Apprenticeship 2.0

What does it take to turn Apprenticeship Degrees from promising ideas into sustainable pathways that support working adults earn credentials of value, advance their careers, and meet employers' needs? In this episode, hosts Joe E. Ross and Dr. Anastasia Wickham sit back down with Matt McKinney, President and CEO of Job Forward, and Dr. Holly Smith, Executive Director and VP of Apprenticeship Degre...

What happens to higher education when the skills universities have traditionally taught—numeracy, literacy, and analysis—can increasingly be performed by machines? In this episode, Joe E. Ross talks with Ben Wildavsky, senior advisor to the Harvard Project on Workforce and author of the forthcoming Know How: The Global Rise of Hands-On Higher Education, and Pano Kanelos, founding partner of The At...

A few years ago, the idea of combining a college degree with a paid apprenticeship was still unfamiliar—and, in some corners of higher education and government, viewed as something that didn't even exist in the United States. Today, Apprenticeship Degrees are gaining recognition and adoption across states, employers, higher education, and government. So what comes next? In this episode, the two co...

In this episode of Apprenticeship 2.0, guest host Dr. Anastasia Wickham, Provost and Chief Academic Officer at Reach University, leads interviews with leaders at the 2026 convening of the International Center for the Apprenticeship Degree at the University of Oxford. Guests include Taikein Cooper, President and CEO of the Richmond Ed Fund; Dr.  Graeme Atherton, Associate Pro-Vice Chancellor for Re...

In this episode of Apprenticeship 2.0, guest host Dr. Anastasia Wickham, Provost and Chief Academic Officer at Reach University, leads interviews with leaders at the 2026 convening of the International Center for the Apprenticeship Degree at the University of Oxford. Guests include Scott Cheney , CEO of  Credential Engine ;  Colleen Connolly , Freelance Journalist and Contributor to  Work Shift ;...

In this episode, Joe chats with Mark Gregory, CTE Coordinator at Colorado River BOCES, and Jeff Barratt, President and CEO of Associated General Contractors of Colorado. Together, they discuss rural workforce development in western Colorado, workforce challenges in rural communities and apprenticeship as a local talent strategy, skilled trades career pathways, employer-led apprenticeship and train...

In  this episode, Joe  chats with Dr. Holly Smith, Executive Director and Vice President of Apprenticeship Degree Design  at the National Center for the Apprenticeship Degree, and Matthew McKenney, President and CEO of  JobForward .   Together, they discuss   the partnership between NCAD and  JobForward , why the partnership makes sense and why now is the right time for it, reflections from  the ...

In  this episode, Joe  chats with   Eve Lieberman,  Executive Director of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, and Andrew Sutliff, Apprentice at CoorsTek .   Together, they discuss   t he role of economic development initiatives in strengthening Colorado's workforce; Colorado's Opportunity Now initiative and investment in apprenticeships, higher education, and skill...

In  this episode, Joe  chats with   Sidney Hawkins, Director of Apprenticeship at the Arizona Builders Alliance (ABA), and Drake Williams, Apprentice for Delta Diversified Enterprises .   Together, they discuss   a pprenticeship in Arizona and the ABA's workforce mission; the role of apprenticeship in addressing labor shortages; building high-quality apprenticeship programs and expanding career pa...

In  this episode, Joe  chats with   Analisa Archer, Senior Director of Policy at  EducationNC ; Caroline Sullivan, Executive Director of the North Carolina Business Committee for Education; and Dr. Chris Harrington, Director of  ApprenticeshipNC , North Carolina's State Apprenticeship Agency .   Together, they discuss   North Carolina's rise as an apprenticeship leader, the growth of apprenticeshi...

In  this episode, Joe  and guest co-host Dr. Anastasia Wickham, Provost and Chief Academic Officer at Reach University, chat with  Kristi Kirschner,  Board President of  edwell ;  Tamika Bartley,  Success Coach Coordinator, Registered Apprenticeship Program, Sheldon Independent School District in Texas; and  Alexandra Perez, Student at Reach University and AVID Tutor Manager transitioning into the...

In  this episode, Joe  chats with  Glen Disque, Director of the Montana Department of Labor & Industry Registered Apprenticeship Program; Madeline Boehm, Registered Apprenticeship Program Manager at Health Career Advancement Program (H-CAP); and Zach Boren, Senior Vice President at Apprenticeships for America .   Together, they discuss   the success and growth of Registered Apprenticeship in Monta...

In  this episode, Joe  chats with John Colborn, Executive Director of Apprenticeships for America.   Together, they discuss   John's journey in the apprenticeship space,  pay-for-performance strategies such as the Trump administration funding for the Pay-for-Performance Incentive Payments Program,  AFA's grading of the administration on its efforts to  grow  apprenticeship, the impact of apprentic...

In  this episode, Joe  and guest co-host D oug Lederman ,  Principal of Lederman Advisory Services and  Co-founder and former Editor of  Inside Higher Ed , chat with  Colleen Flaherty, Senior Editor of Special Content at  Inside Higher Ed , and Sara Weissman,  Senior  Reporter at  Inside Higher Ed .  Together, they discuss  the  most important developments in higher ed today, how higher ed leaders...

In honor of National Apprenticeship Week, Joe tees up a handful of memorable clips from past episodes of Apprenticeship 2.0. Hear insights from Kathleen deLaski, Founder and Board Chair of the Education Design Lab; Dr. Mallory Dwinal-Palisch, Co-Founder of Reach University and Oxford Teachers Academy, and current President of Craft Education at Western Governors University; Alison Griffin, Princip...

In this episode, Joe and guest co-host Dr. Anastasia Wickham, Provost and Chief Academic Officer at Reach University, chat with Matt Sigelman, President of the Burning Glass Institute, and Mark Schneider, Nonresident Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Stony Brook University. Together, they discuss the intersection of labor and education marke...

In this episode, Joe chats with Alison Griffin, Principal with FutureRise, and Jeff Selingo, higher education strategist and longtime journalist. Together, they discuss whether higher education and the workforce are due for radical realignment, what's driving the shift toward apprenticeship and work-based learning, evolving student perspectives on career pathways and how institutions are respondin...

In this episode, Joe and guest co-host Laura Hopkins, Executive Director of the Healthcare Training Fund, chat with Dr. Metoka Welch, Executive Dean of the Apprenticeship College of Health (ACH); Dr. Anastasia Wickham, Provost and Chief Academic Officer at Reach University; and Melody McKee, Director of Behavioral Strategy at the Healthcare Training Fund. Together, they discuss the impetus and ori...

In this episode, Joe chats with Heather Terenzio, Director of the Incubation practice at JFFLabs, and Carlos Vazquez, Founder of GoSprout. Together, they discuss the upfront questions to answer when starting an apprenticeship program; how startups should think about compliance and governance when launching and growing an apprenticeship program; building apprenticeship into a lean startup, without...

In this episode, Joe and guest co-host Dr. Eric Dunker, Chief Engagement Officer at Reach University, chat with Diego Mariscal, Founder and CEO of 2Gether-International (2GI); Philip Minardi, Co-founder of BuildWithin; and Dr. Susan Crystal-Mansour, Interim Executive Director at the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. Together, they discuss apprenticeship pathways for executive...

In this episode, Joe and guest co-host Dr. Eric Dunker, Chief Engagement Officer at Reach University, chat with Ivy Love, Senior Policy Analyst in the Center on Education and Labor at New America; Laura Love, Senior Vice President, Work-Based Learning, at Strada Education Foundation; and Michael Horn, Author, Adjunct Lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and Co-founder of the Clayt...

In this episode, Joe chats with Matthew McKenney, President and CEO of JobForward. Together, they discuss Matt's background as a welder and a CNC machinist apprentice, how that background connects to the work JobForward is doing now, the organization's customizable-but-scalable approach to apprenticeship, overcoming complexities and upfront barriers in apprenticeship program development, how Matt...

In this episode, Joe and guest co-host Dr. Holly Smith, Executive Director and Vice President of Apprenticeship Degree and Design at Reach's National Center for the Apprenticeship Degree, chat with Courtney Kinkade, Vice President of Organizational Learning and Workforce Strategy at TRIMEDX, and Danielle McGeary, First Vice President of Healthcare Technology Management at the Association for the A...

In this episode, part two of our two-part year-end roundtable series, Joe and guest co-host, journalist Paul Fain, chat with three of the top reporters in the apprenticeship space: Colleen Connolly, freelance journalist and regular contributor to Work Shift ; Rebecca Griesbach, Senior Data Analyst at the Cowen Institute and former reporter for AL.com and Alabama Education Lab ; and Kelly Field, fr...

In this episode, part one of our two-part year-end roundtable series, Joe chats with the top executives at four funders in the apprenticeship space: Keith Witham, President and CEO of Ascendium Education Group; Ruth Watkins, President of Postsecondary Education at Strada Education Foundation; Jamie Merisotis, President and CEO of the Lumina Foundation; and Julie Lammers, President and CEO of Ameri...