Accelerating Recovery through Credentials: Rapid Response Toolkit

Resources to Help Leaders Prioritize and Commit to Strategies for Urgent Reskilling

The massive disruptions caused by COVID-19 have left millions out of work and disproportionately impacted women, people of color, and those with lower levels of education. As people displaced from their jobs by the pandemic look to get back to work, many will return to higher education to gain new skills and credentials. But are higher education institutions and systems prepared to effectively serve displaced workers as learners and help them get back into the workforce? 

In order to equitably recover from the pandemic and economic crisis, decision makers must plan for and execute on strategic actions to quickly support displaced workers, as learners, in obtaining the skills needed to transition into careers of the new economy. To support leaders in their efforts, Education Strategy Group (ESG) has created a Rapid Response Toolkit, which contains strategies and resources to help them prioritize and commit to urgent reskilling. 

The toolkit, which is part of ESG’s larger Accelerating Recovery through Credentials initiative, is intended to help build urgency and expedite the process to plan reskilling responses to enable swift action. It is designed to guide institutional and state leaders through a process of building a Rapid Response Action Plan for immediately meeting the reskilling needs of adult learners, especially those displaced by the pandemic. 

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