529: Founder of Education Design Lab on ‘Who Needs College Anymore?’

Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 529, an interview with the author of Who Needs College Anymore?, Kathleen deLaski.

In this episode, Kathleen shares her journey from journalism to education reform. She talks about her time as a TV and digital journalist, White House correspondent, and Pentagon spokesperson, as well as her transition to education reform, founding the Education Design Lab in 2013, and her work on higher education innovation.

Kathleen discusses the changing role of college and the impact of the pandemic on workforce dynamics and the shift towards shorter, job-focused educational pathways. Her book, Who Needs College Anymore?, dives deeper into these topics.

Kathleen deLaski is an education and workforce designer, as well as a futurist. She founded the Education Design Lab in 2013 to help colleges begin the journey to reimagine higher education toward the future of work. Her non-profit has helped 1200 colleges, orgs and economic regions design shorter, more affordable pathways for learners to achieve their economic goals. She spends time as a senior advisor to the Project on Workforce at Harvard University and teaches human-centered design and higher ed reform as an adjunct professor in the Honors College at George Mason University. In a previous career, Kathleen spent twenty years as a TV and then a digital journalist, including time as ABC News White House correspondent. Followed by a political appointment as the first female Pentagon spokesperson.

Get Kathleen’s book here: https://www.whoneedscollegeanymore.org/

Who Needs College Anymore?: Imagining a Future Where Degrees Won’t Matter

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