Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Higher Education with Dr. Antoinette Farmer-Thompson

Speaker A: Welcome to the Education and Empowerment Podcast. In this show, our hosts explore success and advancement through education by interviewing today's top leaders in the fields of education, business, and technology in order to provide insight into what it really takes to succeed. All right, let's get into the show.

Speaker B: Dr. Antoinette Farmer Thompson is an accomplished and visionary leader with over 25 years of experience spanning corporate America, academia, and economic development. She has held executive positions at esteemed institutions such as Arizona State University, Grand Canyon University, and currently serves as president at Strayer University. Strayer University's mission aligns with her personal and professional vision to empower our students, many of whom are adult learners, balancing families and education to achieve academic success and economic mobility. Previously, she has held various roles in higher education, including Provost and Chief Academic Officer, founding on Honors College Dean, Senior Vice President of Institutional Effectiveness Division, Chief Financial and Operations Officer, Chief Diversity Officer, and Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Speaker C: Welcome to Education and Empowerment Podcast. This is a very special episode where I have a great pleasure of bringing one of the top leaders in private higher education, Dr. Antoinette Farmer Thompson. She's the president, um, and CEO of Strayer University, one of the most fascinating universities in over 50 states with so many students, and has brought so much of passion and community building and leadership and innovation that you will hear this episode being packed with full of amazing, um, uh, inspirational insights to what to do as leaders. Leaders. Moving forward. Without further ado, Dr. Thompson, welcome to our show.

Speaker D: Well, thank you so much for having me, Bob. I'm excited to be here with you. Uh, I will tell you, Estrella is so unique. And, uh, just to give you some insight into how I found myself here, I'll have to tell a little bit of the story about who Strayer is. I didn't realize Strayer had been around since 1892. You think about that? In and of itself, it's amazing. And it got started because we wanted to teach farmers, uh, some business skills, specifically shorthand. You're too young to know what that is, and accounting. And that would allow them to be better entrepreneurs or actually better workers. And so we find ourselves, 130 years later, still focused on providing skills to students and to employees specifically. And I would say more than anything, we've come to understand that Strayer, we don't. We don't want to talk about building a bridge between education and employment and employers. We want to be the bridge between employers and higher education. And it's just been my. I would say, my life's work. Uh, we were talking a little bit earlier about my passion, I'll tell you. I grew up in a small town called East St. Louis, Illinois. And it's, um, it's considered. I don't want to offend anybody, but it. It was considered, m. One of, um, the most dangerous cities in the country. Very vibrant at one point, but like, what happens in many, many cities, uh, yep, challeng companies moving out. And so I, um, have two siblings, and we were growing up and my dad passed, and so we found our circumstances changed quite a bit. So I had to get into education as my way out, as my equalizer. So my passion is all around helping other people find what will help them equalize their lives and their opportunities. So that's. That's my story. I started in my career outside of education. I was in corporate America, spent 17 years there, but it was always in talent and in human resources and in staffing. So I've always been trying, Bob, to. To figure this thing out. And 17 years ago, I found my home, uh, in higher education and my actual home here at Strayer University four years ago. Because transforming people's lives is what I think my real calling is. And Strayer being that bridge for workforce innovations and doing that through programs and through artificial intelligence and better classroom environments is what we do. Um, so I will stop there before I go further to tell you, actually, even more about some of that innovation. Just in case you have a question about what I've heard already that is

Speaker C: quite impressive and quite inspirational. You know, like you said, um, you know, many of us find ourselves in a moment where, you know, we're young and, you know, there's a certain circumstance in a country. You know, it could be cyclical, it could be seasonal, it could be transitional. Um, I come from former Soviet Union. I was born in Tajikistan, and, um, I came as an international student myself to get really fascinated about the discovery of your inner talent and how educators around you can actually stir that and provide the stewardship to help you realize, you know, who you are. And that just sort of like, you know, it's like the shocker, right? Like, it inspires you. Like, wow, I can do this. And, you know, unlike, uh, you know, education, um, in. In Soviet Union, you know, this is. The education here in United States has helped me to grow myself, to reach, you know, amazing heights. And. And I went back to Tajikistan to rethink. I wanted to become a diplomat like, like you. And you were in corporate America, and boom, all of a sudden, next thing you know, you realize that, okay, so if. If I wanted to Become a diplomat. It's. It's like, you know, government to government. I'm not really sure about that. I'm not there yet. Like, I don't have a, you know, politician or diplomat in my family, but what. What do I have? And one of the questions that, you know, has helped me was, you know, by a former, um, a teacher of mine or professor of ours, um, to realize, you know, it's in your DNA. Next thing you know, I'm calling my mom and asking, so, what is your. Did that? You know, what about your mom? What about day parents? And I realized that they were educators and they were leaders and they were the ones who, you know, keep this, uh, you know, enlightenment and pushing and, you know, that discovery led that. Okay, I'm interested in empowering other people. I want other people to be like me. And what is it? And that was basically to, like you've experienced is to, you know, go be the equalizer, be the bridge for them to help them succeed. Um, and that trajectory has taken me to, um, international education and to, you know, what we're doing today. So, um, I'm quite fascinated about your story, which resonates with so many, you know, of our stories.

Speaker D: I. It, uh, really does. I. All the way to. I had aunts who were teachers, and when I was little, I played school. I wasn't a very good teacher. I had invisible students. And I would even yell at the invisible students. And. I know, but I. What you remind me of. If. If I can be so honest. Um, we have a chance during commencement to. Obviously, we have these large commencements. We get a chance to see our students and we invite our alumni back and to have that very conversation about how the light went off with what they were created to do. There's nothing, nothing better than that. So I love that. I love that. But let me tell you a little bit more because I'm going to. I'm going to start asking you questions, and you'll be like, tony, this is. You don't get to do that. But I find that having worked in higher education now for 17 years, I mean, the years flew by. I worked at other large institutions, right? One that's nonprofit, one that is public. And what I love about being a part of Strayer is that we are committed to building innovation inside, outside of the classroom, looking at things differently. I remember when I arrived at Strayer and they said, tone, we have this bot. And I'm like a, um. Bot. Oh, yeah, the little bot thing that talks to you. Well, at that point, it had only been created to be on some of, uh, the web pages at other universities.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker D: Not at Strayer. Strayer put Irving. Its name is Irving because Irving Strayer is the name of our founder. And so Irving is this virtual assistant they, that they put inside of the classroom. And students could inquire about anything, even say they couldn't find some of the materials easily that the faculty, uh, had placed in, in the course room. They could, they could talk with the bot. And I was like, this place is amazing. And actually, just to give you a sense of how real this is, Irving has had over 3 million conversations.

Speaker C: Wow.

Speaker D: With 188,000 unique students. And so I was like, like you. I was like, okay, that's transformative. I'm, um, I'm, I'm like amazed by that.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker D: The second thing is what's called Skill Builder. Now this one is so unique because it is that artificial intelligence that allows students to practice what we call these real world assignments. And faculty can assess the students in their performance in these situations. So the Skill Builder will put up a scenario. And what I love about it more than anything is that it's a scenario related to industry, to a, uh, real job, a real skill that students need to have in graduating within that discipline. And I, I, I tell you, there's a lot of conversation about authentic assessment, right? And, and Skill Builder gives you that authentic assessment. I mean, you got to know your stuff. You can't go look it up real quick there. It's going to ask you, uh, different things that actually will help propel you into greater employability and what I say, economic mobility. But I think the thing that's been most innovative about the work we've done since I've been here is with employer partners. You, you probably read that we have over 500 employer partners. What we've been working on is called stackable credentials.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker D: Uh, and badging along the way that builds into a degree. So I mean, it's not, it's not like when I went to school and people want to wait five years, six years to be employable or to get greater economic mobility. It is the case that the way we build our programs, we want students to experience employability along the way and greater economic mobility along the way. So that means moving some things around, making content that is relevant and recent and, um, might I even say, you know, really focusing on premium skills for students. So I would say that's the introduction to what Strayer is doing to be more innovative and introduction to myself somewhat.

Speaker C: And that's great. And you know what fascinates me is you hit really hard on the most important piece of this which is, you know, innovation and you know, sort of upskilling and sort of being that bridge. I wonder for you know, our audience who um, is you know, still curious. And I talk to so many educators and leaders like yourself and they still trying to decide do we go the traditional higher education, um, doctorate way or do we just become administrative role. I want to make a case for um, entrepreneurial approaches. Um, I wonder if you can take us through your story and again your background is so fascinating from ASU to Cornell and to other institutions and you had that spark. At what point were you able to discover um, these uh, entrepreneurial approaches and what's critical for someone who's um, you know, who's, who's in your role? Maybe five, six years before. Right. Help us make the connection, uh, to get inspired about you know, that transformation that you had and realizing that yes, you shouldn't do whatever the status quo, but you should take extra step. Um, yeah. I wonder if you could uh, you know, bring some light onto that.

Speaker D: Absolutely. I'll, I'll first do it from a personal perspective and then how I've partly that into, into practices here. So I, I, I remember I told you I grew up very poor. So I realized that I was going to have to add education to my experience and pretty quickly so that I wouldn't have to remain in the same job.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker D: Um, for a length of time that I was seeing people remain m. And that's, I mean I, I'm by no means a Gen Xer, but um, that they, they really, we don't have, I think a population of folks who want to stay doing the same thing at the same place for a long time where we do have that blessings to them and ah, as long as that's what people really want to do. I mean I, I think that's important. I think it is finding what you are created to do. So my journey was a little different. I, I immediately went to grad school from undergrad and I, I found that I had to work. I mean I can't uh, I can't not work. So I then did a different kind of um, Master's degree where you go in on the weekend. And that's what I love about Strayer is we, we were one of the first to adapt the online learning.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker D: Like you said, have campuses where we hold and host courses making um, it the best of both worlds for, for working adults. So I find that I'm a working adult. I've got to get a master's sooner than later. I find myself in human resources. I work for a year, 17 years and become a part of. I'm on a plane on 911 and I'm headed to LA from Phoenix.

Speaker C: Wow.

Speaker D: My client was in New York and so I did make it to LA that morning and I had to take the last car, uh, in the National Car Rental, um, parking lot. And I said to myself then like Tony, you, you, you're just working, you don't really have a life. You. At the time I had um, no kids, wasn't married, no prospect. I mean I was working like a crazy person. And that's when I said, you know, I think I need to do something different. So it took me some time to make my way um, to Grand Canyon University, right. And when I did I said in order for me to, in higher education I've got to get a doctorate degree, right? So again I looked around and I said where can I get a doctorate degree that's going to help me have impact? And so I, I went to, at still medical school of all places. But we know I am not a medical doctor but my job is to help students, right. Uh, to build educational processes and, and really think about things more innovatively, connecting students to employability and, and specifically to their next levels. So that's, that's what I did in order for me to get ahead and it worked. Uh, along the way I'm always looking for additional assignments. I. So for those who have been working in higher education for a long time, I did my dissertation. This will give you a sense of how long it was uh, on um, online education and whether or not it's really, uh, you have the same learning levels. And uh, I use my dissertation with. I got a chance to look at nursing classes, entry level courses and whether or not there was a difference. And I found that online learning actually was, uh, we had greater outcomes at that time.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker D: So it was, it was at the beginning of online learning. But I would say to people, go on LinkedIn, find the person who has your job.

Speaker C: Got it.

Speaker D: And see what you can do to create a plan like you did, you created a plan. So that's how I would answer it from a personal perspective, from a strayer perspective. Educational entrepreneurship has to do specifically about an institution who's willing to do something different. And what I mean by that, um, a willingness to innovate like you make it a top priority.

Speaker C: Right?

Speaker D: When you look at the Amount of time you're spending on things, look at how much you're spending on innovation, leveraging technology, cultivate entrepreneurial thinking inside the classroom, within your staff, within your faculty, and then you monitor and respond to societal shifts. So we have uh, 500 employer partners. We've got to put that into practice, right? So how do you put that into practice? And a great example of that is what we call degrees at work. So we had a partnership with Best Buy for a long time and we had been doing the tuition assistance a while with them, but it, it got to where we've got to consult. We're like, well, how do we really help Best Buy? Is Best Buy even having utilization of the tuition assistance program?

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker D: Getting what they need? Are they seeing the interest? Are they seeing the upskilling? Are they seeing the retention?

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker D: And so what we created was a no debt, no cost to the employee pathway to a college degree.

Speaker C: Wow.

Speaker D: M not just for full time, but also for part time Best Buy employees in the United States. So this degrees at work program is pretty amazing. And we've seen uh, a significant interest, right. And you want a more informed, right. And formally educated workforce if you can get it. And so that Best Buy program is a great example of that. Um, we, some of our partners have the tuition discounts, but what we're trying to do is really assess their needs and build a plan. Um, what, what is it that you spend on education and training? And so let us build a program together. If I can give you one example.

Speaker C: Absolutely.

Speaker D: Um, I won't, I, I won't use the name of the organization, but I'll describe to you a great example.

Speaker C: Mhm.

Speaker D: We, we had an employer partner who had a large I T M division and this, they had this new rock star, right. And she wanted to make sure she understood the level of I T, uh, capabilities that she had going in. Right. Meaning her M team. So she worked with our team to create an assessment that would then help personalize M a career educational path for each one of her folks.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker D: And, and so initially some of the courses that we offer are more boot camp. Like I say, they're one week. And uh, once they do these, they then move on to maybe an undergrad degree, right. Even uh, a graduate degree. And so what we saw, even in the pilot of this, and we're past the pilot, she said, you know, Tony, we're, we're seeing silos break down, right? We're seeing a lot of ideas which will then translate to innovation. And so that's the, the entrepreneurial piece is all about um, one, I'm gonna own it, right? That's what that means, right? I'm gonna own it, I'm gonna own the solution. I'm gonna, I'm going to contribute to making this better.

Speaker C: Right?

Speaker D: And so that's what she did and we helped her do that. So those are some examples of the entrepreneurial piece I would give you.

Speaker C: That's amazing and thank you so much for bringing that example. You know, as I'm um, thinking about, you know, what you said, what really resonates is that you know, Strayer University, um, as one of the leaders, um, of, of being that bridge, not just building the bridge, is really serving the bridge, right? You know, you're, you're big, you're that bridge. And what, what really fascinates me is that you know, like you said, uh, it's in a moment of crisis and you know we've gone through pandemic, we've gone through of different, you know, um, sort of crisis, uh, that happened over the years, right? The 9, 11 and stuff. And in those moments institutions come together and they say how can we collaborate? How can we create that solution? That's required. I was reading a, um, an article through um, a World Economic Forum, which I think, you know, World bank was also you know, publishing. Over the next five years, because of the artificial intelligence disruption, over 44% of employer skills will need to be reevaluated. And it's just a massive number. Like, you know, when you look at like this huge gap, there is, you know, like you said, you know, upskilling, there is risk killing that's starting to happen. And the employers and institutions that succeed are the ones that take the bold move, the ones that take the bold entrepreneurial approach and create a solution. So I was wondering if, if you can help us maybe define um, you know, in, in, in sort of the light of managing the quality of you know, higher education and quality of education. What are some of these pillars? Is that more partnerships as a solution? Is it, I don't know, outsourcing of non essential um, you know, requirements and tasks and you know, is it um, is it like, you know, getting rid of the redundant ones? And then I really like the example of that robot that you mentioned, right? What is it that you see, um, is compromised of these, you know, solutions that higher education leaders should be aware and should be talking and there was a great example of Best Buy. Maybe there's some other things that they can do, would like to really learn from.

Speaker D: You on those aspects, sure, absolutely. I would say that one of the greatest innovations happening today in higher education is the expansion of pathways to skills and then to a degree. No one, like I said, wants to not have employability, greater employability as they go throughout the journey.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker D: We did this survey in 2024 that suggest upskilling opportunities for employers. Um, and what they're offering may not be enough to close the skills gap. And the reason is that if in fact with the employer they're providing the training, um, somehow it's not, it's not aligning with what the employees are saying they need. And so that's where we come in, even as a bridge. And, and what's interesting is while a traditional college degree is still a requirement for many of the careers, it m may not be the only pathway to gain the skills and excel in the workplace. And people are understanding that. And so as higher education institutions, we've got to figure out how to help employers build the workforce of tomorrow. And they need it to happen at a pace more than what we've been usually willing to change at or to operate at. So I would say credentials and certificates are also becoming increasingly valuable. Uh, half of workers are worried about gaining the skills they need. So when we can partner with an employer, we can build programs, we can build strategies together that can help them get to, okay, I need to have, I have a retention challenge. Um, first I have an attraction challenge. I can't attract the right employees or enough of them.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker D: Then I have a retention, and then I have an upskilling, um, reskilling. And so unless, uh, universities and colleges are getting in the game of, um, of um, building that with employers, it's going to be tough. The second thing is we got to pay attention to the other client. So it's the student and the employer.

Speaker C: Right?

Speaker D: That's how we see things. Our, our, our first client. Students, you've got to have something that's flexible, that's affordable as learning options. And again, it's got to be a pathway towards what I know I was created to do. And so affordability, accessibility, I can learn what I want to learn, when I want to learn. So best, best back to the best buy back to any of the 500 employer partners. They're um, Typically the employees aren't restricted to a certain program of study. And so the fact that we have credentials that we're helping and skills that we're helping build, um, what we find is, for example, we build a program where instead of students taking electives, they Add on concentrations of AI or they add on concentrations of project management. And so you've got to be able to help students put their puzzle together. Right. Uh, and you've got to be able to help employers put their strategies together.

Speaker C: Can we take a moment to recognize what you said? This? Well, it's not the first time I'm hearing it, but hearing it from you really is, uh, so fascinating that not many educational leaders, um, or leaders and administrators in higher education focus on employers as customers. That is like mind blowing. Um, I know it's simple, but so much, you know, we, we talk in, in leaders, you know, in different settings. And there's so much focused about the student and student outcomes and, and all of that. Yes, I mean we gotta be focused on students, but we also need to understand the needs and sort of the, the environment that employers who are maybe your secondary, um, customers are. That's, that, that's quite insightful.

Speaker D: It was one of the things that attracted me to Strayer. We're part of strategic education, right? And we have, we have brilliant people that are at the top of our organization and, and they see things differently. And if you can help an organization, right, by uplifting a group of folks, you are making that organization more competitive. And so, uh, yeah, we are right there in the center between the employer and the students. We're in the center, employers and employees. We really want to become that bridge. And so, yeah, we, we are intentionally, um, building more and more partnerships. It's a critical part.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker D: Of our plan.

Speaker C: That's amazing. Um, I was gonna, you know, tell you this at the end, but founders of Forestay are Strayer University graduates as well. Um, so they studied there, you know, they completed the undergraduate degrees and uh, that's kind of, you know, after which amazing was born. So that is, you know, the inspiration and that is the amazing work that um, you know, the ecosystem, um, has made and you know, obviously the professors in the academic community, um, has made

Speaker D: that makes me so happy that. Okay, they didn't tell me that.

Speaker C: Right. I was gonna, I was gonna wait, you know, for the end, but uh, I think it was a perfect Tim share that. You know, it's, it's, it's an amazing, uh, connection there. Um, I'm actually curious about a, A little slightly different topic there. You know, sometimes in, in higher education and leadership, we're always, you know, uh, sometimes, you know, we're all very optimistic or over optimistic about certain things. But um, and, and the best leaders are the ones that come and challenge us and Say listen, there is, there are certain considerations, there's challenges, um, in, in basically you know, what you're wanting to do. I was wondering if you can um, you know, share more light into um, what sort of considerations um, should be put in place. Right. What sort of like if we, if we don't accept that, um, you know, there's, there's certain challenges and everything is perfect and then sometimes it may fail. But the best design, um, of learning is the one that acknowledges considerations or acknowledges you know, ups and downs, um, and can plan for it accordingly. So can you give us examples of what leaders, um, like yourself, um, and you know, up and rising and emerging leaders who are um, actually are going to be standing in front of, you know, ah, us and sort of defending the future of higher education should be considering. Right. What are these challenges that you anticipating, um, that we need to consider and being innovative and in being um, entrepreneurial.

Speaker D: I thank you for that question. I would say first and foremost we, we have to put students first.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker D: When you think about who our students are, they are managing so many things. They're, they're working adults, they have parents that, that uh, that they're taken care of. They, they have children, they have all of these things. And so we, we have to create things that are more flexible and affordable learning options. And it can't take students six years to, to see their employability change. Like that is, that is not going to work for them. Secondly, we have to find a way to engage our, our and support working adult students.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker D: Like, you gotta make it meaningful for them. So for instance, at Strayer, in all of our online classes, instructors must do at least one live session each week.

Speaker C: Got it.

Speaker D: And, and so that way they, the, the student knows that there's always a time that they're going to be able to engage to get specific understanding of a certain assignment.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker D: Um, that's important. And don't, don't make it to where they're wasting their time. Right. Uh, like they don't have time to waste. I would also say we need to keep finding ways to meet students where they are.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker D: So for instance, it is the case when you think about accessibility. I mean we all have different levels of readiness.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker D: And, and it doesn't mean different levels of intelligence. Right. We just have different levels of readiness. So for instance, where we are, we have what's called Sophia learning. And this is, it's a part of our E division and it's this incredible tool where people can do a subscription and take. But they can take like all of their Genette studies and, and, and they do it on their time. It's a self paced, uh, platform.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker D: And we find that the students that we get that have come from Sophia, they perform better than those that don't come from, from Sophia. We've even looked at, um, you know, you want to give people the opportunity to succeed, so their academic experience is important. So we love like trans transfer students are ready. They, they know what it takes to study. And so now we have a path for those who don't have transfer, uh, credits from, from other colleges.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker D: So I think we, we must address, um, making sure adults have the opportunity to learn.

Speaker C: Got it.

Speaker D: Making it accessible, affordable. And that's why we love like we want to have people, we want to help people who are already working.

Speaker C: I see.

Speaker D: And we can help them exponentially change their lives while they're working where they are. The second thing I would say is keeping pace with the workforce.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker D: Higher education. You said pandemic before I did. And I'll just tell you, remember I told you about my dissertation, right. And people were questioning online education and we as an industry didn't move until we had to.

Speaker C: Right? Yep.

Speaker D: And I'm like, okay, and so what can we learn? There's still this, this gap. Employers are saying, hey, we don't know that we're getting what we need.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker D: In terms of a prepared worker. So what we're doing with employers is working with them to attract. Okay. We can be a pipeline, uh, it can be our second year accounting students, right. Who have, they've achieved a badge or a couple of badges by that time.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker D: Um, um, but it, it really is keeping up with the pay of the workforce and the changing need of employers.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker D: What's happening to them and helping them be competitive.

Speaker C: That's amazing. That actually kind of translates also sort of into, um, you know, as we sort of wrap, you know, this, this conversation and episode. What's the future like? Right. What is, what is your vision of what the future is and what should institutions consider? Um, I think, you know, you, you gave up. One great highlight of that is that like being open and focusing, you know, obviously, you know, on the student and, and not wasting time and you know, really getting, uh, to, to the bottom of this. But what else, um, is uh, important for you and what else should be important for others as we envision the future of higher education? God knows there may be another something. Right.

Speaker D: Um, exactly.

Speaker C: How do we prepare for that?

Speaker D: I, I think it's all in being a, um, consultant. See, what consultants do well, um, is I think they do a lot of things well.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker D: But for me, I think it's about researching what's coming.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker D: And listening to the workforce needs of the 500 employer partners we have.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker D: Taking that information and understanding what trends there are and then thinking about, okay, what does that tell us?

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker D: That tells us we've got to do different things in terms of pathways of learning.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker D: Uh, that means we've got to do different things in terms of affordability.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker D: And accessibility. And being a consultant is really creating true partnerships.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker D: And like you said, value, um, and I, I don't think you miss anything if you're a consultant because you're a great listener.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker D: And you're designing based on what people say they need.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker D: It's, it's interesting. Um, the 2024 workforce survey that I mentioned, it tells us that 93% of US based full time employees agree that learning new skills keeps them motivated at work.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker D: And how can you not then think about what that translates into in terms of the organization reaching its goals, right. So I, so the future is, is really becoming more consultative.

Speaker C: Wow, that's. You nailed it. I think you nailed it. I think it, uh, you know, it actually reminded me of, uh, you know, learning for growth. Right. And, and listening for growth. Uh, it's like you, you listen first to understand. I think, you know, we all know the amazing work of, uh, Stephen Covey, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. And one of those, you know, moments. And I read the book back, you know, in 2004, 2005, I was an undergraduate student myself and you know, part of the management course was to read this book and, and tell, you know, what you learned. And so, you know, one of those principles of learning first to understand is, is part of that consultative future that you mentioned. Right? Let's, let's sit down and understand what's important, um, you know, for these people. Teams, organizations, institutions, communities, society and country level. Right? And then design what will support this

Speaker D: and the other part of that. I'm so glad you said that. That's so funny. Begin with the end in mind. We always ask employer partners, like, what does success look like for you? You know what's funny? That's what we ask the student. What does success look like for you? So it's, it. I, I love that you said that. Learning and listening for growth and for our growth and for the growth of the two. The, the two groups that are our clients, the people, the, the People that we care about the most. Uh, the students and then the employer partners.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker D: Um, like, of bridging.

Speaker C: Right?

Speaker D: Yeah, like, yeah, everybody's growing.

Speaker C: And I'll bring a very quick personal example from. From our work. Um, you know, in. In our work with, um, you know, young people and institutions and serving, you know, so many institutions with the, uh, you know, housing solutions. I have a great.

Speaker D: Which is. Which is amazing.

Speaker C: Right?

Speaker D: Okay, tell me your story. And, uh, I. Yeah, please tell me. Me.

Speaker C: So what. What I learned is, is that, you know, exactly. The piece of advice that we just discussed is that, you know, I found my team to be struggling to reach the goal. So, like, one day I said, there's got to be a way. And. And, you know, why are we not reaching the goal? So I. I take a very deliberate moment to, you know, say, okay, you know, it's extreme ownership. We gotta own this, and this is what we need to do. And. And I kept preaching to. Then, uh, you know, uh, one day I was so frustrated that my wife said, um, are you okay? Like, is everything okay? And she sort of questioned me. And I said, um, you know, it's so hard. Uh, you know, I don't know why we're not achieving the goals. And they're like, well, do they have the skills to, like, what you expecting them? I was like, wait a moment. So I went back and changed my strategy, and I sat down with the team and I said, uh. And I first separately talked to them and I said, you know, I know, you know, this past week was, you know, so hard, and, you know, all of that, but what can I do for you? And one of them opened up and said, I actually don't know how to do what you're asking me to do. And I was like, What? I take 10 minutes and we go into a platform, and then we basically, I show them, this is what you do. And then the next thing, ah, you know, what. What I can do. And I quickly look up, you know, ABC course Udemy pops up. I purchased the course and I say, thank you so much for being part of the team. This course is for you. I hope you're going to learn. And guess what? That's one of my top, uh, you know, people in my team now.

Speaker D: Well, I just want you to know how what you all do makes such a difference. I. I won't say where I was working, but out of my window, um, early in the morning, a hundred young people waiting in a line for food. Clearly homeless. Wow. And so you can get there, of no fault of your own. And, and, and so to put that with what you're doing is amazing. So thank you, thank your team for that. I mean, it's a real thing. It's a real thing.

Speaker C: There are 20 million students in the United States and 79% of them stay off campus. And there's millions of stories of these young people being homeless and not achieving the success academically. So we realized that, that we should do something about it. And that's how, you know, we realized that we were in, in the business of student, uh, success outside of classroom. So we, you know, similarly, um, you know, reciprocate and turn back to you for, you know, gratitude, um, to share this, you know, wonderful stories and examples of educational leadership, innovation, um, entrepreneurship and um, as we sort of, uh, go into the future, I hope there will be more opportunities to learn from you. And for those, uh, listeners who would like to, you know, find you and contact you or, you know, collaborate, uh, with you, what's the best way to find you?

Speaker D: Oh, the best way to find me is through email. And you can make it urgent because then I'll, I'll open it immediately. Antoinena Farmer Thompson Strayer Edu. Or I would say Lucy would probably want you to find me on LinkedIn.

Speaker C: Yes.

Speaker D: Because there's a group of folks that um, will help me manage that. So I would say, I would say LinkedIn. And just make sure it's Antoinette. Yeah.

Speaker C: Amazing. Amazing. Well, thank you so much for this wonderful episode and I'm sure you've inspired listeners. You've inspired me for sure. And I hope that, you know, we can stay in touch. Um, once again, thank you so much for being part of Education and Empowerment podcast. Like I said, you know, I'm sure you're inspired. Tune in for more episodes to learn from amazing leaders in higher education and education itself. Until next episode, thank you so much.

Speaker A: We hope you've enjoyed this episode of the Education and Empowerment podcast. This show is brought to you by Forestay, a SaaS enabled online booking marketplace for student and intern housing. Forestay provides turnkey all in one cloud based accommodation software solutions for colleges, universities and organizations. Learn more at offcampus.forestay.com and landlords.forestay.com.