- September 12, 2023
- Posted by: Team SAi
- Categories:
September is National Workforce Development month! As a strong supporter of the future STEM pipeline, Dr. Bankston works on building a robust STEM workforce through research, training, policy, and advocacy with several initiatives. Among them, she leads the Bankston Lab hosted in the Sai Resident Collective, an incubator for emerging scholars and social entrepreneurs building the next generation of civic science scholarship and initiatives connecting science and society.
As the current and only policy focused group in the collective, the Bankston Lab seeks to build the future STEM workforce through policy change using research studies and training programs. Under Dr. Bankston’s leadership, the Bankston Lab recently joined Tomorrow’s Workforce Coalition on behalf of SAi. The Coalition was announced in July 2023, is led by the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and the Professional Certification Coalition (PCC), and its work was covered in POLITICO.
The Coalition advocates for beneficial workforce development policies that strengthen our economy, seeks to secure Senate and House cosponsors, and to advocate for the passage of the Freedom to Invest in Tomorrow’s Workforce Act (S. 722 / H.R. 1477). The Bankston Lab joined the Coalition and endorsed the sign-on letter for the legislation to advance in Congress in order to enhance workforce development policy to support all economic sectors; and increase awareness among policymakers, media and other stakeholders about how postsecondary credentials benefit workers, consumers, industries, professions and employers across the economy.
To further bolster support for the STEM workforce, Dr. Bankston will participate in two upcoming events this September.
- Firstly, she will be a career panelist during a plenary session at the Inaugural S-STEM Scholars Meeting in Washington, DC on September 15. The event engages talented low-income undergraduate and graduate students in STEM from academic institutions across the U.S. and seeks to increase their success in STEM pathways through community building and professional development.
- Secondly, she is a convenor and moderator for a session at the Science Summit at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on September 21. The session is focused on building an equitable future in science education and workforce development through partnerships, educational alignment with the labor market, and educational policy reforms needed to build a strong scientific workforce.
To discuss more about Dr. Bankston’s work to support the STEM workforce, the M-Lab (also located in the collective) looks forward to having her on saiTV (their flagship project) towards the end of September. Stay tuned for more!