CitiesSpeak | National League of Cities
NLC President and Little Rock, Arkansas, Mayor Mark Stodola explains the importance of city officials and local business leaders investing in afterschool and summer learning programs as a way to address the “workforce skills crisis.”
Last week, seven mayors and corporate executives from their respective cities met in Saint Paul, Minnesota, to explore new pathways for using afterschool and summer learning programs to help children and youth develop the workforce skills needed for the 21st Century economy.
The Mayors and Corporate Leaders Symposium: Afterschool and Summer Learning as a Strategy to Address the Workforce Skills Crisis was hosted by National League of Cities (NLC) leadership – NLC President and Mayor of Little Rock, Arkansas, Mark Stodola, First Vice President and Mayor of Gary, Indiana, Karen Freeman-Wilson, and former-NLC President and Mayor of Saint Paul Christopher Coleman – and focused on how city and local business leaders can work together to incorporate workforce skill building into afterschool and summer learning programs, with a special emphasis on social and emotional skills (sometimes referred to as “soft, foundational or employability skills”).