Two people sitting at a table with laptops covered in stickers. One person is smiling; the other appears attentive. They are in a bright room with modern decor.
Project

Talent of Tomorrow Fellowship

On this page

October 17, 2023

At a Glance

JFF’s Talent of Tomorrow Fellowship was a no-cost professional development program for HR professionals to learn how to recruit skilled workers from an often-overlooked source of talent: community college career and technical education (CTE) programs. The fellowship ran from 2020-2025 and is no longer accepting applications. This page remains live as a resource for employers and education partners.

Practices & Centers

JFF’s Talent of Tomorrow Fellowship was a professional development program designed for emerging HR leaders who sought to strengthen their companies’ talent strategies and build partnerships with community college CTE programs.

Participants discovered how to engage with CTE programs to recruit highly skilled workers and build teams of people with local roots who will make long-term commitments to their employers.

 

A Win-Win Proposition

Through the Talent of Tomorrow Fellowship, fellows and their employers gained valuable experience and insights that continue to inform how companies approach community college and CTE partnerships today.

Fellows gained practical experience and insights that helped them:

  • Discover new talent development strategies
  • Learn from community college instructors who are experts in their fields
  • Experience firsthand the untapped power of community college CTE programs
  • Network with a national cohort of emerging leaders in their fields

Participating organizations strengthened their talent strategies and were able to:

  • Build more robust and reliable talent pipelines
  • Diversify their workforces
  • Work with community colleges to develop CTE programs that are responsive to the talent needs of employers in their local economies

What Did Talent of Tomorrow Fellows Experience?

Designed for emerging HR and talent leaders, the Talent of Tomorrow Fellowship combined virtual learning, individual coaching, and experiential site visits to help participants build and sustain partnerships with community college CTE programs.

Fellows engaged in self-paced online learning, received one-on-one coaching from community college faculty to develop a final capstone pitch for their company, and took part in site visits that brought innovative partnerships to life. Together, these experiences created a dynamic learning journey that helped fellows translate new insights into action within their organizations.

Jennifer Lucia, IBM Employee and 2021 Talent of Tomorrow Fellow:

“What are different pathways that can be created to provide accessible opportunities for people that don’t necessarily have the privilege to earn a four-year degree? That’s why I joined the Talent of Tomorrow Fellowship—it aims to help employers bridge that gap.”

Tamara Webb, Trane Technologies Employee and 2024 Talent of Tomorrow Fellow:

“Throughout the program, I learned innovative talent development strategies and had the privilege of networking with amazing leaders who are dedicated to identifying diverse pathways for talent to thrive.”

Ryan J. Ellis, Lincoln Electric Employee and 2021 Talent of Tomorrow Fellow:

“What worked a year and a half ago is not working today, and so we are constantly looking at what we can do differently and be a little more innovative in our recruitment—that is why I joined the Talent of Tomorrow Fellowship.”

Companies Represented by Our Fellows

Through the Talent of Tomorrow Fellowship, JFF has engaged 60+ fellows representing 45 companies. They represent industries including health care, IT, manufacturing, financial services, retail, and the skilled trades, with an estimated combined workforce of at least 4.8 million employees globally. Here are the companies represented by our most recent cohorts:

Amazon logo with lowercase black letters and a yellow arrow underneath pointing from the "a" to the "z.
The ASCM logo with green block letters and arrows, and the text "Association for Supply Chain Management" below.
Autodesk logo with a stylized triangular icon in blue and green shades to the left of the bold black word "AUTODESK" on a white background.
Capital One logo featuring the company name in blue text with a red arc swoosh above and behind the word "One" on a white background.
The Discover logo with the word "DISCOVER" in black capital letters and an orange gradient circle replacing the letter "O.
LinkedIn logo with the word "Linked" in blue letters, followed by "in" inside a blue square on a white background.
Microsoft logo featuring four colored squares (red, green, blue, yellow) forming a window symbol, with the word "Microsoft" in gray text to the right.
The black Nike logo features the word "NIKE" in bold letters above a large swoosh symbol on a white background.
Prologis logo featuring stylized green and blue globe above the company name in bold green and light green text.
Salesforce logo featuring the word "salesforce" in white lowercase letters inside a blue cloud shape on a white background.
Walmart logo with blue text and a yellow spark symbol on a white background.
The Wells Fargo logo featuring white text on a red background with a yellow underline.
Workday logo featuring the word "workday" in blue lowercase letters with an orange arc above the text.

Why Career and Technical Education Programs? 

Employers face a growing talent shortage, and the gap is widening as technology reshapes the skills companies need. By partnering with community and technical college CTE programs, businesses can access a direct, cost-effective pipeline of skilled, work-ready talent.

CTE programs graduate more than 1.3 million people each year with in-demand, industry-aligned skills. These partnerships let employers co-design training, influence curriculum, and develop a workforce that’s local, qualified, and prepared for the future.

See the impact in action: Hear directly from Fellowship alumni about how these partnerships are transforming their talent strategies.

Ready to Build the Workforce of Tomorrow?

Two people wearing plaid shirts and backpacks are standing outdoors, talking and smiling, with a building and greenery in the background.

JFF’s Power Your Workforce playbook is a practical guide for employers who want to tap into the power of community and technical college CTE programs. It explains how these programs work and provides a clear, step-by-step path for engaging with them as strategic partners.

A simple black outline of a hand holding a glowing light bulb, enclosed within a green circle.For companies ready to go further, JFF offers hands-on support. Our team works directly with employers to strengthen talent pipelines, identify and build impactful partnerships, and design future-ready workforce strategies. Learn more.

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