BHEF Spring Member Convening

Building America’s Workforce: How Business and Higher Education Can Advance Inclusive Growth through Partnerships

As labor dynamics shift rapidly—shaped by an aging workforce, changing enrollment dynamics, domestic labor shortages, unprecedented public investments in new education models, and surging demand for advanced skills in critical sectors such as AI, cybersecurity, energy—the need for innovative, scalable, place-based solutions has never been more urgent. Compounding these challenges is the approaching "enrollment cliff," marked by lower higher education enrollment and mounting workforce shortages.

Our Spring 2025 Convening connects an executive network of national and regional leaders across business, higher education, and philanthropy to co-design strategies that meet workforce needs through quality work-based learning experiences, high-performing place-based coalitions, effective solutions for social imperatives holding back economic growth, and global-leading skills development in key sectors critical for domestic growth.

Hosted by Jeff Armstrong, president of Cal-Poly University and vice chair of the BHEF Board of Directors, BHEF’s Spring 2025 Convening will explore how businesses and higher education leaders can proactively respond to rapid advances in tech fields like AI and quantum, the rapid on-shoring of high-quality jobs, and on-going economic disparities that require redesigning higher education models that create strong pathways to prosperity.
 The Business-Higher Education Forum convening series brings together leading executives from U.S.-based corporations, higher education presidents and chancellors, funders, and experts in workforce and economic development to address shared challenges and unlock solutions that drive inclusive economic growth and mobility, regional innovation, and national competitiveness.