Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | January 9, 2023 | Worcester Business Journal 33 Early college boosts the workforce V I E W P O I N T E D I T O R I A L T oday, 80% of good-paying jobs require a postsecondary education, and differences in educational attainment have a profound impact on students' future earnings. Median earnings are 20% higher for associate degree hold- ers and 67% higher for bachelor's degree holders than for high school graduates. In Worcester, only 48% of 2020-21 high school graduates enrolled in a two- or four-year col- lege. Only 21% of Worcester Public Schools graduates earn a college de- gree within six years of graduation, and completion rates are lower for underrepresented student groups. Fortunately, we have a proven, ev- idence-based solution for increasing college access and completion: early college. Early college programs in- crease college success by embedding dual enrollment courses in a pro- gram structure including rigorous academic preparation and support. Enrolled students benefit from both high school and college advisors and learn skills like time management, working under dead- lines, and navigating campus resources. An evaluation by the Mass. Department of Elementary and Secondary Education shows early college is creating a 15 percent- age-point increase in immediate college enrollment and a 16 percentage-point increase in college persistence. Worcester is the only large district in Massachusetts to offer early college across all high schools. e city's schools boast 18% of the state's total early college en- rollment, and with continued investments, can lead the state into the next phase of early college. Worcester was awarded two grants from the state to expand its program- ming: One to build a wall-to-wall early college program at Claremont Academy, and the other to support Worcester in building early college participation to 25% of total high school enrollment. is goal could meaningfully improve the college success landscape. To build on the quality of its programming, Worcester should increase the number of credits students can earn from 12 to 30, a full year of college. By ensuring these 30 credits are transferable and strategically sequenced, Worcester can drastically reduce the cost and time to degree completion for students. e effectiveness of early college is clear. It is one prov- en approach to reducing college costs, promoting equity, and increasing college persistence and completion rates for the students who will power our future workforce. Worcester should seize the moment and forge this path to improve the workforce development pipeline. Karen Pelletier is Worcester Regional Chamber of Com- merce executive VP. Erika Giampietro is e MA Alliance for Early College executive director. Jennifer Davis-Carey is Worcester Education Collaborative executive director. By KAREN PELLETIER, ERIKA GIAMPIETRO & JENNIFER DAVIS-CAREY Special to WBJ A T H O U SA N D WO R D S B Y R A M Ó N L . S A N D O V A L Best nonprofit leader: David Jordan Karen Pelletier F or the last 10 years, WBJ readers have voted for the best companies, venues, people, and services in Central Massachusetts, for our annual Best of Business awards. e awards are a straight-up popularity contest, and the organizations receiving the most votes in their respec- tive categories are declared the winners. As detailed in the beginning pages of this issue, WBJ readers selected 51 winners this year in categories like best bank, best college for a business education, best venue for an employee outing, and best minority-owned business. But as we close the book on another Best of Busi- ness awards, the WBJ Editorial Board would like to offer up one more category: best nonprofit leader. And that goes to the Seven Hills Foundation's David Jordan. In December, Seven Hills announced Jordan would be leaving his president role at the nonprofit on June 30, aer nearly three decades of shaping the human services industry in Southern New England. When he started as president of what was then known as the Worcester Area ARC in 1995, the small organization was operating on a $7-million annual budget. Over the past 28 years, Jordan has transformed the rebranded Seven Hills Foundation into the premier human services nonprofit in the region, and perhaps New England. Today the $400-million organization with 15 affiliates has 4,700 plus employees in 235 loca- tions in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and tentacles reaching eight developing countries. Beyond just the numbers, through his role, Jordan has been a tireless advocate for the underserved. His leadership in the human services sector positioned him to effectively lobby for higher salaries for gov- ernment-support positions as the COVID pandemic was taking its toll. Jordan has absorbed numerous nonprofits from around the region who were looking for a strong partner and brought them into the Seven Hills fold, including YOU, Inc. in 2020, Family Ser- vices of Central Massachusetts in 2019, and Children's Friend in 2017. While doing all this, Jordan has been preparing the next generation of leaders, as he teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in social entre- preneurship at Clark University in Worcester. Before he transitions fully into retirement, Jordan is heading back to the role he served before taking over Seven Hills: leading the Crotched Mountain School in Greenfield, New Hampshire. e school serving chil- dren with autism was in danger of closing before Sev- en Hills acquired it in November. Now, the school will have Jordan leading it again. And with Jordan moving on, the next generation of nonprofit leadership – and business leadership – becomes all the more important. A wave of Baby Boomers are stepping down from prominent positions, and the people who replace them will play critical roles in the future of their organiza- tions and the region's economy, just as Jordan did over the past 28 years. e largest college, credit union, law firm, manufacturer, life sciences company, and now human services organization in Central Massachusetts all will have leaders who started in their roles since 2020, and many more will undergo a leadership transi- tion over the next few years. First-class leaders are hard to come by, but the great ones not only leave a legacy of accomplishment but train and mentor the next generation to be ready to step up. W Erika Giampietro W The above Editorial is the opinion of the WBJ Editorial Board. The Viewpoint column, the A Thousand Words cartoon, and the Word from the Web commentary represent the opinions of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of WBJ or its staff. WBJ welcomes letters to the editor and commentary submissions. Send them to bkane@wbjournal.com. Jennifer Davis-Carey

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