Pipeline AZ, an Arizona career development and jobs skills exploration platform, hits a new milestone by formally launching as an independent nonprofit organization to continue advancing workforce development and career exploration across Arizona. After more than five years of consistent growth, including gaining almost 100k new users and forming several partnerships with education institutions throughout the state of Arizona, Pipeline AZ’s new structure as an independent nonprofit will allow the organization to further its mission of giving students and professionals at any stage in their careers a path to attaining their goals while also giving employers access to the state’s top talent.
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“As Arizona continues to attract investment from new and exciting industries, we need to ensure we are making the same investments in career exploration and development so that Arizona’s future workforce will be ready to support these growing industries that make us proud to live here,” says Mary Foote, CEO of Pipeline AZ. “Pipeline AZ has become a proven tool that has already impacted the career journeys of so many Arizonans, and we thank our numerous partners for trusting us in helping to achieve a shared vision of a prosperous Arizona.”
Pipeline AZ growth and achievements
In the last year alone, Pipeline AZ has experienced exponential growth in terms of job seekers using the platform to explore potential careers, employers adding available jobs and connecting with job seekers, and partnerships to white label the platform’s services to meet the unique needs of particular populations or industries. These achievements include:
● Pipeline AZ’s user base has grown by more than 155% to help nearly 100,000 Arizonans evaluate their skills, navigate training and education decisions, discover new career pathways, and connect with potential employers.
● The platform’s tools and resources are currently available to all Arizona public K-12 students through My Future AZ, a partnership with the Arizona Department of Education, the Center for the Future of Arizona and the Arizona Business and Education Coalition.
● Half of Arizona’s community college districts, including Maricopa, Yavapai, Coconino, Central Arizona, and Western Arizona have signed on to use Pipeline AZ to better support their students’ education and career journeys.
● In their collaboration with Opportunities for Youth, Pipeline AZ is expanding access to career development tools to young adults to break the cycle of poverty.
● Pipeline AZ partners with Arizona Adult Education Services to support comprehensive career services to students 16 years of age and older who are not enrolled in a K-12 school to assist adult learners to be college and career ready and to realize their full potential, so individuals, families, and communities can thrive.
● Partnering with community organizations like Dress for Success, Local First Arizona and others, Pipeline AZ’s career resources are also available for free to underserved communities across the state including rural youth and adults as well as people experiencing homelessness.
● Employer participation has grown significantly with over 6,500 companies that are natively represented inside the platform. Every industry sector is included and helps to localize career information by posting openings, highlighting pathways and skills needed to fill these roles.
Closing the talent gap
Originally the workforce development initiative of the Partnership for Economic Innovation, a passionate collective of business and community leaders dedicated to accelerating Arizona’s economic opportunities, Pipeline AZ has been unifying educational institutions, industry leaders, and aligned organizations in solving Arizona’s most complex workforce shortage and talent development challenges.
“PEI is thrilled to see Pipeline AZ become its own entity and continue its incredible impact on our state. As we continue to support Arizona’s overall goal of being a thriving and diverse economy of the future, this transition is the natural next step,” says John Graham, board chairman for the Partnership for Economic Innovation and the president and CEO of Sunbelt Holdings. “PEI will continue to support Pipeline AZ’s vision through the work of our other initiatives, including Greater Phoenix’s smart region consortium The Connective and our Applied Research Centers that are accelerating the development of life-changing technologies.”
With the new organizational structure, Pipeline AZ welcomes several Arizona business and community leaders to its board of directors including Board Chairman Gregg Ghelfi of the Maricopa County Industrial Development Authority, Heather Carter of Greater Phoenix Leadership, Inc., Chris Camacho of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, Dean Duncan of the Partnership for Economic Innovation and Jim Rounds of Rounds Consulting.
“The Partnership for Economic Innovation has been instrumental Pipeline AZ’s success, ensuring every Arizonan has the ability to pave their ideal career path while providing local employers with the best talent available,” says Gregg Ghelfi, Pipeline AZ board chair and business development officer at the Maricopa County Industrial Development Authority. “I look forward to this next chapter Pipeline AZ and helping to guide the organization’s continued impact.”
