More Affordable. Less Debt. Better Outcomes
The new economy competes on talent, yet the current approach to financing talent development was built for a different era and economy. In this dynamic economy, jobs — and the skills required to fill those jobs — are constantly evolving. We need an approach that can evolve with the economy, and the changing needs of employers. This groundbreaking new initiative, Talent Finance, explores private sector-led solutions and innovations in finance to better invest in people.
Consider that American students have been saddled with more than $1.5 trillion of debt, and in 2019, businesses spent more than $80 billion on training in an ever-changing workforce, yet these efforts have not produced the desired outcomes for workers or employers. To fully address employer needs and emerging risks of the labor market, like changes in employment and frequent fluctuations in income, we need an approach that accounts for student preparation for those entering the workforce and re-entry of the unemployed.
To successfully build the workforce of the future, we must constantly innovate and invest in the economy's most important resource — human capital. Talent Finance will develop new ways for employers and the financial services community to collaborate and identify new private sector tools for financing talent, develop new strategies for managing risk in the labor market, and manage how to pay for workers to get and constantly refine the skills they need. This initiative seeks to do more than simply advance a set of recommendations, it seeks to build a new consensus, and further — build a movement.
Talent Finance Design Workshop and Innovation Network
The Talent Finance Design Workshop series is intended for public and private organizations and professionals who want to: (1) learn more about finance instruments and innovations that can used in talent development and management; (2) network with peers and finance experts; and (3) design a new or improve an existing project(s) for implementation. Eligible applicants and teams can include, but are not limited to, chambers of commerce, employers, workforce investment boards, student finance/aid agencies, CDFIs, education and training providers (e.g., universities or community colleges), funders collaboratives focused on education and workforce outcomes, economic development organizations, and other organizations that stand to benefit from designing new talent finance products, services, and partnerships.
Learn More About Design Workshops
The Talent Finance Innovation Network (TFIN) is a community group dedicated to putting the Talent Finance guiding principles and framework into practice. TFIN is tailored for individuals/organizations who have participated in a Talent Finance Design Workshop Series, solution providers, and others who have a particular interest and understanding of the Talent Finance initiative.
To learn more about joining the Talent Finance Innovation Network, contact the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation at workforce@uschamber.com.
Talent Finance Solution Provider Directory
The Talent Finance Solution Provider Directory is a way to connect organizations who are offering products or services that advance sustainable and equitable ways to finance talent. The goal of the directory is to provide TFIN members and workshop participants with information that enables them to find the right fit for themselves or their clients. It can also help TFIN members and workshop participants prepare for meetings with solution providers to increase efficiency at the beginning of a partnership.
Interested in being included in the Talent Finance Solution Provider Directory? Fill out the Solution Provider Directory Form.
Talent Finance Workgroups
The Talent Finance initiative is also supporting workgroups to explore how to build an ecosystem that can support and scale alternative finance. Workgroups include:
- Employee Education Benefits Workgroup: Co-chaired between SHRM and the Chamber Foundation, this workgroup is exploring how to reimagine and transform employee education benefits. Our current approach to employee education benefits was build for a different economy and workforce. This workgroup is designing a solution that can make employee education benefits more flexible, portable, and worker-centric and that can reskill and upskill the workforce of today and tomorrow. Read the Employee Education Benefits Report below.
- Quality Assurance Workgroup: Co-chaired between Workforce Talent Educators Association (WTEA) and the Chamber Foundation, this workgroup is exploring an alternative quality assurance framework that can be used to recognize education, training, and credentialing programs that meet the business community’s standard of quality. Such recognition can help providers better partner with employers and be eligible for alternative finance. Read the Quality Assurance Workgroup Report below.
- Talent Finance Innovation Fund: Led by Uncommon Impact Studio, the Talent Finance Innovation Fund is a project that is exploring how to launch a “fund of funds” that could help to seed, catalyze, and scale alternative finance solutions in states and communities. Projects emerging out of the Talent Finance Design Workshop would be eligible to access solutions supported by the Innovation Fund. The project is currently focused on the design of the fund and developing a roadmap to implement.
Reimagining Employee Education Benefits: A Public-Private Approach
This report was produced by the Employee Education Benefits Workgroup, formed in 2022 by the U.S. Chamber Foundation and SHRM. The workgroup was asked to review and analyze Section 127, a tax code-driven employee education benefit that has been in place since 1978. Specifically, the workgroup was assigned to evaluate the program’s strengths and weaknesses and to explore new approaches to employee education benefits that will align with current business and workforce needs in the U.S.
This report includes collective views of the workgroup, but each of its individual members may hold a differing view with respect to any specific finding or recommendation.
Talent Finance: Coordination Through Quality Assurance
A new report, Coordination Through Quality Assurance: An Employer-Driven Quality Standard for Career-Building Education, is a recent project of our Talent Finance initiative. Produced by the Quality Assurance Workgroup, comprised of 22 organizations, including Amazon, DTE Energy, IBM, Trellis Company, Greater Houston Partnership, Jobs for the Future, and National Governors Association, the workgroup explores an alternative quality assurance framework that can be used to recognize education, training, and credentialing programs that meet the business community’s standard of quality. Such recognition can help providers better partner with employers and be eligible for alternative finance. The workgroup’s report proposes a framework for an Employer-Driven Quality Standard.
Investing in Talent Podcast
Listen to a conversation with Jason Tyszko, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, and Peter Beard, Greater Houston Partnership, led by journalist Hari Sreenivasan, on the critical work of upskilling and educating future and current workers.