Community thought-leaders united at Lancaster County’s premier workforce development event: the Workforce 2030 Summit, hosted on the campus of Elizabethtown College on August 1-3.
Keynote speaker Errika Moore
The summit, which was organized by Lancaster County STEM Alliance and sponsored by the Steinman Foundation, was designed to highlight strategies and practices that will help employers, K-12 education, higher education, and community members to create a world-class workforce in Lancaster County by 2030.
“This summit is one component of an ongoing conversation regarding the current and future health of Lancaster County’s STEM and STEM-related workforce,” Etown Education Program Director and Associate Professor of PK-12 STEM Education Peter Licona said. “Elizabethtown College is one of the major stakeholders in Lancaster County and has much to contribute to the conversation about and efforts directed at workforce development.”
Attendees, which included more than 250 business leaders, K-12 educators, higher education administrators, and community members, had an opportunity to hear nationally recognized speakers with important perspectives on workforce development, work collaboratively with colleagues to address specific workforce development issues, and network informally with others in the community who are committed to creating a world-class workforce of diverse, highly skilled individuals across the three-day summit.
Keynote speakers for the event included Executive Director of the National STEM Funder’s Network Errika Moore, Vice President at Norco College and author of the book, “(Re) Defining the Goal,” Dr. Kevin J. Fleming, and American statistician and mathematician at Harvey Mudd College Talithia D. Williams.
President Betty Rider welcomed attendees to Elizabethtown College. Dean of Faculty & Associate Provost for Student Learning Matt Skillen led a session at the summit while Teaching & Learning Design Studio Administrator Jillian Kleis helped with the planning of a session.
“Over the last few years, Elizabethtown College has placed a great emphasis on redefining our educational offerings to include a renewed focus on curriculum integrating health and STEM,” President Betty Rider said. “We’ve expanded our programs to include majors in Physician Assistant Studies, Public Health, and Neuroscience, and Nursing, added a concentration to our Engineering program focusing on Mechatronics, and have created two new graduate-level programs including a master’s in Counseling Psychology and a Doctor of Occupational Therapy.”
The summit built upon, and extended work done at Rock Lititz in June 2022, when community leaders came together to craft aspirational goals, and related strategic priorities, for Lancaster County.