136. Developing Employment Empowerment from Secondary School and Beyond with Dr. Leigh Anne Taylor Knight

Our youth are amazing people, who are learning and growing every day. Part of that learning includes figuring out what they enjoy doing and what they’re good at. As educators, we get to help them see how their skills and interests can potentially turn into a career.

 

But not enough of us are doing that, and it can be challenging to find a connection when teenagers and young adults adopt new interests and skills regularly.

 

This week on the podcast, I’m talking with Dr. Leigh Anne Taylor Knight, executive director and chief operating officer of the DeBruce Foundation. Among other things, the foundation is committed to helping individuals unlock their potential and find career pathways.

 

The DeBruce Foundation has a free tool that can help individuals of any age identify their abilities and interests and match them with a set of agilities that will allow them to explore careers, identify what education is needed, and so much more.

 

On this episode, we talk about the foundation’s recent research, why employment empowerment needs to be on every educator’s radar, and why this is the missing piece in career development and growth.

About Dr. Leigh Anne Taylor Knight:

Dr. Leigh Anne Taylor Knight is a resourceful, innovative leader who currently serves The DeBruce Foundation in Kansas City as Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer. The Foundation’s mission is to expand pathways to economic growth and opportunity. It seeks to help people discover what they want to do, and what they’re good at doing, to open more career possibilities.

 

Having served as a K-12 educator, Leigh Anne established a career dedicated to improving how individuals understand themselves and view opportunities to advance in the world of work. She is driven to lead the leveraging of resources across sectors for innovative learning, rigorous research, and community collaboration in order to improve economic development and the quality of life. A teacher at heart, Leigh Anne has also served as a K-12 assistant superintendent, advised learning institutions across the nation, and led a bi-state consortium providing powerful tools for data-driven educational research to inform practice and policy.

 

After graduating from University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Design and Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Secondary Education, Leigh Anne earned her Education Specialist’s degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and her doctorate from the University of Kansas in Education Policy and Leadership. Connect with her on LinkedIn and Twitter.

 

Jump in the Conversation: [2:20] - There’s a disconnect between graduating from high school and then starting careers [2:49] - How to find a career pathway [5:46] - The missing piece in career development and growth [6:45] - Learning about talking about experience that starts with a club [9:17] - Research that supports the theory of change [10:07] - What is employment empowerment  [12:40] - Individuals with employment empowerment are higher on some career literacy measures [14:30] - There’s strength in your network network strength  [15:05] - Career literacy and network strength helps to accelerate employment empowerment [16:20] - There are systemic issues that caused people to have barriers in accelerating their employment empowerment and working on them is a long game [17:23] - Our schools could get really dialed in about what alumni, parents, and the business community could provide [20:53] - 4 of 10 people rate themselves low in both career literacy and network strength [21:49] - Career literacy isn’t the only thing that we should be working on [22:20] - Rethink some of the structures you have in your organization  [24:58] - Where to get started: Your three bold steps [28:35] - Turbo Time [30:33] - Improving the quality of life for others [31:37] - Leigh Anne’s Magic Wand [33:19] - Maureen’s Takeaways

 

Links & Resources DeBruce Foundation Agilities by the DeBruce Foundation Agile Work Profiler Career Explorer Tools Follow the DeBruce Foundation on Facebook and Instagram Connect with the DeBruce Foundation on LinkedIn and Twitter Read the DeBruce Foundation’s research on employment empowerment Draw Your Future with Agilities Episode 2: Inviting Imagination and Our Agilities into Teen Goal Setting with Patti Dobrowolski Undistracted: Capture Your Purpose, Rediscover Your Joy by Bob Goff Email Maureen Maureen’s TEDx: Changing My Mind to Change Our Schools The Education Evolution Facebook: Follow Education Evolution Twitter: Follow Education Evolution LinkedIn: Follow Education Evolution EdActive Collective Maureen’s book: Creating Micro-Schools for Colorful Mismatched Kids Micro-school feature on Good Morning America The Micro-School Coalition Facebook: The Micro-School Coalition LEADPrep