Joint Center President Joins Verizon and NACCE Panel on Building a Diverse and Skilled Tech Workforce

Joint Center President Spencer Overton moderated Verizon and National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship’s event on “building a diverse and skilled tech workforce” as the U.S. Department of Labor estimates a “shortfall of two million skilled workers by 2020.” The conversation was framed to include solutions from educators, corporate leaders, elected officials, and others to discuss diversity’s place in the issue. During the event, Spencer moderated the panel, Fueling America’s Future: Recruiting, Developing, and Supporting Diverse Workers, Entrepreneurs, and Innovators. Panelists included Raquel Tamez (CEO, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers), Dr. Allison Scott (Author and Chief Research Officer at Kapor Center for Social Impact), and Dr. Nicol Turner Lee (Fellow, Governance Studies, Center for Technology Innovation at The Brookings Institution).

Other participants in the event included:

• Congresswoman Alma Adams, Founder of the Bipartisan Congressional HBCU Caucus
• Congressman Raúl Grijalva, Member of the House Education and Labor Committee
• Rose Stuckey Kirk, President of the Verizon Foundation
• Dr. Rebecca Corbin, President and CEO of the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship
• Dr. Kmt G. Shockley, Associate Professor, Department of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies at Howard University
• Dr. Daniel W. Lufkin, President of Paul D. Camp Community College
• Dr. Charlene M. Dukes, President of Prince George’s Community College
• Dr. David Wilson, President of Morgan State University
• Dr. Antonio R. Flores, President and CEO of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities
• Candice Brackeen, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Hillman Accelerator