[IMPACT]
Work-based learning (WBL) is a growing movement in education. WBL combines some form of on-the-job training with related instruction in the classroom bringing "Content with Context" into the classroom. For example, Registered Apprenticeships represent some of the highest value credentials issued in the United States and around the world.
Credentials attained in secondary and postsecondary institutions through internships and apprenticeships are a perfect use case for facilitating the rapid adoption of self-sovereign identity (SSI) and Atala PRISM. Our long-term goal is to develop a DApp in the work-based learning and credentialing space.
Our opinion is that work-based learning is the future of education and workforce development. We will take a ground-up approach by initially focusing on secondary and postsecondary institutions. Incoming high school and college students will likely become the early adopters of SSI, pushing industries to adopt this technology to quickly identify and hire young talent coming up through the pipeline. These companies could eventually design training programs and issue credentials using our technology, which would have an exponential network effect over time as more and more students and businesses use our platform.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, approximately 3.7 million students in the United States graduated from high school in the 2018-2019 school year. During the 2019-2020 school year, the breakdown of degrees earned by college students is:
-1,018,000 associate degrees
-2,038,000 bachelors degrees
-843,000 masters degrees
-190,000 doctorates
These are foundational credentials that can be added to an individual's digital ID. In that same year, BurningGlass noted in their Credentials Matter Phase 2 report that 30 states reported that K-12 students in their states earned 1,320,212 credentials beyond a diploma. We believe that these numbers will grow exponentially over the next decade as more and more states focus on accelerating their students workforce readiness skills through various workforce development/ work based learning initiatives.
Why the emphasis on workforce development & work based learning? In 2018 Korn Ferry released a report titled Future of Work the Global Talent Crunch that predicted that there will be a global talent shortage of more than 85 million people resulting in almost $8.5 trillion in unrealized revenue by the year 2030. This equates to a loss of an estimated $1.7 trillion in the United States alone. COVID-19 has only accelerated the labor shortage that the Korn Ferry report predicted.
Emsi highlighted this problem in their 2021 report titled Demographic Drought: How the Approaching Sansdemic Will Transform the Labor Market for the Rest of Our Lives. This report estimates that the US will have a talent deficit of six million people by the year 2028. They identified three factors that resulted in the acceleration of the labor shortage. They are:
1) Record numbers of baby boomers left the market in 2020.
2) Millions of Prime Age workers left the job market or opted for part-time work.
3) The United States experienced the lowest birthrate in our nation's history.
We have to rethink education and workforce development strategies in order to overcome these factors. The report goes on to recommend that employers and schools focus on three areas:
1) Recruit beyond traditional demographics
2) Invest in programs to reskill and realign the existing workforce
3) Focus their efforts on retaining the students & employees they already have.
Labor shortages are rapidly changing the hiring practices of employers. Businesses have to reimagine their talent acquisition strategies if they even have one at all. They have to explore and develop new pipelines for talent. As the demand for talent grows, employers are looking to high school students to fill those entry-level gaps through internships and youth apprenticeships.
Our DApp can play a crucial role in helping to fill those gaps and allow HR departments to identify and hire young talent quickly. It will also help businesses find existing employees with related skills for open positions. Our app will allow companies to up-skill those employees through various training programs and issue or verify new credentials earned to fill those needed positions, creating an opportunity for companies to develop an internal talent pipeline to stay competitive in this challenging labor market.
-The first challenge is the lack of wide-scale understanding of blockchain technology and self-sovereign identity (SSI), limiting adoption and the use of digital identity solutions in the short term. Education and marketing will be critical in overcoming this challenge. We have extensive connections in our industry throughout the local, state, and federal levels to lobby for this technology.
-The Second challenge is that we just gained access to the Atala PRISM Pioneer Program. It will take time for our team to research the Atala PRISM SDK to begin building out our ideas. We will take a similar approach to the Cardano approach: research before developing, to get it right.
[FEASIBILITY]
We plan to approach this project through multiple phases to build a DApp that leverages high value credentials earned in the work based learning/ workforce development space.
Phase 1: (This round of funding)
Months 1-4: Focus on research, access to Atala PRISM Pioneer program, develop a white paper and proof of concept, develop strategic plan/ branding/ and initial UI/UX.
Phase 2: (Catalyst 9)
Months 4-8: Continue research & refining our use case, design a website, design & launch a DApp on the TestNet. Begin educating, lobbying, and marketing concepts to stakeholders on a local, state, & national level.
Phase 3: (Catalyst 10 & beyond)
Months 8 & Beyond : Launch DApp on Mainnet. Focus on Marketing & scaling up the DApp.
This first round of funding is to research, build a proof of concept, create branding, develop a strategic plan and design initial UI/UX.
$20k total
$5000 for research
$5000 for Infrastructure & Legal
$2500 for a technical writer
$7500 for branding & design initial UI/UX
Sean Kelly, MA Education, Ed. S. Educational Leadership (Founder & CEO)- Currently an administrator in a Career Technical Education (CTE) high school in Boise, Idaho, with 26+ years in education. Specializing in CTE & workforce development with a focus on Youth Apprenticeship. A member of multiple state and national committees in the Apprenticeship & Workforce Development space. Atala PRISM Pioneer Cohort 2 participant.
<https://www.linkedin.com/in/seankellyoriginals/>
K. Kirkendall (CTO)- Retired 20 year veteran of the US Air Force with 25 plus years experience teaching Networking & Cyber Security at the secondary & post-secondary levels. While teaching, K also worked for 10 years at the Cisco Networking Academy as a curriculum and assessment developer on CCNA and CCNP Certification Exams. Atala PRISM Pioneer Cohort 2 participant.
Current Industry certifications held: Novel Administrator (CAN), Microsoft Certified Technician (MCT), CompTIA Network Plus, CompTIA Server+, Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA), Cisco Certified Design Associate (CCDA), Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP), Cisco Certified Design Professional (CCNP), CCNA Security, CCNA Wireless, CCNA Voice.
Heidi Kelly (Co-founder & CMO)- Creative Director, Corporate Brand Management & Communications at Power Engineers. Power Engineers is one of the leading firms in the engineering industry. A creative in the digital space with over 26 years of experience, specializing in UI/UX and brand management in both the corporate and agency spaces.
<https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidi-kelly-66a35b9/>
Taylor White (Advisor)- Taylor is the national director of the Partnership to Advance Youth Apprenticeship and a senior policy advisor for K–12 education and workforce with the Center on Education and Labor, where she focuses on designing the policies and systems necessary to establish more effective college and career pathways.
<https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylor-c-white-2540567/>
[AUDITABILITY]
-Regular progress reports submitted to the Catalyst team
-Development of a white paper/ proof of concept
-Develop a strategic plan, branding, & initial UI/UX.
-Share advisors added to the team during the funding period
-A final report will be submitted and shared.
This phase is all about setting a solid foundation for the direction of the project. It is weighted heavily on research with the goal of developing an initial white paper focusing on potential use cases in the work based learning/ workforce development space. Completion of the Atala PRISM Pioneer Program and the development of our brand, strategic plan, & the initial UI/UX for the DApp. We will also focus on continuing to build partnerships and to bring on new advisors to help further the project.
This is our first proposal. If successful, we plan on submitting subsequent proposals as we build out our project.