Implementation Season | The Rise Report | Issue 23

On Monday, I moderated a conversation with Lee Wheeler-Berliner, managing director of the Colorado Workforce Development Council, and Rachel Snyder, special workforce systems advisor in the Office of Governor Polis on Workforce Pell implementation in Colorado. The discussion landed one week after two milestone dates converged: the release of final federal rules and the July 1 launch of the program nationally.

The message from both presenters was one of measured optimism. Colorado has taken a deliberately inclusive approach to eligibility, defining priority occupations through a two-of-three standard (in-demand, high-wage, high-skill) that captures roughly half of all occupations in the state. Rachel was candid about why: the federal outcomes requirements, including a 70 percent completion rate and a verified 70 percent job placement rate, are demanding enough that the state saw no reason to narrow the funnel further. Early program analysis suggests the completion threshold is where most Colorado programs will fall short, at least in year one.

Lee framed the state's posture around two tenets: refusing to be limited by what the federal law requires, and going far by going together. Colorado's stackability and multi-employer validation policies are stricter than the federal floor, a choice he described as protecting learners whose Workforce Pell dollars count against their lifetime Pell limit. Both presenters positioned the program less as a new funding stream, which Rachel acknowledged will be small and slow to reach students, and more as a forcing function for work Colorado had already started: aligning definitions across agencies, integrating siloed data systems, and applying the state's quality non-degree credential framework in practice. Rachel called it a case study for the broader postsecondary redesign now underway amid the gubernatorial transition.

The national picture makes Colorado's early discipline stand out. NPR reported last week that only about a dozen states had road maps ready for the July 1 launch, and that many existing programs — including common healthcare courses — fall short of the federal eligibility floors. Carrie Warick-Smith of the Association of Community College Trustees called July 1 "the start point of the marathon" — advice that maps neatly onto Colorado's phased, learn-first approach. For states still building their frameworks, the Center for American Progress published a nine-option implementation guide this week — much of which Colorado is already running. Finally, New America's Iris Palmer published a sharp eleven-state scan of Workforce Pell approval processes, singling out Colorado's "particularly strong articulation requirement" and its streamlined, double-duty approach to employer evidence.

For providers, the timeline is firm. The new ETPL portal is live now, Workforce Pell applications open July 15 and close August 15, and the state will pause to learn from the first cohort before opening a second phase. Stay current on the state’s activities here.

If you missed the conversation, you can watch the full recording here (passcode: D07$cPDD). If you want to be added to the distribution list for future webinars, message me here.

Mark your calendar: a second webinar on Monday, July 21 at 10am MT will walk through the ETPL process in technical detail, timed to land in the middle of the application window. Register here.

A Colorado College President Weighs in on Higher Ed's New Accountability Rule. The American Enterprise Institute’s Beth Akers sat down with Matt Gianneschi, president of Colorado Mountain College, on the day after the U.S. Department of Education finalized the "do no economic harm" earnings rule. Matt calls the provision a sensible starting point — a consumer-protection fail-safe that will insist that faculty, administrators, and governing boards pay attention to graduates' labor market outcomes — and he's candid about how institutions might game it, drawing on his years overseeing program discontinuance at the Colorado Department of Higher Education. Read the full interview here.

States Enable, Regions Thrive. In a new analysis, The Brookings Institute argues that good jobs are built, not found. They have developed a playbook for governors and legislators elected this November, which outlines how policy leaders can partner with regional, cross-sector networks to grow good jobs and prepare residents for emerging, frontier industries. Private capital is making the parallel bet. Matt Tower, editor of Whiteboard Advisors’ The EdSheet, sat down with Achieve Partners’ Ryan Craig, author of Apprentice Nation and talked about the firm’s remarkably active year, which includes a new $450 million buyout fund and a pair of acquisitions. They also discuss the thesis that apprenticeship can be built directly into service businesses across the economy’s most talent-starved sectors. Policy builds the networks and capital builds and supports the on-ramps. Also, consider this your nudge to subscribe to The EdSheet.

Addressing AI’s Uneven Impacts. Xavier de Souza Briggs with The Brookings Institute offers a framework for addressing AI's uneven impacts across industries, types of workers, and regions. This is a question that has jumped from the policy margins to the top of voters' and lawmakers' minds, but answering it is harder than it sounds. The data systems states rely on weren't built for this moment: survey response rates are falling, projection methods can't keep pace with rapid technological change, and few systems can detect how the content of a job shifts even when its title doesn't. You can’t govern what you can’t see.

Enter the National Science Foundation-funded Industries of Ideas initiative, which starts from a simple premise: the best way to trace AI through an economy is to follow the people who know it best. The initiative uses data on NSF research investments – the funding that actually drove the emergence of AI and other critical technologies – to identify university innovators, the researchers and students who worked on and were trained by that research. It then combines that innovator data with workforce records to pinpoint which employers are actively hiring them. Those AI-active employers, and how their workforces are changing, become the “headlights” states. Arkansas, Ohio and New Jersey  are piloting the measures, with guidance from expert advisory boards established by the Education Commission of the States (ECS), the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA), and the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness. Read more here.

The Rise Report welcomes updates from our colleagues across Colorado. Think of this as your one-stop-shop for conference updates, new research + reports, job postings, and career moves.

Denver-based novelist Heath Morgan discusses The Memory Project, a novel set in 2085 that follows a generation living with the consequences of data their grandparents gave away for free. The book talk will be held at the Denver Press Club on July 14 at 7 p.m. Tickets are available here.

The OpenAI Foundation has opened its 2026 People-First AI Fund, a $50 million pool of unrestricted grants for community nonprofits curious about or actively experimenting with AI in service of their missions. Three kinds of organizations get priority: those delivering direct community services, those anchoring local arts and culture, and those doing community journalism. Applications close July 15, 2026.

Fayelynn Scheideman, a CU Denver student was featured by the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) to explain what belonging actually feels like from inside a campus — not as a metric on a dashboard, but as the daily accumulation of moments that tell a student they are in the right place. Her reflections align with what IHEP's research has carefully mapped: belonging is one of the strongest predictors of retention, completion, and mental health, especially for first-generation students. Fayelynn’s piece is the reminder that every outcome we measure begins with a student deciding, sometimes daily, whether they belong. Read more about the Student Experience Project here.

Governor Polis announced his recent appointments to Colorado’s boards and commissions on July 1. The announcement includes the Governor’s appointments to the Postsecondary Talent Development Transition Advisory Committee, the body charged with recommending how Colorado unifies its higher education, workforce training, and employment programs under HB26-1317. In addition, the Governor appointed Nicole McWhirter to the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, Angie Paccione to the Auraria Higher Education Center board, and Connie Brachtenbach, representing the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, to the State Apprenticeship Council.

This week I'm in Washington, D.C. for the Education Commission of the States' National Forum on Education Policy, where this year's theme — The Compact Renewed — feels made for a moment when the federal-state balance in education policy is being renegotiated in real time.

On Thursday, July 9, at 4:45pm ET, I'm moderating An Integrated Talent Strategy: Blurring Postsecondary and Workforce Systems with Katherine Keegan, Workforce Systems Coordinator in the Office of Governor Polis; Jane Swift, CEO of Education at Work and former governor of Massachusetts; and Aaron Thompson of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education.

I am also excited to drop in on the session that precedes mine: Colorado’s Ernest Boffy-Ramirez of the Colorado Evaluation and Action Lab and Jessica Corvinus of the Colorado Equitable Economic Mobility Initiative (CEEMI) present Colorado's Interactive Earnings Dashboard: Making Better Use of State Data — the evidence infrastructure being built in the Centennial State.

If you're in town for the Forum — or just in town — I'd love to connect. Reply to this email or message me, and let's connect over coffee!

Until next week,

Alison