Career Connected Learning: A new social contract – SXSW27 Proposal
SXSW EDU 2027 Proposal
Session Title: Career Connected Learning: A new social contract
Session Format: Panel Discussion (60 minutes)
Primary Track: Future of Work / Career-Connected Learning / K-12 Innovation
Description
For more than a century, education has been organized around a simple assumption: schools prepare young people for the future.
But what if that assumption no longer reflects the world our students are entering?
Artificial intelligence is reshaping work. Career paths are becoming less linear. Employers increasingly value adaptability, collaboration, and problem-solving alongside technical expertise. At the same time, research suggests that access to professional networks, authentic work experiences, and social capital can be just as important as academic preparation in determining long-term economic mobility.
Yet we continue to expect schools to do this work largely on their own.
The result is a fragmented ecosystem. Employers struggle to find talent. Communities seek stronger pathways to economic opportunity. And too many young people graduate without the relationships, experiences, or confidence needed to navigate a complex future.
This session engages a panel to explore the idea that career-connected learning is more than a program or approach to support students in exploring potential careers. It is a new social contract, one that redefines responsibility across education, industry, higher education, and community.
Drawing on workforce research from the Harvard Project on Workforce, AI-enabled career navigation through Britebound’s GoZig platform, and The Possible Zone’s career-connected learning model, panelists will explore how communities can intentionally design ecosystems that connect young people to meaningful work, trusted adults, professional networks, and postsecondary opportunity.
We’ll examine how industry-designed projects, mentorship, competency-based durable skills, and AI-supported career exploration can help young people build not only technical knowledge, but also occupational identity, agency, and the social capital that opens doors.
Rather than asking, “How do we prepare students for jobs?” we’ll ask a different question: Who owns the future, and what responsibility do schools, employers, higher education, and communities share in helping young people shape theirs?
Participants will leave with insights to inform the design of career-connected ecosystems that move beyond internships and isolated partnerships toward coherent, community-wide pathways that expand opportunity, strengthen local talent pipelines, and prepare young people to thrive in an AI-enabled economy.
Key Takeaways
Participants will:
- Explore how schools, employers, higher education, and community organizations can share responsibility for preparing young people for careers of the future and helping them to thrive..
- Learn how AI, competency-based experiences, and trusted adults can help students navigate multiple career pathways without limiting future possibilities.
- Discover design principles for building career-connected ecosystems that intentionally develop skills, social capital, and economic mobility.
Suggested Panelists
Meg Riordan, Ph.D.
Chief Learning Officer
The Possible Zone
Representative
Amanda, Harvard Project on Workforce
Representative
Alex, Britebound (GoZig)
Pam Eddinger – President of Bunker Hill Community College
Moderator: Raven Tukes, Chief Partnerships Officer, TPZ
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