Staff Report
Helen Carroll has joined the Children, Inc./NaviGo family to work with school districts in NKY to increase opportunities for the region’s youth, as College and Career Connector.
The program’s partner is the Kentucky Education Cooperative for Educational Services.
“Helen Carroll is held in the highest regard by leaders in education, business, and industry,” said Tim Hanner, founder and senior director of NaviGo, a college and career prep program.
“She has the experience in systems thinking to help make the connections in meaningful ways between high schools, businesses, higher education, and commmunity agencies.”
Hanner said Carroll is a “solutions-based thinker with a passion for education.”
Carroll, a Georgetown native, retired from Toyota in 2014 after 27 years. She had earned a reputation as a champion of education and served many education organizations, including the Prichard Committee for Excellence in Education.
In the ensuing years after Toyota, she served as interim president of the United Way of Kentucky, worked with the Prichard Committee Parent Leadership Institute, started her own consulting firm, Carroll Project Planning LLC, and continued her active community engagement in Northern Kentucky.
“I believe in the power of connections, collaborations, and partnerships and I’m looking forward to using these beliefs as I begin this work with Children, Inc./NaviGo,” said Carroll. “Having everyone at the table (school districts, business, post-secondary and community non-profits) means covering all bases to understand what workforce learning opportunities are out there for students and how we can work together to create new opportunities, whether it be increasing dual credit offerings, new internships/apprenticeships/co-ops, or job shadowing.
“It’s all about aligning what’s already out there and partnering for new programs to give all students a look at what their future might be.”
Northern Kentucky High School Pipeline to College and Careers will focus on Kentucky’s top five industry sectors: advanced manufacturing, information technologies, logistics, health services, and construction/skilled trades.
This state-funded program is designed to bring business, p-12 education, higher ed, and government together for solution-based discussions around dual credit, internships, apprenticeships to create opportunities for students and increase NKY’s workforce.
The ultimate goal is that these partners will focus on finding solutions to allow students to receive school credit while getting the workforce training necessary to build their careers.
The project will serve 60,919 students in (17) K-12 school districts in Northern Kentucky.
The program goal is to connect schools and employers in Northern Kentucky in preparing youth for employment success. The project Carroll will head will help schools and employers:
work together to share needs and opportunities for effective job shadowing, apprenticeship, internship, and other hands-on workplace experiences;
develop and expand existing effective experiences;
advocate for legislative and cultural support for needed changes in support of workforce readiness; train workplace staff and school staff about opportunities for youth;
and promote those opportunities in the community and enroll youth; and provide ongoing support for success in job shadowing, apprenticeships, and internships.
See this NKyTribune column by Helen Carroll.
