In late April, the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce visited San Diego for their annual Inter-City Visit & Leadership Conference. Each visit gives the group a chance to bring home fresh ideas and learn from the experience of other markets confronted with the kinds of issues their area faces today or may face in the future. The visit to San Diego focused on how the city grew a robust economy and thriving downtown, gained public support for transportation funding and built an innovative pre-K through higher education pipeline.
Day two featured Books before Beach: Education and Talent Development, a panel discussion on regional education and workforce development efforts with the following speakers:
- Andy Hall, Vice President and Chief Program Officer, San Diego Workforce Partnership
- Cheryl Hibbeln, Executive Director of Secondary Schools, San Diego Unified School District
- Ed Hidalgo, Senior Director of Government Affairs, Qualcomm
- Katherine Johnston, Policy Director, Mayor Faulconer’s Office, City of San Diego
Each speaker made a brief presentation on the state of their organization’s efforts before the panel took audience questions. Hall took the audience through some of the regional workforce system’s “kairos” moments, a Greek word he referenced meaning pivotal points in time — touching on research collaborations with the San Diego Community College District, which led to the Workforce Conference, Priority Sector posters and training of teachers and professionals throughout the county. Another pivotal point — a strong partnership with local government resulting in the creation of Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s workforce development task force and a call for businesses to hire young people in this year’s State of the City Address. Johnston added to the discussion of Faulconer’s commitment to developing regional talent, mentioning these questions the office seeks to answer, “How can we make sure people who want to participate in the economy can? And how do we equip them with the skills to do it?”
Ed Hildago spoke about Qualcomm’s Thinkabit Lab, which was built out of an extremely effective employee career counseling and self-discovery program. The career exploration program now serves San Diego youth, helping them identify internal strengths and interests alongside potential career paths. Hibbeln credited work like this to inspiring a revolution in career pathways curriculum at San Diego Unified. “School is extraordinarily traditional,” she says “Kids are not.” To keep up, the district now incorporates assessments, financial literacy and personal action plans into the school experience from a young age. The biggest takeaway from the panel was a focus on collaboration and continuous improvement. Each effort was naturally linked to another by common goal and strategy — pool efforts and ensure best practices get the widespread implementation they warrant.
Other topics of discussion throughout the trip included transportation, economic development, downtown development, biotech and life sciences, education, and parks and recreation — giving attendees an inside look at San Diego while learning best practices from dynamic leaders that have attributed to this success.