorks Professional Development Recap

• Youtube: KentuckianaWorks 2025 Summer Highlights Video featuring GE Appliance Employees 0:58-1:55

• LinkedIn: 2026 SummerWorks + Grad to Work - Recap & Culture Change

• Linkedin: "Top of the Line" employee recognition

Strategic Takeaways

This project reinforced a lesson I've seen throughout my career: meaningful workforce programs aren't built by adding more training—they're built by intentionally designing the entire learner experience. From recruitment and onboarding to workplace integration, every interaction shapes confidence, readiness, and long-term outcomes.

The redesign also demonstrated the power of cross-functional collaboration. By bringing together HR, operations, educators, workforce partners, and community leaders around a shared vision, we created a stronger, more connected workforce pipeline designed to evolve alongside organizational and community needs.