About

The Business-Higher Education Forum empowers dynamic leaders committed to building a resilient and skilled workforce that drives innovation, fuels economic growth, and empowers individuals to thrive in meaningful careers.

The Business-Higher Education Forum is a national network connecting pioneering corporate and higher education leaders to identify emerging skills and co-develop inclusive pathways that address talent needs. We empower and catalyze collaborations that deliver accelerated, inclusive, and effective solutions across education and work and to meet the changing talent needs of learners, workers, and businesses. 

With our network and partners, we focus on three goals critical for economic mobility and competitiveness.

  1. Increase the number of learners and earners with the high-value skills and credentials aligned to employer needs and economic mobility  
  2. Expand access and adoption of work-integrated learning models that inclusively connect and prepare talent
  3. Scale and implement national best practices with regional networks and leaders
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We believe that complex challenges require collaborative solutions. Our work enables our partners to achieve the following results:

  • Improved career and academic outcomes for learners
  • Rapid development of responsive and replicable credentials and pathways that prepare a workforce with critical skills
  • Earlier connections to new talent prepared for the workplace
  • More diverse talent pipelines
  • More systemic capacity for industry-aligned educational pathways that produce talent for critical professions

We see a future where higher education and business collaborate seamlessly to develop a skilled, adaptable workforce—one that drives innovation, fuels economic growth, and empowers individuals to thrive in meaningful careers.

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The Business-Higher Education Forum Board of Directors

The Board of Directors of the Business-Higher Education Forum reflects a diverse range of expertise and experiences that enhance its mission of bridging the gap between education and employment. Comprised of visionary leaders from corporate, academic, and nonprofit sectors, the board brings together individuals with deep knowledge in workforce development, innovative education strategies, and industry-aligned credentialing systems. Their varied backgrounds in technology, public policy, business, and higher education ensure a collaborative and comprehensive approach to addressing the nation’s talent gaps. Together, they empower the Forum’s efforts to foster inclusive and effective partnerships that drive systemic change and improve career and academic outcomes for diverse learners.

View Our Board

Staff and Senior Advisors

Staff

With deep expertise in designing, funding, and implementing new workforce and education strategies and programs, the Business-Higher Education Forum catalyzes creative solutions that drive impact. Our team brings critical expertise, skills, and a spirit of partnership, curiosity, and entrepreneurship to our work.

Experienced in leading and facilitating change, team members provide insights on issues impacting high-performing business-higher education collaboration and the future of work.

Senior Advisors

Our senior advisors play a pivotal role in shaping the direction of our organization, bringing decades of real-world experience in workforce development and education. Their insights inform our programs and initiatives, ensuring that we remain responsive to the evolving needs of the communities we serve. By drawing on their extensive expertise across various sectors, they help us enhance our strategies and broaden our perspective on the challenges and opportunities in workforce and education. Their guidance strengthens our ability to deliver impactful, innovative solutions that create meaningful change.

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Members, Partners, and Funders

Business and university leaders join the Forum to lead innovation that meets the changing talent needs of learners, workers, and businesses. 

Membership

We’re the trusted advisor to leaders of the nation’s top businesses, educational institutions, philanthropies, and government agencies. 

Funders

American higher education set the gold standard for innovation, economic development, and social good. Yet our current educational systems and pathways are not adequately or inclusively connecting learners and workers to economic opportunity and the careers and skills of the future.

And, technology advancements are accelerating changes across the workforce, growing persistent shortages across critical occupations, and widening the gap across the skills and competencies needed for success in the workplace. Higher education and business leaders need spaces to co-create and experiment with more inclusive, agile and effective paradigms for recruiting, developing, and connecting talent to opportunity.

News and Press Releases