Jennifer Kolb Podcast Transcript
Jennifer Kolb joins host Brian Thomas on The Digital Executive Podcast.
Brian Thomas: Welcome to the Coruzant Technologies, Home of The Digital Executive podcast.
Do you work in emerging tech, working on something innovative? Maybe an entrepreneur? Apply to be a guest at www.coruzant.com/brand.
Welcome to The Digital Executive. Today’s guest is Jennifer Kolb. Jennifer Kolb currently serves as the Vice President of Partnership and Workforce Development at MedCerts, where she leads this strategic direction for building and expanding employer partnerships, workforce initiatives, apprenticeships.
Youth programs and non-traditional talent pathways. She’s instrumental in advancing MedCert’s mission of empowering individuals with the skills and certifications necessary for success in the modern workforce.
Well, good afternoon, Jennifer. Welcome to the show.
Jennifer Kolb: Thanks so much for having me. Great to be here today.
Brian Thomas: Absolutely my friend. I appreciate it. You’re hailing out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania hour ahead of me. I’m in Kansas City and I just appreciate you and your team getting together and sinking calendars today. So, thank you. And Jennifer, I’m gonna jump into your first question. You’ve built a career at the intersection of education, workforce development, and technology.
What experiences shaped your journey to becoming vice president of Partnership and Workforce Development at MedCerts?
Jennifer Kolb: Yeah, thanks for that question. I will spare you a lot of sappy, teary-eyed stories because I could go on in the work that I’ve, I’ve done in my career. I’ve had a lot of life-changing moments with connecting people to opportunities.
So I’ll spare you all those and just really the consistent theme has been connecting people to opportunity in a way that’s practical. Outcomes driven. I started in workforce and education partnerships where I saw firsthand that traditional systems weren’t always keeping up with employer needs or learner realities.
And just along the way there have been so many moments. That have stuck with me seeing individuals discover opportunities that they didn’t even know existed. Watching them complete programs, earn certifications, step into careers that truly changed their trajectory. So being a part of those moments, whether it’s a graduation or first job, or a promotion, it’s just been incredibly.
Motivating and really fuels the work that I do. And specifically what drew me to MedCerts was the ability to operate at the intersection of education, technology, and workforce where I could actually start closing that gap. So, over time here at MedCerts, I’ve really focused on building scalable partnerships with employers and health systems and academic institutions so we could build meaningful pathways that led directly to jobs, not just certifications.
And really today, my role is about aligning all of those pieces with employers and funding and training and outcomes into one system that works for. The healthcare systems, the organizations, and the individuals that we’re serving.
Brian Thomas: Thank you. A lot of at the center of it’s people, a lot of people connecting there.
But I love what you said. At the end of the day, people make the world go round, but connecting people to opportunity that is practical, yet meaningful. And you talked about, doesn’t matter if it’s first job, promotion, graduation, et cetera. You’re really connecting those, fill in the gaps, connecting those people to the right opportunities, and I think that’s amazing.
Again, makes the world go around, makes the world a better place. Jennifer, apprenticeships and alternative education pathways are gaining traction. How do these models compare to traditional education when it comes to preparing people for in-demand careers?
Jennifer Kolb: Yeah, traditional education I think still plays a very important role.
But what apprenticeship or, internship, externship type opportunities are designed for that. Maybe traditional education hasn’t kept up with yet is really speed and specificity around goals in a job. Workforce, demands in a job. Again, I think traditional education still plays such an important role.
It’s not an either or. It’s a both and I think apprenticeships and some of those alternative pathway models really flip what we’re used to flip the model in that they’re built around the job first, not necessarily the classroom. And I think that’s what makes them so effective that they combine the learning with real world application the folks going through that program, they’re earning while they’re learning, they’re building skills in context, and then often, they’re stepping directly into a role upon completion.
So. For employers, there’s also significant value where it’s a really powerful model because instead of just competing for skilled talent in a super tight labor market, they’re building their own talent pipelines.
They’re training people exactly how they need them. And then for our learners, that removes a lot of the. Traditional barriers in education, like cost and time and uncertainty of what, once they’re done, where they’re gonna go get a job. And so, in my, my perspective, I think there’s a place for both.
It’s not necessarily about replacing traditional education, it’s just about creating more relevant, accessible pathways that align with real careers. And so I think we’re gonna continue to see as the world of workforce developments develops, an opportunity and a pathway to have both options and meeting learners where they’re at.
Brian Thomas: That’s great. Thank you. And again, we, we all. Are taught, graduate high school, get into college and, and find that six figure job. But what we’re finding today, especially with the proliferation of AI, we know that’s really disrupting the market. But these apprentice opportunities are designed for speed and specific specificity.
As you said, they’re built around that job first, not necessarily the classroom, which really. Applies no real world application to the job, then obviously stepping right into that job immediately. So, I really appreciate that and I think there’s a big path, a big area of opportunity here. So, thank you for sharing.
And Jennifer, many organizations are struggling to fill roles while individuals struggle to find opportunities. What strategies can bridge this disconnect between talent, supply and employer demand?
Jennifer Kolb: Yeah, I love this question because I talk about it almost every day. The disconnect I think exists because we’ve historically treated education and employment as two separate systems, and we haven’t really had those two tightly integrated.
The analogy of what comes first, the chicken or the egg. Are we, are we training people first or do we have the jobs created first? And I think the organizations that are solving this, well, they’re, they’re doing three things. First, they’re working directly employer led type programs to define the skills needed, not just a degree, but what are the actual skills needed and what are competencies tied to specific jobs.
So that’s conversations with. Training providers, high schools, academic institutions, and with the employer directly to say, what are the skills, what are the competencies that you need for specific job recs? Second, they are building the earn and learn models. We kind of just touched on this with apprenticeship or maybe a grow your own type model employer sponsored training or, or some version of, an internal mobility program, but so that individuals can gain that experience.
Get paid while they’re training. And then third, they’re leveraging funding and partnerships. There’s no shortage of state and federal and, and grant sponsored funding right now, especially in the healthcare space. And that’s where the ecosystem of, of partnership development really starts to, piece together, if you will, because you can have your education partner, you can have your employer partner, but then you can bring in your workforce boards, your academic institutions so you can remove any sort of financial barriers so that the program you’re building is scalable and repeatable.
I think that’s one thing we see a lot. Workforce Development is, a couple people come together, they have a great idea. They build a program and it lasts for a year, or it lasts for two years. But really the win is when you, we can build something that is scalable, repeatable, and happens year over year, over year, over year.
And I think that’s where that third piece comes in, of building then leveraging partnerships and funding. So, like I said, I think, the organizations that are doing this well, they’re, they’re doing those three things. And really what it kind of boils down to is a grow your own strategy.
It’s developing talent that’s in a local community for the jobs that are in their backyard. And when you can build a model that does that, everyone wins the learner, the employer, the community, the economic mobility within that community. Everyone wins.
Brian Thomas: That’s awesome. I appreciate that. That win-win situation.
And you know what I heard here is success is when the program is obviously scalable and repeatable and you’re matching the right folks in your backyard. That’s awesome. I agree with you. You’ve mentioned that problem today matching that education, employment today, typically, traditionally are two different systems and we need to bring these together.
Communicating around matching the talent with the opportunity is, is really key. And I like, and I know a lot of people will like this as well. Generally when you’re in college, you have to find a part-time job. But with apprenticeships, typically you do get paid while you’re in training, which, which is amazing.
So, thank you. And Jennifer, the last question of the day. As we look ahead to the future, how do you see Workforce Development evolving over the next decade? And what role will partnerships, technology, and non-traditional pathways play in shaping the future of work?
Jennifer Kolb: This is such a fun question because I think with a AI and technology today, things are advancing.
Just, Brian, even as we speak here, it’s, it’s just rapid. Have you read a, the book Brian “Good to Great” by Jim Collins.
Brian Thomas: Yes, classic. Love it.
Jennifer Kolb: Classic. When I think about the future of workforce development, I actually go back to, to one of his concepts from that book of the first, who then what, it’s all about getting the right people on the bus before you actually figure out where you’re going.
And I think, this concept is just becoming even more relevant today because industries are. Evolving faster than they ever have. And really the ability to identify and develop and continuously upskill the right people is what is gonna define successful organizations. It’s not just gonna be static job descriptions or degrees anymore.
I think, over this next decade, Workforce Development is just gonna become so much more integrated and data-driven and employer led. And so if you pair that concept of, the first who mindset with advancements of AI and new technology, we’ll be able to personalize training.
Accelerate skill development, align talent to roles in real time. And so it goes back to that, that other question we were just talking about, Brian, where you know, we’ll see partnerships really become the foundation. No single organization’s gonna be able to solve. These challenges alone. So, our employers, our educators, our technology providers, it’s all gonna have to operate as one coordinated ecosystem.
And I think our non-traditional pathways are just gonna continue to grow those apprenticeships, the short-term credentials, the stackable programs, we’re all just gonna have to become, natural learners that are just adding to what we know really I think frequently and at a rapid pace. So I just, I, you know, I think ultimately the future of work is really about agility, and the organizations that are gonna win and be competitive are the ones that are getting the right people in the right places and then continuously developing them as the what of it evolves.
Brian Thomas: Thank you. I really appreciate that. You talked you touched on the ever changing landscape here technology, AI especially. But I like how you applied. Something here I think was interesting, the future of Workforce Development, and you took an expert excerpt out of the book from “Good to Great” by Jim Collins.
The first who then what. And I think that is really meaningful and I, I appreciate that. I love insights talking to people every day and, and learning something new. But the future of Workforce Development, as you said, will be more dynamic and employer led. And it’s gonna take our whole village, the whole community working together to get this right.
And I really appreciate that, Jennifer. It was such a pleasure having you on today, and I look forward to speaking with you real soon.
Jennifer Kolb: Yes. Thank you, Brian. Thanks for the time.
Brian Thomas: Bye for now.
Jennifer Kolb Podcast Transcript. Listen to the audio on the guest’s Podcast Page.
