Episodes

  • Carolyn Campbell, President and CEO at NorQuest College: We Are Who We Include

    Carolyn Campbell, President and CEO at NorQuest College: We Are Who We Include
    Jul 15 2026
    Many of the U.S. labor market challenges we discuss on WorkforceRx are shared by Canada, including the need for more skilled workers that are available, particularly in healthcare, skilled trades, and technology. We're going to take a look today at how the higher education sector in Canada is responding to these realities with the help of Carolyn Campbell, president and CEO of NorQuest College in Edmonton, Alberta which has developed a reputation for accessibility, innovation, and student success with enrollment growing and revenues up over fifty percent. For Campbell, the key to success has been making inclusiveness a priority. And while she notes there has been a large increase in enrollments of indigenous people at the school in recent years, she takes a broad view of that term. “The way we think about inclusiveness is this is about everybody. Like, are high school students feeling more included at NorQuest? Are our students who have been in the workforce feeling like they would be included?” In this revealing conversation with Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, Campbell also explains the importance of staying aligned with labor market needs, providing wraparound student supports, and the surprising result of removing a $90 application fee.

    NorQuest College
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    23 mins
  • Dr. Linda Ng Boyle, NYU Tandon School of Engineering: The Role Of Cars In The Future Of Work

    Dr. Linda Ng Boyle, NYU Tandon School of Engineering: The Role Of Cars In The Future Of Work
    Jun 24 2026
    What if the daily commute in your car became one of the most productive parts of your day? Today’s WorkforceRx guest, Dr. Linda Ng Boyle of the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, is going to help us understand how close we may be to that level of human-machine interaction and what it means for the future of work and mobility. “It's going to be a really dramatic shift for a lot of workers. As more driving responsibilities are handed over to autonomous vehicles, there will be more people using their car as a mobile extension of the office." That coming reality is prompting interior design changes that involve lighting, acoustics, larger displays and even using windows as digital whiteboards. In this fascinating conversation, Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan explores the implications of these changes for safety, productivity, well-being, and which sectors, including healthcare, will be impacted most. You’ll also learn about the complex relationship dynamics between humans and technology; the positive aspects of autonomous vehicles for seniors and people with mobility challenges; and the career path into human factors engineering. Mentioned in this episode:

    NYU Tandon School of Engineering
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    30 mins
  • Caitlyn Brazill, President Of Per Scholas: Turning Structural Gaps Into Tech Career Opportunity

    Caitlyn Brazill, President Of Per Scholas: Turning Structural Gaps Into Tech Career Opportunity
    Jun 10 2026
    Tech occupations are projected to grow at roughly twice the rate of the overall U.S. workforce over the next decade, yet 87% of technology leaders say they face challenges finding skilled talent. On this episode of WorkforceRx, we're going to take a look at a model for supplying that talent developed by Per Scholas, which provides no-cost, employer-aligned technology training to adults at more than 25 locations across the U.S. “What makes our model work is we train people for real jobs that employers are actually hiring for, which means our curriculums are co-created with industry partners and updated continuously so that our learners are graduating with skills that are immediately relevant,” says Per Scholas President Caitlyn Brazil. As she explains to Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, the non-profit has helped more than 30,000 people launch tech careers, generating a collective $2.1 billion in income gains. In addition to sharing real stories of learners who have changed their economic trajectories working in tech, Caitlyn also offers insights on why the tech skills gap is structural, not cyclical; why millions of tech roles are projected to go unfilled by 2030; and why technology can be a tool for equity instead of a barrier to it.

    For more information visit: https://perscholas.org/
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    37 mins
  • Reigniting Education Journeys with a Personalized Approach: Terah Crews, Chief Executive Officer at ReUp Education

    Reigniting Education Journeys with a Personalized Approach: Terah Crews, Chief Executive Officer at ReUp Education
    May 28 2026
    "In many ways, they're worse off than people who had never gone to school at all." That's how Terah Crews describes the 43 million Americans who hold some college credit but no degree because they’re often saddled with debt and lacking economic opportunity. The company she leads, ReUp Education, is focused on reconnecting these “stop outs” to their education journey by working with institutions to reduce the friction points to re-entry and by using personalized, long-term outreach that meets people where they are. “Everybody has their unique journey back. Some are going to come back relatively quickly. Others will need time to reorganize their life to get ready to take that step back to school,” she explains. ReUp’s results in states like New Jersey and Michigan suggest the approach is working, but Crews realizes more needs to be done to change the institutional policies that drove people away in the first place. “It's a journey we're on to make our higher education system more aligned to the adult learner.” In this hopeful conversation with Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, you’ll also hear about the policies Crews singles out as surprisingly stubborn barriers to adult re-enrollment and why AI’s ascendance may accelerate interest in continuous learning.
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    24 mins
  • Dr. Zakiya Ellis, Principal Consultant at EducationCounsel: Why Higher Ed Needs Firefighters and Architects in the Age of AI

    Dr. Zakiya Ellis, Principal Consultant at EducationCounsel: Why Higher Ed Needs Firefighters and Architects in the Age of AI
    May 13 2026
    Surveys of college faculty about the challenges posed by AI show their concerns, understandably, center on academic integrity, but today’s guest suggests the larger challenge to higher ed is happening outside the classroom: AI disruption in the workplace. "If entry-level jobs are being abruptly taken apart by AI, how do we think about what higher ed should be doing to integrate experiential learning into the curriculum so students get some knowledge base before graduating,” says Dr. Zakiya Ellis, whose experience in the field ranges from the White House to state government to K-12 schools. But, as she explains to Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, expanding experiential learning in higher ed will require incentives for employer participation and clarifying the sector’s mission as preparing students for success in work and in life, not just helping them earn credentials, both of which are tough assignments. This thoughtful discussion also covers what Ellis means by needing both "firefighters” and “architects" in higher education; her student-centered vision for what post-secondary access could look like; and the main public policy challenges facing college leaders.

    Mentioned in this episode: “A Girl Is No One” Substack
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    26 mins
  • Dr. Joshua Travis Brown, Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins School of Education: How Higher Education Went From Mission-Driven to Margin-Obsessed

    Dr. Joshua Travis Brown, Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins School of Education: How Higher Education Went From Mission-Driven to Margin-Obsessed
    Apr 8 2026
    Market competition and the consequences of federal education policy have fundamentally changed our system of higher education and distorted the values of mission-driven schools. That's the stark reality depicted by Dr. Joshua Travis Brown of the Johns Hopkins School of Education in his book, Capitalizing on College: How Higher Education Went From Mission-Driven to Margin-Obsessed, which we’ll be exploring on today's episode of WorkforceRx. The deeply researched book draws on 150 in-person interviews with leaders at religious institutions to detail the non-traditional strategies they pursued to generate needed revenues, and analyzes what those choices mean for current and future students and the system at large. “It goes back to the moment where those institutions were about to close and the leaders said ‘we have to change in this moment of crisis. We've got to jettison norms and innovate.’” In this revealing interview with Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, Dr. Brown shares candid conversations he had with leaders struggling with the tension between mission and margin. He also addresses the financially burdensome residential model and the case colleges need to make about the value of an on-campus experience, or getting a degree at all, in the age of AI. You’ll also hear why Dr. Brown thinks Americans have a distorted view of higher education, learn about the principles of innovation used by the schools that can apply to many types of organizations, and why he’s optimistic about the future of the sector.
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    38 mins
  • Dr. Andrea Austin, Emergency Medicine Residency Program Director at Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital: How to Create Changemakers in Healthcare

    Dr. Andrea Austin, Emergency Medicine Residency Program Director at Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital: How to Create Changemakers in Healthcare
    Mar 25 2026
    What characteristics do changemakers in healthcare have and how can the system cultivate more transformational leaders? As provider organizations grapple with a growing number of complex problems -- including physician burnout and increased demand for care -- there’s a growing sense of urgency to find answers to those questions. Our guest today, Dr. Andrea Austin, has been focused on that task, and on this enlightening episode of WorkforceRx, she shares the results of her research on changemaking and her insider’s perspective on how to encourage it based on her work as an emergency medicine specialist and medical educator. As she explains to Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, many physicians possess the creativity, persistence, sense of purpose and appetite for learning that define changemakers, but lack the environment in which to put those qualities to use. “Culture influences all of this. Organizations have to make sure that the work environment is one in which people can share their opinions and take risks. It is fundamental to changemaking.” This episode also explores key themes in Dr. Austin’s book, Revitalized: A Guidebook to Following Your Healing Heartline, which provides practical steps to overcoming burnout and creating a values-aligned medical career.
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    29 mins
  • Dr. Pam Eddinger, President of Bunker Hill Community College: Blurring Traditional Education Boundaries

    Dr. Pam Eddinger, President of Bunker Hill Community College: Blurring Traditional Education Boundaries
    Mar 11 2026
    Offering only one degree; developing a cloud computing program in collaboration with Amazon Web Services; working with high schools so students can earn an associate degree before graduation: these are examples of the kind of innovation community colleges must pursue to stay relevant to students and employers alike, according to our guest today, Dr. Pam Eddinger, president of Bunker Hill Community College. “This is where the next iteration of community college must be. We can’t just stay in a classroom. It doesn’t work that way anymore.” Those examples and others are included in the new book Dr. Eddinger is co-editing, Beyond the College Walls: Partnerships and the Future of Community College Reform, which is due out from Harvard Education Press in September, 2026. As she explains to Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, who contributed a chapter to the book, community colleges must work to blur the boundaries between high school, college, and careers and make it easier for students -- especially adult learners -- to gain the skills they need in ways that fit their lives. Join us for a forward-looking WorkforceRx conversation on how community colleges are reimagining pathways to economic mobility and building partnerships that connect students more directly to opportunity.
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    32 mins