Project Success Facilitates Sessions at LíderCon 2024

This September, Project Success presented to standing-room only audiences at LíderCon, the Midwest’s premier Latine leadership conference, with panel discussion including students and partners to talk about Project Success’ career-connected learning programs for English Learner students. Project Success Senior Education Advisor Dr. Elia Dimayuga-Bruggeman facilitated two sessions of, “Catalyzing Into Local Global Talent with Career-Connected Learning.” The sessions featured two of our partners and two students who participated in the Solar Energy Pathway program this past year.

Group of students and panelists at Latino Lead conference.

Dixon and Erizael, both students from Wellstone International High School, shared their reflections on their experiences in the solar energy training program organized by Project Success. Dixon is currently a 12th grade student at Wellstone who emigrated to the U.S. from Honduras, and Erizael is a Wellstone graduate who emigrated to the U.S. from Mexico. Both speak Spanish and are learning English. They shared that this hands-on, real-world experience in a safe and supportive setting helped expand their ideas of what’s possible and build confidence in pursuing their dreams. While they spoke in Spanish to the audience, our interpreter shared in English what they said:

“This hands-on experience allowed me to feel well-prepared to jump in and handle real obstacles and real situations without freezing on the spot” – Dixon

“Education is one thing, and what you do with it is a separate thing. I’m eager to take what I have learned and put it into action – making change with my own hands” – Ezirael

This panel discussion explored the benefits of career-connected learning programs for underserved student populations, particularly Latino and English language learner students. Speakers discussed how partnerships between organizations like Project Success, educational institutions, and employers can create pathways to skills training, internships, and college/career readiness. The panel highlighted how community-driven, culturally-responsive initiatives can help close opportunity gaps and empower students to pursue their career aspirations. Key topics included:

  • The importance of hands-on, experiential learning to prepare students for in-demand jobs
  • Challenges of working with entrenched systems and bureaucracies to allow for dual-credit programs and expanded access
  • The value of mentorship and exposure to diverse career options for students, especially those from immigrant backgrounds
  • Strategies for scaling successful programs to reach more students in rural and urban areas

Solar energy training partners Jamez Staples (CEO of Renewable Energy) and Akisha Everett (Executive Director of Minneapolis Climate Action) emphasized that more vertical integration in education/employer partnerships for workforce development is needed, including more opportunities for young people to gain exposure to industry concepts and skills earlier in their education.

“We’re [Renewable Energy Partners] a solar development firm based in North Minneapolis, focused on addressing racial gaps in employment. We have to start bridging the gaps and help young people get the necessary skill, training and aptitudes early so they can go out into the marketplace and be productive, and for me, it’s clean energy. You’re addressing climate change and poverty simultaneously,” shared Mr. Staples.

“If we do a better job at introducing these opportunities sooner, like middle school, it would be a better transition into the workforce and employers would actually recognize this as a pathway,” said Ms. Everett.

Mr. Staples shared that hands-on learning increases engagement and on-time graduation rates for Hispanic, African American, and Native American students. The U.S. Department of Education sites that eight years after their expected graduation rate, students who focused on career and technical education (CTE) courses while in high school had higher median annual earning than students who did not focus on CTE.  

Through this project, Project Success and our career-connected learning partners met students where they are at, and developed a model that will catalyze career-connected learning for young people in the future! Many thanks to the Catalyze Challenge and Minneapolis Public Schools Department of Multilingual Learning for funding this project and to LatinoLead for hosting the LiderCon conference.

Read more about the Solar Energy Pathway program from our July 2024 Blog Post.