What Upskill America does

Upskill America is an employer-led initiative of the Aspen Institute's Economic Opportunities Program, founded in 2016 and headquartered in Washington, D.C. Its stated purpose is to expand economic opportunity for America's front-line workers by supporting employers and workforce organizations in building high-quality educational and career advancement pathways. The initiative operates a non-profit, grant-funded model in which foundations and partners (notably Western Governors University and the Trellis Foundation) underwrite research, publications, and program delivery, with no fees charged for access to programs, publications, or resources.

The product surface consists of four interlocking offerings: the Education and Career Mobility Fellowship (a cohort-based leadership program with sequential classes from 2023-2024 through 2025-2026), the Upskilling Playbook for Employers (a multi-chapter strategic guide covering ecosystem design, program components, metrics, implementation, maturity levels, apprenticeships, and AI integration), the What Employers Really Want paper series on durable skills (five publications co-produced with Western Governors University), and the Workforce Leadership Academies (12-month intensive programs currently operating in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Greater Triangle, North Carolina).

Distribution is content-led, leveraging the Aspen Institute's owned digital channels (website, blog, YouTube, LinkedIn, X, Facebook, Instagram) plus summits, webinars, and convenings. The customer base is multi-stakeholder rather than transactional: primary segments are employers, workforce intermediaries, policymakers, and front-line workers, engaged through fellowship applications, academy participation, and ecosystem convenings. The initiative's competitive position is anchored in the Aspen Institute brand, a deep multi-stakeholder network, and co-funded research partnerships rather than proprietary technology.

Name

Upskill America

Legal name

Upskill America

Website

https://upskillamerica.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Upskill America is an Aspen Institute initiative that convenes employers, workforce intermediaries, and policymakers through fellowships, playbooks, research, and academies to expand career advancement opportunities for America's front-line workers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Workforce Development Services

NAICS

Employment Services (5613), Apprenticeship Training (611513)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Incumbent Worker Training & Upskilling (EDAAAOAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Workforce Development, Employment Readiness & Job Placement (BPADAKAE), Internship/Apprenticeship Matching & Work-Based Learning Platforms (EDAFAMAL)

Keywords

• Workforce development
• Upskilling programs
• Career mobility
• Skills-based hiring
• Employer-led training

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Grant Funding: Upskill America is funded through grants and support from foundations and organizations committed to workforce development and economic opportunity. Examples include Western Governors University support for research publications.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Upskill America is an employer-led movement and initiative of the Aspen Institute's Economic Opportunities Program that supports workforce development through fellowships, leadership academies, research publications, and an upskilling playbook. The organization helps employers and workforce intermediaries adopt skills-based practices that advance employee career mobility. It operates as a convener, researcher, and capacity-builder rather than a direct training provider.

Product overview

UpSkill America is an employer-led initiative under the Aspen Institute's Economic Opportunities Program that operates as a platform of interconnected workforce development offerings. The portfolio includes the Education and Career Mobility Fellowship (training leaders to navigate complex workforce systems), the Upskilling Playbook for Employers (a comprehensive strategic guide with multiple thematic chapters covering ecosystem approach, program design, metrics, implementation, maturity levels, and AI integration), the What Employers Really Want paper series on durable skills, and the Workforce Leadership Academies. Together these products provide employers and workforce organizations with guidance, research, fellowship programs, and practical frameworks to expand career advancement opportunities for front-line workers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Upskilling Playbook for Employers: A strategic guide for organizations to build, scale, and integrate skills-based workforce development initiatives that drive business performance and career growth.
• Education and Career Mobility Fellowship
• Workforce Leadership Academies

Products and services

• Upskilling Playbook An online playbook providing employers with guidance, frameworks, and tools to design and launch frontline worker upskilling programs. Targeted at HR leaders, learning and development teams, and workforce strategy practitioners.
• Education and Career Mobility Fellowship A fellowship program that brings together employer and workforce development leaders to develop and implement career mobility initiatives within their organizations. Targeted at senior workforce, HR, and talent development leaders.
• Workforce Leadership Academies A multi-session academy program for workforce development leaders to build capability in designing, implementing, and scaling upskilling and career mobility programs.
• What Employers Really Want Paper Series A research publication series examining what employers actually want from job seekers and employees in terms of skills, credentials, and competencies, aimed at informing employer practice and public policy.

Quantifiable outcome

• Education and Career Mobility Fellowship produces cohorts of trained leaders annually
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Western Governors UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvided support for the What Employers Really Want paper series on durable skills. UpSkill America collaborated with Western Governors University to research how US employers value and prioritize durable skills in early-career hires. The partnership produced five publications in the series.
• Trellis FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSupported the Streamlining Success in Nursing Training Programs in Texas initiative. The partnership focuses on advancing innovative, work-based approaches to nursing education across Texas, with Trellis Foundation providing funding for implementation partners including nursing programs in Texas.
• Ivy Tech Community CollegesupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner institution in RAND evaluation study examining the Accelerating Opportunities for Youth (AYD) program. Millions of administrative data records were used to analyze whether AYD participation was associated with differences in credential completion for working learners.
• Excel by EightsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerArkansas nonprofit partner in The Care Catalyst initiative exploring how strategic investments in child care benefits stabilize employees and strengthen small businesses. Work highlighted in a brief exploring child care benefits as retention tool for small businesses.
• Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities ProgramcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUpskill America is an initiative of the Aspen Institute's Economic Opportunities Program (EOP). EOP advances strategies, policies, and ideas for building an inclusive economy through dialogue, leadership, and action.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Year Up: Year Up is a workforce development nonprofit providing training, internships, and support to young adults, addressing similar upskilling and career-mobility outcomes for front-line workers. It is a direct peer in mission though more service-delivery heavy than Upskill America's convening focus.
• National Skills Coalition: National Skills Coalition is a nonprofit advocating for state and federal policies that grow skills-based opportunities for workers. Its policy-and-equity framing and employer engagement model overlap directly with Upskill America's upskilling and skills-based hiring work.
• Jobs for the Future (JFF): JFF is a U.S. nonprofit that drives transformation of workforce and education systems to advance economic opportunity, similar to Upskill America's employer-led movement mission. Both operate as intermediaries connecting employers, training providers, and policymakers around skills-based pathways.
• Opportunity@Work: Opportunity@Work is a nonprofit social enterprise focused on skills-based hiring and the STARs (Skilled Through Alternative Routes) workforce, directly overlapping with Upskill America's mission to advance skills-based pathways and durable-skills recognition for front-line workers.
• Per Scholas: Per Scholas provides tuition-free technology training and career support to individuals from under-resourced communities, directly comparable to Upskill America's upskilling mission for front-line workers seeking career advancement.
• America Succeeds: America Succeeds is a nonprofit focused on aligning education and workforce systems with employer demand, similar to Upskill America's employer-led, durable-skills approach. Both publish research aimed at employer and policymaker audiences.

Emerging players

• Guild Education: Guild Education is a private-sector education and upskilling platform that partners with employers to fund and deliver education benefits for front-line workers. It is an emerging commercial counterpart to Upskill America's employer-led upskilling movement.

Broad incumbents

• SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management): SHRM is the largest HR professional membership organization in the U.S. and addresses workforce skills, talent, and HR capability at broad scale. Its scope is much wider than Upskill America, but it operates as an incumbent voice on workforce issues to employers.

Others

• National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB): NAWB represents the U.S. publicly funded workforce development board system, an adjacent ecosystem participant that overlaps with Upskill America's workforce-intermediary segment. It is an infrastructure partner rather than a direct competitor.
• Markle Foundation: The Markle Foundation is a philanthropic organization that has historically invested in workforce and skills initiatives including Skillful and Rework America. It overlaps thematically with Upskill America's employer-led skills and economic opportunity work.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/upskillamerica
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/AspenInstitute
• Facebookfacebook.com/AspenInstitute
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-aspen-institute
• Instagraminstagram.com/aspeninstitute

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Upskill America