Workshop Session A

10:30am - 11:30am

Boundless by Design: Connecting Cross-Sector Partnerships Across a 9–12 Youth-to-Career Pipeline

At Liguori Academy, postsecondary planning is not a senior-year activity. It is a four-year developmental process embedded in Workforce coursework for every student in grades 9–12. This session explores how intentional, cross-sector partnerships can be designed to support students continuously from early career exploration through postsecondary transition. Grounded in Liguori’s “Boundless Opportunities” model, the program aligns Workforce curriculum, Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), industry partnerships, internships, and individualized advising into a coherent youth-to-career ecosystem. Participants will learn how Liguori engages industry professionals through a range of partnership structures, including its LIFT (Liguori Impact Force Team) advisory board, to support student success through classroom engagement, workplace visits, mentoring, job shadowing, and hiring pipelines.

With Ryan Allen & Abigail Appleton
Liguori Academy

Houston Hall – Class of ’49

Workshop Materials

Understanding DHS, Community Umbrella Agencies (CUA) and Your Role Supporting Youth

 This workshop helps participants understand what happens after a hotline call, recognize the different types of DHS involvement and services, and make more informed decisions when concerns arise. It also focuses on strengthening participants’ ability to support youth who are already involved in child welfare or juvenile justice services.

 

With Cydney Irving-Dasent
City of Philadelphia

Houston Hall – Ben Franklin

Designing Data-Informed Pathways: Using Assessment & Coaching to Strengthen Cross‑Program Partnerships

Designing Data-Informed Pathways: Using Assessment & Coaching to Strengthen Cross‑Program Partnerships, for the C2L-PHL Work-based Learning Institute

With Karla Hill
GPS Career and Business Strategies

Houston Hall – Golkin

From Graduation to Income Mobility: Building Sustainable Youth Workforce Programs

Youth workforce programs are often measured by enrollment, completion, and placement. Long-term sustainability, however, depends on demonstrating real economic mobility. This session introduces a scalable approach to tracking income outcomes over time without surveys, tax records, or Social Security numbers. Drawing on Magnolia Impact Solutions’ methodology for quarterly mobility tracking, participants will learn how programs can monitor short- and long-term income changes, compare outcomes to matched peer groups, and generate credible evidence for funders and policymakers. The session will provide practical steps for integrating mobility measurement into sustainability planning so that programs can align funding, strategy, and youth outcomes around what truly matters.

With Roopa Seshadri
Magnolia Impact Solutions

Irvine – Café 58

Promoting Psychological Safety

Psychological safety is essential for engaging and retaining young people across career-connected learning, postsecondary transitions, and early workforce experiences. This interactive session explores how adult behaviors, communication styles, and power dynamics shape young people’s willingness to engage, take risks, and persist. Participants will identify practices that support or undermine psychological safety and learn practical strategies—such as empathetic listening and strength-based language—to foster trust, inclusion, and resilience in youth-serving environments.

Workshop Session B

1:15pm - 2:00pm

Developing Entrepreneurial Mindsets

Fostering entrepreneurial mindsets can empower young people to embody a growth mindset, tap into their creativity, and build cross-sector skills that will support postsecondary success. In this session, you’ll learn about key terms in entrepreneurship, envision a future where students tap into entrepreneurial mindsets, and explore strategies that can be used with middle and high school students to prepare them for their future.

With Shira Woolf Cohen & Tiffany Searles
Innovageous

Irvine – Amado

Ready 2 Learn: Supporting Youth in Preparation for Summer Experiences

During this session, we will present the work we do with students in preparation for summer work experiences and how they will be supported during the journey. 

With Amirah Cutts & Tiffany Thornton
Academy at Penn

Houston Hall – Ben Franklin

Students as Partners: Expanding Employer Engagement

This session explores how students can act as active partners in employer engagement, helping expand access to career conversations, work-based learning, and internships. Participants will walk through a student-driven model that complements traditional employer partnerships, including the structures and guardrails that make student outreach effective and appropriate.

With Rebecca Agostino
Prentix

Houston Hall – Golkin

Workshop Materials

Supporting Learners with Autism and Other Disabilities in Workforce Development Programs

This session offers practical strategies to support neurodivergent learners, including autistic learners and those with other disabilities, in workforce development and youth development programs. While this session focuses on neurodiversity, everything we touch on is beneficial for youth with other disabilities and all learners. 

With Jessica Sances & Jackie Abrams
AJ Drexel Autism Institute 

Houston Hall – Class of ’49

Maximizing Your Fiscal Oversight & Spending

No one wants to leave money on the table, not you or the funders. Learn best practices for budgeting your grant awards to maximize your grant funding, monitoring spending, projecting future underspending for a grant’s fiscal year, and when necessary, requesting budget modifications timely and efficiently.     

With Miya McAfee
JEVS Human Services

Irvine – Café 58