Join us on October 21 at noon on Zoom for a talk with Papia Debroy and Kate Naranjo.

Papia Debroy is the Senior Vice President of Insights at Opportunity@Work. She oversees the research work to assist private, public and social sector leaders to act to improve economic opportunity for individuals who are Skilled Through Alternative Routes (STARs). Prior to joining Opportunity@Work, Papia served as a Research Director at CEB, now Gartner, a member based advisory organization serving more than 80% of the Fortune 1000. Papia holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Michigan, and an undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
Kate Naranjo is the Director of the STARs Policy Project, which identifies & tests how public policy can enable economic mobility for STARs. Kate previously managed research projects for Dr. Luke Shaefer at Poverty Solutions, an action-based think-tank based at the University of Michigan focused on preventing and alleviating poverty. She began her career with two years of service through City Year. Kate holds an MPP from the University of Michigan, and an undergraduate degree from Tufts University.

The American Dream is not being realized by millions of families, particularly families with people of color. An analysis of workers and their jobs shows some clues on how we might change this.

The majority of our workforce are skilled through alternative routes (STARs) instead of a bachelor's degree. STARs include workers across all races and ethnicities, ages, and geographies in the U.S. and they have experienced an opportunity gap in the past generation that has exacerbated inequality precipitously between them and workers with a bachelor's degree. Yet, analysis shows many STARs have skills for higher wage occupations. This session will dive into a deeper understanding of this part of our workforce - who STARs are, the skills they hold as well as the employers who hire them and the pathways we could create