It’s time to realize The Power of Us. The theme of this year’s Horizons Summit is at the center of this season’s final podcast episode. JFF President and CEO, Maria Flynn joins host Tameshia Bridges Mansfield to preview this summer’s gathering of public and private stakeholders including some of the biggest names in education, business, activism and philanthropy. The Horizons 2024 Summit will be held July 22-23 in Washington, DC, a strategic choice in this election year to inspire participants to move beyond bipartisanship to discover mission-aligned policy together.

As the world celebrates Pride Month, Jobs for the Future continues to examine the challenges LGBTQ workers and learners, especially educators, face in joining and being a part of the U.S. workforce. In this episode of the Horizon’s podcast, host Tameshia Bridges Mansfield brings us back to the stage at SXSW EDU, to continue listening in on an enlightening, personal, and passionate conversation between JFF’s Taylor Sprague and special guest Philip McAdoo, a

leading Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion educator and activist.

LGBTQ workers and learners are under attack around the United States despite decades of strides for civil rights, including a 2020 landmark Supreme Court ruling protecting Americans from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. In this episode of the Horizon’s Podcast, host Tameshia Bridges Mansfield passes the microphone to her colleague Taylor Sprague, who welcomes special guest Philip McAdoo, a leading Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion educator and activist. Taylor and Philip share their own experiences fighting discrimination as they walk a tightrope between protecting themselves and staying in the fight for their own professional fulfillment and, for Philip, a calling to help children learn and grow.

Generation Z is reimagining a more equitable and empathetic workplace, challenging employers to redefine work for the benefit of all workers. In this episode of the Horizon’s Podcast, host Tameshia Bridges Manfield passes the microphone to Generation Z host, Alex Edgar, a youth civic engagement expert, and special guest DE&I thought leader Zoë Jenkins as they discuss the future of work from a Generation Z perspective. Edgar and Jenkins move the conversation forward from the stage at JFF’s annual Horizons Summit where moderator Megan Leohardt of Barrons is in conversation with two Generation Z superstars: Mayor Jaylen Smith and green entrepreneur Kristy Drutman.

In this episode of the Horizons Podcast, we explore the American dream of climbing the corporate ladder. Abigail Disney of Hollywood’s dream-making family takes the stage at JFF’s Horizons conference, calling out corporate leaders for perpetuating a fairytale of upward mobility for all and challenging them to reshape the US economy for the benefit of all workers. Host Tameshia Bridges Mansfield continues the conversation started by Disney with special guest Ashley Black, Managing Director, Equity Strategies for Delta Airlines. Black shares the industry leader’s blueprint for a more equitable and sustainable future of work for its frontline staffers. Together they explore the routes that Delta is taking to help its workers’ dreams take flight.

In this episode of the Horizons Podcast, we look at who is getting ahead in the U.S. workforce, who's still lagging behind, and why. As income skyrockets in major cities, small towns and rural areas are seeing far less growth offering residents little chance at upward mobility. Women are back to work after the pandemic, but their climb to the top of the ladder remains languid. And workers without college degrees are still waiting for a workforce that values their skills. Host Tameshia Bridges Mansfield and special guest Jed Kolko, United States Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs move the conversation forward from the stage at this year’s Horizons Summit.

Guest Speakers from the stage at Horizons include:

• Karin Kimbrough - Chief Economist, LinkedIn
• Richard Reeves - Non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and President of the American Institute for Boys and Men and JFF Board member.

Investing in human potential sits at the center of the Horizons podcast’s season opener. This is a primary focus of JFF’s North Star, a bold new initiative to get millions of people, facing systemic barriers to advancement, to work in quality jobs in ten years. Host Tameshia Bridges Mansfield and special guest Adrian Haro, of The Workers Lab, move the conversation from the stage to the studio as they dig deeper into some of the themes presented by Jobs for the Future President and CEO Maria Flynn at this year’s Horizons summit with a special lens on a significant population in our workforce – gig workers. 

Tameshia Bridges Mansfield

Vice President, Workforce and Regional Economies

Jobs for the Future

Adrian Haro

Chief Executive Officer

The Workers Lab

Maria Flynn

President and CEO

Jobs for the Future

In this final episode of season 2 of the Horizons podcast, host Tameshia Bridges Mansfield and special guest Maria Flynn, President and CEO of JFF, dissect some of the efforts that are in motion to create a more equitable workforce post-pandemic and how the approach of dual transformation can help address the change that’s needed now and in the future.

The lessons from the pandemic could not be more clear. Disparities in wealth, education, opportunity, and safety proved devastating for millions of American workers who are now demanding change. So, how do today’s businesses build a better tomorrow?

Guest Speakers from the stage:

Panelists:

● Rachel Romer, Cofounder and CEO, Guild

● Brent Parton, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary/Acting Assistant Secretary for

Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor

● Tyra Mariani, President Schultz Family Foundation & Member JFF Board of Directors

Moderator: Hari Sreenivasan, Host Amanpour & Company, PBS & CNN International