A new episode of SOCAP’s podcast, Money + Meaning, is now available!
Listen
Don’t miss out! Subscribe to Money + Meaning on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spotify, or anywhere else you get your podcasts.
Investing in Workforce Tech – Live at SOCAP19
“There’s an automatizing of work and a change that will be taking place…those most vulnerable are the lowest income communities here in this country. We’re building an investing thesis that’s backing companies that are ensuring that all Americans have an opportunity to participate in the opportunity and the good jobs of the future.”
–Amon Anderson
“This is not just robots taking our jobs. This is the power of us as humans and technology together to make a future where we’re really tapping human potential. That’s the excitement I think that I want everyone to hear as opposed to these headlines of fear.”
–Sonali Kothari, COO, JFFLabs
Analysts are forecasting that robots will soon surpass humans in the jobs race. Though no one can predict exactly how emerging technologies will shape the future of work, we can be sure that workers of the future will need to be able to quickly learn new skills in order to compete in the age of automation. Tech startups are racing to solve critical workforce issues such as these, but how can we ensure that these solutions will close education attainment gaps by race, ethnicity, and income? Many investors are hoping that EdTech solutions (including virtual reality, credentialing, bootcamps and other solutions) will solve the workforce challenges of the future while helping people from all backgrounds qualify for “new collar jobs.” How can impact investors help seed and scale the best, and most equitable ideas at the frontier of workforce tech?
In this episode of Money + Meaning, you’ll hear Jean Shia, Head of Portfolio and Investment, Autodesk Foundation lead a SOCAP19 panel discussion among active investors in workforce tech. Each expert shares their unique approach to investing in the future of work, data and trends that are driving their strategies, and the solutions they are investing in to help ensure that workers are not left behind in the future.
Featured Voices
Amon Anderson
Director, Acumen
Elizabeth Garlow
Investment Officer, Lumina Impact Ventures, Lumina Foundation
Sonali Kothari
COO, JFFLabs
Jason Palmer
General Partner, New Markets Ventures
Jean Shia
Head of Portfolio and Investment, Autodesk Foundation
Alex Kravitz
Host
About Money + Meaning
Money + Meaning is the official podcast of SOCAP. This series aims to expand the conversation around impact investing and strategies to finance and support social change while stimulating innovative and valuable new partnerships across sectors.
Resources
- Autodesk Foundation Impact Brief Series: Future of Work
- Robots Are Catching Up to Humans in the Jobs Race By Nathaniel Bullard for Bloomberg
- Evidence That Robots Are Winning the Race for American Jobs By Claire Cain Miller for The New York Times
- Where Are the Workers When We Talk About the Future of Work? By Steven Greenhouse for The American Prospect
- Unlocking the Nation’s Potential, A Model to Advance Quality and Equity in Education Beyond High School, a report by Debra Humphreys and Paul Gaston for Lumina Foundation and Quality Credentials Task Force
- ETF@JFFLabs Impact Report
- JFF Labs Workforce Tech Impact Accelerator
Watch the full session featured in this episode of Money and Meaning
