Business Roundtable

Washington – Yesterday, Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. corporations, convened the second meeting of The Springboard Project – an independent commission that will develop innovative approaches to help Americans acquire and refine the new skills and the education needed to thrive in the 21st century’s evolving labor market.

Business Roundtable launched The Springboard Project in March to address concerns about employability as today’s jobs disappear or become obsolete and tomorrow’s jobs require higher levels of skills and education.

“Recent unemployment figures indicate that this recession is having the greatest impact on workers with the least education, and Americans will need to upgrade their education and skills to stay competitive in the global marketplace,” said William D. Green, chairman & CEO of Accenture and chairman of The Springboard Project. “The Springboard Project could not be more timely in its focus on helping Americans develop the skills needed to thrive today and tomorrow. In the coming months, we will release our recommendations and work with stakeholders to put them into action.”

As the members of The Springboard Project began to formulate recommendations, they discussed public opinion with Joel Benenson, Founding Partner and President of Benenson Strategy Group, who presented findings from recent focus groups in Columbus, Ohio and Denver, Colorado that probed workers’ attitudes and behaviors toward job skills and training. Working with Benenson Strategy Group, The Springboard Project also is sponsoring a public opinion survey to help inform the commission’s final recommendations.

“In order for the economy to get back on the right track, Congress, business, labor and America’s students and workers each have a responsibility to ensure that our current and future workforce is prepared to compete globally in the coming years,” noted John J. Castellani, President of Business Roundtable. “The Springboard Project has the right minds around the table to wrestle with these challenges and come up with creative solutions.”

The Springboard Project is comprised of a diverse group of education and business leaders, labor experts, union chiefs, academics, foundation heads, social media experts and former elected officials.

The Springboard Project members include:

Chair: Bill Green, Chairman & CEO, Accenture

• Morton Bahr*, President Emeritus, Communication Workers of America
• Charlene Barshefsky, Senior International Partner, WilmerHale
• Gordon Berlin, President, MDRC
• Gregory Brown, President & CoCEO, Motorola Inc.
• Peter Cappelli, Professor of Management, University of Pennsylvania Wharton School
• Louis Chênevert, President & CEO, United Technologies Corporation
• Gary Forsee, President, University of Missouri
• Jack Golodner, President Emeritus, Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO
• Sara Horowitz, Founder, Freelancers Union
• Janice Bryant Howroyd, Founder and CEO, Act1 Group
• Gerry Hudson, International Executive Vice President, Service Employees International Union
• Jim Jacobs, President, Macomb Community College
• Wes Jurey, President & CEO, Arlington, Texas Chamber of Commerce
• Alexandra Levit, Syndicated Wall Street Journal columnist
• Robert Litan, Vice President, Research and Policy, Kauffman Foundation; Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution
• John McKernan, Executive Chairman of Education Management Corporation and former Governor of Maine
• Gail Mellow, President, LaGuardia Community College
• Janet Murguía, President & CEO, National Council of La Raza
• Craig Newmark, Founder, Craigslist
• Dinesh Paliwal, Chairman & CEO, Harman International Industries, Inc.
• Judith Rodin, President, Rockefeller Foundation
• Paula Rooney, President, Dean College
• Peter Smith, Vice President, Kaplan Higher Education
• Robert Wise, President of the Alliance for Excellent Education and former Governor of West Virginia

More information about The Springboard Project can be found here.