UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The latest episode of Invent Penn State’s "Dare to Disrupt" podcast features Jackie Foor, executive director of the Consortium for Public Education. The consortium is a nonprofit that connects schools with partners and resources to help students prepare for their futures.
In this episode, Foor shares what it takes to run a successful and impactful nonprofit, reflects on how the collapse of the steel industry shaped the Pittsburgh region, and discusses the growing role of AI in education. She also explains how the consortium works to bridge the gap between what students learn in school and the skills they need to succeed in the workforce and in postsecondary education.
“It’s about blurring the lines more and more between education and workforce development, and blurring the lines between K-12 education and higher education,” Foor said during the podcast episode. “This is so young people can start to see themselves in that workforce space earlier, to have those opportunities to explore, try things out. Because of technology and how fast things are changing, we know people are going to have to come back to education over and over again throughout their careers for retraining and to learn the next new thing. I think people will see less of a line between graduation and workforce, and it’s going to become, how do I continue to have an education over a lifetime?”
Listen to Foor’s story on “Dare to Disrupt.”
Foor graduated from Penn State with a bachelor’s degree in secondary education from the College of Education, and received a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Carlow University.
Later in the episode, recent Penn State doctoral student Edward Amoah joins the conversation. Amoah recently earned his doctorate in ecology with a dual title in international agriculture and development and is currently a postdoctoral researcher and ICDS Rising Research Fellow. He is president of Nyansapo Labs, whose mission is to expand equitable access to targeted teaching and personalized learning through AI-enabled teaching and learning systems.
Amoah participated in the Invent Penn State NSF I-Corps short course program, won the Nittany AI Challenge, and participated in the Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship (HESE) program in the College of Engineering. Amoah and Foor discuss how the consortium goes about building relationships with workforce, as well as AI-adoption across schools and different industries.
Students interested in being featured on the show can apply or be nominated.
About 'Dare to Disrupt'
"Dare to Disrupt" is a podcast from Invent Penn State about Penn State alumni who are innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders, and the stories behind their success. The podcast is hosted by alumnus Ryan Newman, a graduate of the Smeal College of Business and a Schreyer Scholar alumnus who is now a managing director at Goldman Sachs.
Past episodes include interviews with Garry Gilliam, David Rusenko and Jess Weiner. New episodes are released monthly. Subscribe on YouTube Music, Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Invent Penn State is a commonwealth-wide initiative to spur economic development, job creation and student career success.
The "Dare to Disrupt" podcast is made possible by the support of the Penn State Smeal College of Business.