Workforce Readiness

5 Organizations Reimagining Career Navigation for Adult Learners

• By Rhea Kelly
• 03/09/23

The United States Department of Education has announced five finalists in its Future Finder Challenge, a competition announced last September seeking digital tools to help adult learners navigate from education to careers. Each finalist will receive $50,000 to help develop a prototype as well as six months of "virtual accelerator" assistance to further develop their product, ED explained in a news announcement.

In stage one of the competition, the challenge received 76 submissions from teams including minority, women, veteran, LGBTQ+, and Native American-owned organizations across 29 states. Project prototypes ran the gamut from skills assessment and career matching to mentor access and job application tools; submissions were evaluated by multidisciplinary judging panels with expertise in adult education, ed tech, career navigation, industry, and inclusion and accessibility.

The five finalists are:

• BestFit, a platform that matches learners with on-campus, community, federal, and philanthropic resources such as childcare, healthcare, transportation, meals, and financial assistance, to help them design their own support networks;
• Gladeo, a regional career navigation platform that combines a virtual career day with a program finder, self-assessment quiz, and personalized news about resources and opportunities;
• Territorium, creator of a mobile application that matches adult learners' knowledge, experience, and interests with current hiring needs and supports learners through the career navigation process, including exploration, training, and application;
• Wingspans, a web platform that provides adult learners with access to more than 700 career stories and employer profiles; and
• Workbay, a platform deployed across national, state, regional, and correctional programs that links career exploration, skill-building, job postings, and applicant tracking.

Stage two of the competition offers the finalists access to virtual resources, webinars, and mentorship from subject-matter experts across a variety of topics, including adult education, design research, product design, storytelling, and growth and sustainability, ED said. Upon completion of this "virtual accelerator" stage, finalists will submit market-ready tools and proposals, as well as present at a live demo day this fall. One grand-prize winner will be selected to receive a $500,000 prize, and two runners-up will receive a share of at least $250,000.

The challenge will continue to support the winners into 2024 as they deploy their solutions, ED said. In addition, a repository of challenge resources and videos will be openly available to both challenge entrants and the public.

For more information, visit the Future Finder Challenge site.