Fixing the Broken Pipeline: SHRM’s E² Initiative and the Future of Work

Ylan Mui: Welcome to this week's episode of. What's at. Stake. I'm your host, Ylan Mui, managing director at Penta. Our podcast brings together our in-house experts and special guests for analysis on the biggest issues shaping business and public policy. And today I'm delighted to have my colleague, Felicia Watson on the pod. Welcome, Felicia. 

Felicia Wasson: Thanks, Ylan. I'm super excited to be here. Thank you for the warm welcome. I am Felicia Wasson, also a managing director here at. Penta. And today we're excited to have our guest and friend. Emily Dickens from SHRM, joined us to discuss an initiative that is tackling one of the biggest challenges that our US workforce is going through right now in the Education to Employment Pipeline. Emily, welcome to the podcast.

Emily Dickens: Thank you for having me.

Felicia Wasson: We're super excited for you to be here and we are [00:01:00] all here at Penta aware of the great work that SHRM does. But for our new listeners who haven't had a chance to hear directly from you about the great work of SHRM, tell us a little bit more about SHRM and its mission, if you would.

Emily Dickens: SHRM is a 77-year-old organization that is the largest membership and trade organization in the world for HR professionals and executives. Because as you all know most of the businesses in this country are small and midsize, and many don't have dedicated HR professionals. So often the members are executives who are in charge of other parts of the business or the CEO, especially when we're talking about some small and midsize businesses. We're a global organization, so we've got 340,000 members worldwide, impacting the lives of more than 362 million workers and their families globally. And we're in 180 countries so in addition to membership, we have a policy arm, which I'm privileged to [00:02:00] lead, and we identify issues that really focus on work, workers and the workplace.

We're national conveners for employers, educators, policy makers, professors, HR professionals, and others who care about the world of work. We like to say if it's a work thing, it's a SHRM thing. And at our core our job is to really equip leaders to create stronger organizations by advancing some of the key issues that are troubling us today. Skills-based hiring, workplace inclusion and innovative solutions to strengthen the workforce of today and tomorrow. So. Felicia, really happy to be here today. 

Felicia Wasson: Thank you so much for the introduction. You all are doing a lot of work for a large segment of the population. I mean, most people. Fortunately, we'll talk about some of the challenges in that, but most people are in some way, shape or form connected to work. And so the work that you are doing in representing [00:03:00] them is much appreciated. I hung on to the phrase that you said, you're all things work workers and workplace. And if it's a work thing, it's a SHRM thing, so I'm gonna remember that that's, that kind of sums it up in a short sentence. So thank you for offering that. And for anyone, like we said, lots of folks are connected to work, but there are a lot of folks who are connected to HR, the field of it, you mentioned that. And if you're connected to HR education or workforce policy, you know the story. There are a lot of talented people who are falling through the cracks before they even enter the workforce. And to that end, we're told that SHRM has launched E-Squared. Education to employment initiative to create real world solutions that bring employers and employees together.

Before we dive into E-Squared, let's talk about some history earlier this year before your really large conference where over 20,000 HR professionals [00:04:00] were in attendance in San Diego. SHRM's CEO Johnny Taylor testified very eloquently by the way, and, the House Education and Workforce Committee tell us what Johnny shared that laid the foundation for the E-Square initiative.

Emily Dickens: So thank you for mentioning that, and I'm gonna take it all the way back. Johnny became CEO here in late 2017, coming from what some of you already know, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. I was privileged to be his general counsel there. And I also have a background in higher education, advocacy and policy. So when we came to SHRM, we came to it with a lens that we understand the talent pool, and the future, the pipeline. And as we've continued to grapple no matter what over the last seven years, we've continued in this country to grapple with getting talent to fit in the right boxes within organizations. We know that there's a skills gap. We know that there's a workforce participation gap. All of this, no matter [00:05:00] what the unemployment rate has been, talent still remains an issue. And so this is how early on we tried to partner with the National School Board Association because we talked about preparing people for the workplace as early as K 12, and that there's some, what you all used to call soft skills. We call 'em power skills. There's some basic skills that every worker should have once they enter the workplace. And they were no longer receiving those skills. That project went away, but we always wanted to come back to this. And the opportunity to testify in front of the committee gave us an opportunity to really test our hypothesis. Hypothesis on this where we said, and he said, but we've been talking about it again for years, that the education to employment pipeline is leaky, busted and broken. And we wanted to paint a picture of what this way looks like. And so this is why it's so symbolic for us to just envision the fact that the US has the strongest [00:06:00] pipeline system in the world when it comes to the education to deployment, to education, employment pipeline. But yet it still is leaky, busted and broken. And just imagine if all the efforts expended to try to get people into the right jobs and trained and educated were more cohesive. We think that really could really help us meet the needs of today and the future. And what we realized is missing is HR. There are so many people who have been working on this from the higher education side from just the employer side by itself, but really no focus on the fact that right there in the middle to make all of this work, you need HR. And so it laid the foundation, his testimony laid the foundation for E-Squared, which you know, is organized around the three a's awareness, advocacy, and action.

Felicia Wasson: Excellent. Thank you so much for sharing that. To put the analogy in something visual [00:07:00] almost. Well, we don't, we're not viewing this visually. You can view a pipeline and imagine where it's leaky and where it's busted and broken and spouting over here and spouting over here. And so the fact that there's no cohesive effort to close them all simultaneously and work together leads me to ask the question, why is SHRM the right organization to lead this initiative? You mentioned that HR has been missing, they're at the center of it. How does SHRM actually seal those gaps and start the putting back together of the pipeline, if you will.

Emily Dickens: So, as I've said, you know, we've been the critical voice lift out of this and all the other work is, is amazing. You've heard me talk about the importance of workforce development boards. I've served on a local one. I encourage our HR professionals to volunteer to serve in their states. We've talked about higher education, universities, nonprofits, large employers, all of these groups who are looking at how we can get people properly trained. But what [00:08:00] sets us apart now is that these organizations were trying to tackle workforce challenges without HR. And again, HR is the heart of where skills and lack of skills and the employer meets. And that com, the combination we have of the convening power. When you talk about 340,000 members, that means every state we have a chapter, every state we have a member. And then globally, being in so many countries. That makes us a natural hub. I'll be honest with you, I recently returned from a trip to Ghana where we did a policy session on E-Squared and there they called it the mismatch issue where the student skills and the skills of the, and the needs of the employers are mismatched. So this is a global issue and it's really important that a global organization that is the expert on all things work. And as you know, through our research, we have a whole data and insights team, which gets us the data daily about what the American worker [00:09:00] is thinking, and what the American employer is thinking. And so it just is a natural fit for SHRM to be a leader in this initiative.

Felicia Wasson: That makes sense. The convener will be the glue that holds us together. People talk about a three-legged stool at times, and you have workplace councils, universities, employers, but if you don't have the top of the stool, that is the place where people can come to sit to bring this initiative together it doesn't stand. And so congratulations to you and the other members of the SHRM team for recognizing this needed to be done and being the convener and leader in the space. For some of our listeners who may be hearing about E-Squared for the first time, what does the initiative actually deliver? What are some of the tangibles that come as a result of E-Squared?

Emily Dickens: So first we, we've gotta, you know, again, remember I talked about awareness, advocacy, and action. And so we wanna do that through regional and national convenings, bringing together employers, educators, community leaders, and [00:10:00] structured settings to build relationships and spark conversation and collaboration that leads ultimately to that third AI talk about action because we can talk about it a lot, but I just got off a call with a potential partner and said it has to be impactful. Whatever we do, it has to be impactful, shared projects. So again, talking about that action, working side by side with partners to pilot and test ideas and launch initiatives and demonstrate what works in practice. There is a lot of what's working. In small doses throughout this country. Imagine if you were able to find funding and investment for a program that has worked really well, that just needs that investment, so it then can be scaled to serve more people. Bringing awareness to initiatives like that and bringing together funders and other partners, those are the types of things we wanna do with shared pro projects, playbooks and models.

You know, one of the things we do really well here at SHRM is our members are able to enter into our dashboard and get. Playbooks and [00:11:00] models of just about any major HR issue. And they appreciate that it is part of their member value. Being able to distill lessons from the efforts that we're undertaking here with clear approaches so that others can understand and adapt. It is another way. And because we're so used to doing this, it's easy for us to do it. And then really leading back into awareness and advocacy, amplifying nationally by using our platform to spotlight the successes, share insights and influence broader systems and policy. So all, again, wrapped in those three as of awareness, advocacy and action. There's so much we can be doing together to solve a problem that won't take one there. There's just like no one thing that can solve this problem. But I think there's three or four or five out there that are working really well. We just don't know about it, and we haven't put all the effort into making sure others have access to it. 

Ylan Mui: Emily, if I could jump in quickly here, I think this is all super fascinating and I love the points that you've been [00:12:00] making around convenings and partnerships. How can a company or an organization get involved with the work that you're doing around E-Squared?

Emily Dickens: Well, thank you for that question. So first, just reach out to us and I'm a big proponent of. LinkedIn. It's a good open for, so you could find me or, or any member of our government affairs team on. LinkedIn. I think that's a good place to start and let us know that you're interested and and then also check our site. You can go, we've got a landing page now where you can go and you can submit an email there about what you're working on and what you think you'd love to show to work with SHRM on as well.

 Felicia Wasson: That's incredible. I'm glad that people have the opportunity, you've given them a chance to, to weigh in and become a partner immediately. And what is also I think is absolutely riveting, Emily, is that SHRM as a whole has provided everything and organization or that this ecosystem will need to solve this [00:13:00] problem. Your data informs it and tells you what's going on. You provide the advocacy and the action provides what needs to be done, and then you give them templates or real life examples to get it done. So congratulations again on providing all into that, all of that for folks. And you mentioned, again, the three a's awareness, advocacy, and action. Can you talk a little bit more about each of these and give us some examples of how those three, as are working in the E-Squared initiative?

Emily Dickens: Great. Yes. So for awareness, we are now meeting on a regular basis with new people who are doing this work that we didn't know and they didn't know us. Right. And now we're leveraging our platform to share their stories. So you all mentioned the annual conference. In addition to the announcement we had a, . Panel discussion with representatives throughout the country from major organizations that are working on these issues. We had someone from Fayetteville State University in North Carolina, [00:14:00] because guess what, there's seven miles from Fort Bragg and the unique challenges of being in a military community where the population is transient because of, , all the changes of, of moving to different bases and, and dealing with trans transferable degrees for their spouses and their children. So we talk about that. We also had on that panel, the CEO of Skill Up, which is an organization that. Formed during COVID to help people who work in our typical blue collar jobs, which are customer facing and helping them get the additional skills to get them either into a certificate or to a different job or even a degree.

So we had all these, we we've been bringing and convening already these groups and bringing awareness to our members and then encouraging our members when you got 340,000 of them to tell us their stories about how they may have partnered with an institution of higher education, how they may have developed a certification program for their [00:15:00] community, which allowed people to get trained in a new area that would, , benefit new employers moving there. And so that's on the awareness piece. So we really are about shouting out people and talking about what they're doing that is working. On the advocacy piece, you all are aware, we have a robust advocacy team here, and it's about alerting our members and others that there, if there is some policy that is being undertaken by your state legislatures or here at the federal level that you think we can strengthen so that it can help close these pipelines. You know, we, Pell and all those things that come up in, , in discussions about, , , lately all of those things are important. And so what can we change and tweak today for any of you who follow higher education? The fact that funding for MSIs has been altered drastically in this country is a big deal. And so what is it, you know, are we ready to [00:16:00] propose how the dollars that were formally attached to those schools can still be used to help students in a way that can assist them in getting into the careers that our country needs? So there are tons of things. So that's just an example of advocacy and then action. Really excited to announce that. Uh, just out of this, we've developed a relationship with. Strayer. University. Which has one of the largest HR programs in the country, which we didn't even know. And they're right technically down the street. They're here in Northern Virginia as well. But now every member of theirs, and this is again, us taking our products and what we do and helping people get to the next level in their careers and closing the gap. There is, every student in their HR program will now be a sure member, which means they have access to all the content and resources that a HR professional today already has. And this will help them as they're determining which areas of HR they wanna [00:17:00] focus on or where they go next, and as they prepare for their SHR M certification in the profession. Um, so we are at every level figuring out ways where we can partner and, and do the work ourselves, but also who else we can partner with on these critical issues.

Felicia Wasson: That's excellent. Uh, I know I, there's a phrase that says, many hands make for light work, and clearly partnerships are at the heart of your E-Squared initiative. Tell us a little bit more about why the partnerships are so critical to this initiative. Success. Emily Dickens: Oh, well, absolutely. You said it. No single organization can solve the broken pipeline alone. It requires cross-sector collaboration. So we're casting a wide net. We're looking for large employers who are contributing real world hiring insights and career pathways. We're looking for universities and colleges aligning curriculum with workforce needs. I like to always say that a syllabus should never get too old and be reused too [00:18:00] often. And it's great when you can bring the professors and the teachers into the workplace and talk about what's going on now and how they could figure out a way to make that part of what their, , what their students are learning today. State workforce development boards and councils help us connect policy and practice, and I'm a firm believer that every state and local workforce development board should have an HR professional on that body. It makes good sense. And then nonprofits are serving varied needs.

When we talk about the ships, internships, apprenticeships, and we talk about counseling, career counseling and support for untapped talent pools. And when we say untapped talent, that means people formerly incarcerated, that means opportunity youth. Those are ages 17 to 24. That means , people who are living with disabilities, those groups of people, when we're talking about that untapped talent, how do we get those individuals who've been sidelined often into the workplace and into [00:19:00] jobs so that they can have the dignity of work? So we have, again, we are open to working and partnering with anyone philanthropic organizations who have been. Thinking of how they could make the most impact and investing in pilots to see what could work to solve this problem. We're looking to partner with them. It's all about for us, each partnership should create a hands-on collaboration. 'cause again, my word here is impactful. We want our partners to develop practical solutions in real world context that are practical. 

Felicia Wasson: It's definitely a holistic approach. Very holistic. Everyone has a space. There's room for everyone. And I'm glad that you're mentioning some that have been traditionally underrepresented in the workforce, because I know they want to get in and, and earn a dignified living. Thank you for that. Can you tell us a little bit more? I know there's a program in Oklahoma that you're incredibly proud of. I had a chance to meet some of your SHRM members from around the country at SHRM [00:20:00] 2025. And I mean, they are really organized. They're coming up with great ideas, with great programs. Tell us a little bit about your SHRM Oklahoma State Council.

Emily Dickens: They came back, they have a state council, they're local employees. So their SHRM members that are in their State Council are now partnering with local employers and workforce leaders to explore how they can work better together on the education to employment pipeline in their state and how what really works on the ground and to put practical solutions into action. And that's really the first step by the SHRM chapter of the State Council, reaching out to the other stakeholders and saying, let's have a really good discussion because we can't boil the ocean just from SHRM headquarters here in Alexandria.

 But again, that's the power of having us be the convener and a leader in this space is through each of our state councils and subsequent chapters. States can really play a part in finding what works for them [00:21:00] with those specific partnerships and those groups together. Uh, and I was just on a phone yesterday with another state workforce development council. Who reached out to us again, when I tell you. LinkedIn is so crazy, she sent a notice. She said, look, I'm gonna work for the Forest Development Board in my state. Can you come and talk to my chapter about how we could work together for E-Squared and what can we do? Um, and, and then, you know, Oklahoma is, and going back to. Oklahoma, I think you may know, their governor for the last few years has had an education to Employment. Pipeline initiative and we didn't even know it. And so it's interesting to see and reach out to him and others who have an interest and figure out where we can lean in. And we don't have to lead everywhere, but we think we can spark the conversations and keep them going and really find long-term solutions. So, and again, for us, they have to be practicable, scalable, and adaptable for local conditions.

Felicia Wasson: Excellent, excellent. So, and you know, people are working all around the country and your members can alert you in different places. So [00:22:00] having a membership is broad and, and as deep as, , she RMAs across the nation I know is a big help. It's a collaborative engine. You're learning from each partner iterating and amplifying the best practices nationwide to make sure you get to your goal of impact. Tell me a little bit about how you're doing that more, how you're amplifying the best practices. How are you sharing some of the examples and what each part partner contributes uniquely to accelerate some solutions? Emily Dickens: So when we think about each unique piece of the pie is, and, and here's do I think it's like a basic example. We undervalue community colleges and trade schools so much in this process.

Emily Dickens: Yes. Yet there are so many dual enrollment programs and I noticed, 'cause I used to work in higher ed, but most people don't realize how many times people can enroll in a community college where they're trying to get a trade or, or a skilled credential, but ultimately [00:23:00] continue their education and complete the subsequent two years at an institution of higher education. Because those two have that dual enrollment partnership. I don't know how many people know about early college high schools on college campuses where those students do the first few years that they're housed on the college campus. They do that for the first two years there and the next two years they're in college. So they graduate two years earlier than their peers. They're already in the workforce, but they've gotten those experiences. There are examples of where we've seen these types of partnerships work, and so our recommendation is that you take some of the existing things that are working and you leverage them for skill development and skills that will be adaptable to the changing face of work.

We can't have a discussion about the world of work today without talking about ai. And though we know that there will be some displacement, there will be great opportunities for new jobs. And so we must begin teaching and training our people, what I talked about earlier, those formerly soft [00:24:00] skills, which are now power skills. How do you adapt? How are you flexible? How do you work well with others? How do you think, , think outside the box and how, how do you think creatively, all of those, those things that we would call soft, that now will be the skills that lead us as work continues to adapt. And so I think that there are, and then if we even talk about nonprofits, like one of the things I loved about the Thurgood Marshall College Fund was it's more than a scholarship fund. And I don't think a lot of people realize that, that is their focus. Over the last, over a decade has been getting students prepared for jobs in good jobs in the workplace. And that meant that these students were spending hours and days of doing webinars and webcasts and training about what it is to be an employee about certain industries, about how you prepare yourself. And so there are things that have worked, and we think if we all sit down and look at these models and figure out how we can make them work for us in our states and our regions, [00:25:00] that we really can ultimately solve this bigger issue. But it helps. And then even the local individual, you know, politicos are important to this as well. And not that I want them to start, , you know, promulgating new laws at every turn. What I want them to know about what's going on in their backyard so that they can inform some of the decisions that they're making in their state legislatures and on Capitol Hill. So right now we're not asking them to do anything that's not already pending. What we're asking them is to listen and learn and to help to add their expertise too. 

Felicia Wasson: Absolutely. And you're, and SHRM is definitely the voice of the work worker and the workforce and, and your ability to amplify that through this initiative is going to be really important for those, , members of. Congress because they're in their job of serving their constituents. That's where the rubber meets the road where folks are in their districts looking for jobs. And I'm gonna, if you don't mind, take a [00:26:00] personal point of privilege and thank my parents because I was a dual enrollee in high school. I went to Lansing Community College in Lansing, Michigan. Great experience while I was in high school. And when I started Michigan State University, I was a junior. And a lot of my friends were wondering, why are you doing both? And I said, my parents had the foresight, but it was because they went somewhere and someone shared the partnership. And so, I, personally have had the benefit of that and hope that communities will continue to share those kinds of opportunities because there's obviously a gap. There are employers who wanna hire, but they gotta get the right folks. And so I just wanted to kind of take a personal point of privilege and say that I enjoyed that and it was a really good experience.

Emily Dickens: Well, I'd love to hear that. And I'll tell you one of the things I did not too long ago. A post on the ships. Don't let the ships pass us by. Yes. And when I say that I'm talking about apprenticeships, I'm talking about internships, you know, those types, [00:27:00] leadership training, all of those things that are so important to this work. When we talk about the education to employment pipeline. School is great, but that hands-on training that you get is another key piece of the pie. And we see the current administration, federal administration, focus on apprenticeships and widening the opportunities for people to do those things. But I would also encourage those of you who have opportunities to provide students at every age and internship, it is critically important. Getting some work experience before you really have to be at work is so important. And a number of our students for. Different reasons. They have to work in the summer and they've gotta get a job that's gonna pay because so many internships have been unpaid. So getting enough paid internships so students can, you know, contribute during the summer, help pay their expenses and things of that nature. But even year round internships, so while students are in school, the ability to do that, , I [00:28:00] is critically important. So those are the types of things. I'm sure your parents probably also encouraged you. I can't imagine that you weren't one of those people that participated in internships and just the power of how an internship can change your life. Because before you apply for that first job, you've got work experience on that research and that says so much to the employer and it helps the students so much.

Felicia Wasson: Incredible. There are so many takeaways and nuggets that I'm gonna take, and personally we'll give you the credit when I use them, but don't let the ships pass you by. That's incredible. Internships, externships , apprenticeships are going to help fill that gap. I love that. Thank you for sharing that. Emily. Listeners who , before I get to the listeners interested in engaging, tell me what's next, what's on the horizon? You're talking about impact and how we're going to get there, and we want to really dig in deep on sealing this broken, leaky busted pipeline. What's next for E-Squared and in terms of growth and [00:29:00] impact, where is SHRM headed next?

 Emily Dickens: So we are taking our awareness initiative on the road, and we are really, , with the help of Penta and of course others really spreading the word about this because it's great when you talk to yourself. You know, seven years ago when we got here to SHRM, we said there was only one problem withHR. At that point it was HR talking toHR. And so I know talking to HR because they really need this, they're gonna be listening, but now we've gotta talk to others because we need other people in this circle to get this work done. And so we're trying to build a network that connects multiple sectors and geographies and leverages the expertise of each partner. And we only do that by building awareness about this initiative being here. So in the lead up to National Workforce Development Day on September 17th, we are going full scale with posts and blogs and I think we're doing a little press as well on this critical initiative and how we want more people to be involved. We're also doing [00:30:00] the kind of back of house things so that we can receive the information people are sending us.

And so we're compiling the stories and getting ready to be able to share them publicly on our digital platform, as well as in our newsletters that are disseminated. Again, I think I told you earlier, we've got one that goes out to about 750,000 people and talking to our partners and bringing them together. We're also gonna be planning a series of round table discussions with stakeholders in various states about the issues that are important to them. And so how do we help our members like Oklahoma and the other states who've come to us and say they wanna get together? How can we help by being at ease? So we are in full, you know, full forward mode on awareness. At the, simultaneously, as issues continue to pop up at the state and federal level that will have some impact on current support of education to employment initiatives. SHRM continues to try to be a [00:31:00] leader in those spaces and not just try to be too lead in those spaces and bring in other partners. And so we're continuing to work that angle simultaneously. And then of course, on the action side where we can do things to help. So the partnership with Strayer is the first step. If you are working with an institution of higher education with a large percentage of individuals who, you know. Are receiving training on being in the HR profession, and you wanna get them in that pipeline so that when they leave, they have the credentials to get to work immediately. We happen to know that those who have our SHRM credential are hired, you know, have a greater opportunity of being hired in many places because they look for that certification. So if you are one of those groups and you're interested in what we've done with Strayer, we'd love to hear from you as well. So, lots of work, lots of awareness work, but simultaneously we're working on the other two a's too. 

Felicia Wasson: That's incredible. And to know that you, SHRM as an [00:32:00] organization is not daunted by any of the jobs numbers or any of the economic indicators that we hear in some of the news. Right now you're, you're undaunted and you remain steadfast in the patch ceiling. Ceiling, this leaky busted pipeline, , to kind of culminate, if you don't mind I'm gonna just kind of go back over the things that I've heard and you tell me if there's some additions that I need to make. The pipeline is leaky, busted and broken, but SHRM is here to help in partnership with other organizations because it definitely cannot be done alone. Uh, SHRM is all things work worker and workplace and is poised at this time to work with others to indeed make a change in the space if it's a work thing, it's a SHRM thing. And so you remain steadfast in being the convener in this space to ensure that we can close these gaps. Those are the things that kind of stuck out to [00:33:00] me. Emily, what else would you add for our listeners that they need to really remember about repairing this broken education to employment pipeline? 

Emily Dickens: There's a role for every individual in this type of work. So you heard me say, don't let the ships pass you by each of you by just telling a student or, or a young person, or even someone who's already an adult worker that wants to change what they're doing about the importance of looking for opportunities, looking for apprenticeship opportunities, looking for internship opportunities. If you're someone who's a hiring manager or a people manager, understanding the professional development needs to reskill and upskill your workers if you want to retain them. So there is a role for everyone, including the individual in this space. And so don't let the ships and the opportunity pass you by. And lastly, you mentioned, you know about us not being, , us being undaunted by the current state of affairs. I always say there is opportunity in unforeseen circumstances. [00:34:00] So I will say, if not now, when? Speaker: Mm-hmm.

Emily Dickens: There's so much that we don't know right now with the advent of AI and its regulation. So much we don't know about the economy because for those of us who weren't working in 2008, that's the last time there was a recession, right? And so for those of us who don't know what it's like to work in a very, very tight market, it is an unforeseen space for us. What I would say is that's why this is a great opportunity for us to get together and figure out what next looks like, and we wanna do that with as many partners as possible.

Felicia Wasson: I love it. What next looks like I'm writing that down. What next looks like? There was a phrase that my parents had on the refrigerator when I was growing up, and it says, success equals preparation for opportunity. And E squared definitely is providing the preparation, the opportunity, the partnership, and we have no doubt that SHM and ITS partners will be [00:35:00] successful in filling this gap. Emily, thank you so much for sharing your insights. It has been a joy and an honor to speak with you. Congratulations to you and the team at SHRM for all of the hard work that you put in every day. Uh, your results are going to show in our economy, in our communities, and in, , people's lives that will be changed as a result of your work. For our listeners, if you want to learn more or explore opportune partnership opportunities, you can do that. There is an E-Squared pipeline. It's the landing page that you can go to. You can go to SHR m's webpage. You can follow. Emily Dickens on LinkedIn. Her LinkedIn is incredible. She always provides great information and doesn't forget to like and subscribe. Pence is what's at. Stake podcast where you can listen to us anywhere you get your podcast and follow us on X at. Penta group. I'm not gonna end. Emily without giving you the last word. I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed our conversation today.

Emily Dickens: I thank you. It is a [00:36:00] privilege to do the work we do. I know many people don't get to tie together the, you know, different ends of their career and their experiences and their expertise. So being able to finally figure out how SHRM can play a role and how I can leverage my higher education expertise and my policy expertise and expertise on the workplace into something that can be impactful to many is exciting. And I'm really privileged that I have a team of people who are just as excited and committed to this work. So thank you.

Felicia Wasson: Thank you. I'm Felicia, and thanks for listening to What's At Stake.