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Writer's pictureEva Mitchell

Policy Forum

Designing and Implementing Career Pathway Strategies That Are Responsive to Industry Needs and Enable Social Mobility for All Youth and Young Adults


Join us for a special conversation with Luke Rhine, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Education for the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education. The Deputy Assistant Secretary will showcase the opportunities and challenges associated with helping communities create pathways into high wage and high demand opportunities for all youth and young adults. Heather Justice from Education Strategy Group and Kate Kreamer from Advance CTE will discuss the opportunities and challenges associated with supporting a major cross-sector collaboration to design and implement new pathways in six communities around the country. Their work is part of JP Morgan Chase Foundations $350 million their New Skills Ready Network initiative. Paul Perkins, President of Amatrol and a founding CCD Center Board Member, will discuss strategies for ensuring pathways lead to industry recognized credentials.



LUKE RHINE

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Education for the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education Luke Rhine joined the Biden-Harris Administration after most recently serving as the Associate Secretary of Workforce Support for the Delaware Department of Education. His work has supported the K-12, higher education, and workforce systems to establish policy, scale effective practices, and develop solutions that connect youth and adults with good jobs that provide a living wage. Previously, Luke was a Program Specialist in CTE and STEM with the Maryland State Department of Education. In addition, he also gained experience working as a high school CTE teacher and middle school teacher. Luke has received several state and national awards for educational leadership was a Fulbright scholar and has served as an advisor to President Biden's education transition team and as a contributor to New York City Mayor Eric Adams's education transition team. Luke earned his bachelor's degree from the California University of Pennsylvania and his Master of Science Degree in Education from Stockton University.


Heather Justice

Director of Career Readiness, Education Strategy Group


Heather Justice joined ESG in 2020 to lead and support the work on career readiness and aligning high-quality K-12, postsecondary, and industry pathways. Prior to joining ESG, Heather served as the Division Director for College, Career, and Military Preparation within the Texas Education Agency where she oversaw the implementation of the Texas Regional Pathways Network, high-quality Career and Technical Education programs, work-based learning, industry certifications of value, and College and Career Readiness School Models such as Early College High Schools, Pathways in Technology Early College High Schools, and Texas STEM Academies. During this time Heather also served as the Secretary and Treasurer on the Board of Advance CTE. Prior to joining the Texas Education Agency, Heather was the Executive Director of Career and Technical Education for the Tennessee Department of Education. In this role, she managed the comprehensive reform of Career and Technical Education programs of study, instituted data-sharing agreements to obtain industry certification data, overhauled licensing of CTE educators, and established a statewide professional development model for CTE educators. Heather taught high school accounting and marketing and served as a public relations and campaign finance consultant. She holds a Master’s in education from the University of Phoenix and a Bachelor’s degree in business administration from Florida State University.


Kate Kreamer

Deputy Executive Director, Advance CTE


Kate Blosveren Kreamer serves as the Deputy Executive Director of Advance CTE, leading policy and communications efforts to ensure each learner has access to high-quality Career Technical Education (CTE). In her role, she manages large-scale projects that sit at the nexus of policy, advocacy, communications, and implementation.


During her tenure at Advance CTE, she launched a dedicated body of work focused on state CTE policy, starting with the first State Policies Impacting CTE: Year in Review report in 2013; led the CTE Forward Summit, a convening of nearly 200 stakeholders co-hosted by nine national organizations that led to the publication of Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education; helped secure funding from foundations and the federal and state governments to support a wide array of initiatives, including New Skills ready network, Strategies for Recruiting Students into High-Quality CTE, and Connecting Secondary Students to Apprenticeship Programs; coordinated the development of two Board of Director-approved strategic plans in 2016 and 2018; and has presented across the country on a variety of issues related to CTE and career readiness.


From 2006 to 2013, Kate worked at Achieve, beginning as a policy analyst and leaving the associate director of strategic initiatives, leading a range of policy, research, and communications projects to support states’ adoption and implementation of the college- and career-ready agenda. Kate also managed all of Achieve’s career readiness and CTE-related research, resources and partnerships. Prior to her time at Achieve, Kate was a policy advisor at Third Way, where she acted as a policy liaison between the organization and its Corporate Leadership Committee, engaging on a very broad legislative agenda. Kate also spent a year as a research assistant at the Progressive Policy Institute, focusing exclusively on education issues.


In 2007, Kate co-founded Young Education Professionals-DC (YEP-DC), a nonpartisan organization, created by and for young professionals, that connects tomorrow’s education leaders around the common goal of improving education through policy, research, and practice, and served as president of YEP-DC from 2007 to 2013. Kate also helped co-found and acts as a strategic advisor to YEP National, the umbrella organization supporting the now 15 YEP chapters nationwide. Kate received her bachelor's degree in Urban and Regional Studies from Cornell University, and her master's of public policy from Georgetown University, with a concentration in Education, Family, and Social Policy.


Paul Perkins

President of Amatrol and a founding CCD Center Board Member


Paul is president and co-founder of Amatrol and president of DACW Worldwide. Amatrol Inc. is a Jeffersonville, Indiana-based manufacturer, and DAC Worldwide is a Swedesboro, NJ manufacturer of technical learning systems and online interactive multimedia software. Products include: Industry 4.0, advanced manufacturing, power, renewable energy, and logistics automation. Paul holds a B.S. Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, is an author of over 20 books on industrial controls/ automation, a designer of many training systems for teaching technical skills, and consults on training program development for Fortune 500 organizations and various foreign governments. He currently serves on the Indiana Governor’s Workforce Cabinet and as Vice Chair of the Indiana State Chamber of Commerce.

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