We are in the midst of an upskilling crisis. Rapid industrial changes and an increasingly competitive global environment, with countries like China and India emerging as technology superpowers, mean millions of workers need to upskill to remain economically viable.

Community colleges play a crucial role in this transformation. Aspen Award winner Russell Lowery-Hart, Chancellor of the 50,000-student Aspen Community College system, believes educators must move beyond being mere gatekeepers.

He believes that educators need to love their students to success.

If this sounds idealistic or naive, consider Russell’s impressive track record. As President of Amarillo College, he boosted completion rates from 19% to 62% in just five years. Now at Austin, he faces an even greater challenge: preparing the workforce to meet the skill demands of one of the world’s leading technology hubs.

Russell’s Biography: https://offices.austincc.edu/chancellor/biography/

About the AustinCommunity College system: https://www.austincc.edu/about-acc/

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As a professional rugby player for Europe’s top team, Aidan McCullen knew the value of showing up. He wasn’t born with the most talent, but he made sure he had the most discipline.

Yet his biggest challenge was to overcome the disruption of ending his career, to shed his rugby identity and become something else.

Today, Aidan helps some of the world’s top organisations to do the same—overcome disruption by shedding old identities to allow them to do something new and different, increasing their competitiveness and tackling new challenges.

Aidan McCullen’s website: https://aidanmccullen.com/

The Innovation Show: https://theinnovationshow.io/

Aidan’s book: https://www.amazon.com/Undisruptable-Permanent-Reinvention-Individuals-Organisations/dp/1119770483

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What do you do when you achieve your dreams…and then lose it all.

At the age of 25, Yassmin Abdel-Magied was an unbridled success. She achieved prominence at a young age, garnering awards and recognition as a teenager in Australia. She had been a successful engineer, author and TV personality. Her TED talk had millions of views and was named one of the top ten ideas of 2014.

Then it all changed in an instant. Ambushed by a Senator attacking her religion on live TV, she lost her cool and the video went viral. That was followed by a few ill-advised words on her personal Facebook page and suddenly she was a pariah. Vilified by Internet trolls and hounded by death threats, she left the only country she had ever really known.

Her shaming was so complete that her name became a verb. To be Yassmin-ed in Australia today means to be “canceled” as a woman of color. Yet she didn’t let it break her. She moved to London, continued to write and became a global force for inclusion, inspiring others to overcome adversity that the world so often subjects so many.

Yassmin’s website: https://www.yassminam.com/

Yassmin’s TED talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/yassmin_abdel_magied_what_does_my_headscarf_mean_to_you?subtitle=en

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