Team MindShift - QuickReskill(tm)

We intend to break the cycle of underemployment.  QuickReskill™ provides PNJs (person/people needing jobs) with tools for self-describing their skills and the desired work that excites them.  It then provides multi-dimensional matching with entry-level in-demand jobs that provide wages above the living threshold.  For each PNJ, QuickReskill develops a personalized roadmap for reskilling to qualify for those jobs, and for professional development during employment.  QuickReskill will positively change lives by increasing retention and job satisfaction for PNJs from the community being served. 

We intend to break the cycle of structual underemployment. [https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/I... ] .  For example, in San Diego County unemployment has increased from 2.9% to 9.0% in the past 12 months [https://www.labormarketinfo.ed... ].  Over 100 million americans are in the working poor [1 in 4] as defined by [https://www.policylink.org/dat... ] creating an environment of economic insecurity.  We are currently working on reskilling in the Chicago area, where zzzz number of people are underemployed or unemployed [https://ycharts.com/indicators... ].  Contributing factors include lack of individual job satisfaction and lack of skills/training for more interesting/matched jobs.  QuickReskill addresses those and other contributing factors.

QuickReskill is:

-       Directed Conversational Chatbot where PNJs articulate their interests, lived experiences, skills, and the desired work that excites them.  The Chatbot content will be analyzed and stored.

-       In parallel, we acquire job details from online job boards (via API), analyze and store that content.

-       The magic of QuickReskill is matching PNJs to desired jobs with transparent multi-dimensional matching, and generating personalized roadmaps for reskilling to qualify for those jobs.  We’ll leverage new and existing online training for the reskilling, including training we’ve designed for success in learning to learn.

To build QuickReskill, we’ll use natural language processing, artificial intelligence, knowledge representation, recommender engine machine learning, and an innovative mobile-accessible user interface.

For retention and ongoing professional development, we’ll encourage PNJs to participate in QuickReskill’s post-placement office hours and online community.

We currently work with several communities of underemployed people and workforce development staff in Chicago, Atlanta, and San Diego.  For example, we work with the Living Word Christian Center (Chicago, in a predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhood), reskilling local unemployed adults for work in technology fields such as data science and computer programming.  In this setting, PNJs express that they would like safe jobs, secure jobs, wages that are at least at a living threshold, and they need solutions quickly.  PNJs also express desires for long-term employment that is fulfilling and exciting with opportunities for career development, matching their interests, but that is secondary to making money soon and reliably to care for their families.   We understand this because we grew up in low-income neighborhoods, where housing and food insecurity impacts families daily, and now we serve these communities.  QuickReskill is designed for rapid reskilling, personalized training, confidence-building, and multi-dimensional matching between PNJs and in-demand jobs. 

The outcome of using QuickReskill is that (1) learners are well-matched with in-demand local jobs that are exciting to them; (2) learners are well-trained for current work and career growth in the industry they chose, including emotional, self-talk and soft skills training for ongoing learning; (3) personalized training is quick and includes non-degree pathways for entry-level jobs; (4) ongoing support, via office hours and online community, for continued retention,  professional development, and career growth.  This multi-dimensional matching is made possible because of QuickReskill’s Chatbot, through which learners articulate their interests, lived experiences, skills, and the desired work that excites them.

For the work proposed under this grant, we will have 2 part-time staff (who are full-time employees at Team MindShift), 3 part-time contractors, 1 part-time intern.

Our current team of 6 people includes ethnic/racial diversity (Black, White, American, Romanian, Iranian), gender diversity (male, female), age (ranging between 20’s – 60’s).  Furthermore, as our team grows, we welcome and actively recruit candidates from diverse backgrounds and communities. 

Our Person Needing Job (PNJ) approach has multiple unique aspects to it:

1. PNJ matching to local area job based on multifaceted dimensions of person and job opportunity.  This creates more job satisfaction and productivity.

2. Approach to learning provides a foundation for PNJ to learn quicker, more agile and with supportive emotions and introspection.

3. Support after training with not only job placement but continued mentoring and support.  This creates a pathway to continued success and not just an employment end goal.

The core technology is a number of modern techniques that the team has worked with throughout our careers.

+ Adaptive AI Knowledge Representation

+ Natural Language Processing along with Chatbot Technology

+ Psychological and intellectual Teaching Techniques and Tools

+ Crowdsourcing Learning and Support

+ API and system integration techniques

+ Big Data, Cloud Computing, and Deep Learning technology

1. The training technology has been used to successfully train people developing data science expertise for over 3 years in a large manufacturing company and a large media company. It has also been applied to a prestigious university bootcamp environment.

2. The Knowledge Representation was used successfully in a self-directed piano tutoring system, reducing participant training time by over 75% [https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~rbd/pa...]

Diagram of our theory of change https://docs.google.com/presen...

This year goals:

+ Complete the development of the matching agent

+ Continue to scale emotion, self-talk and learning training

Five years

+ have national presents with accounts in over 20 states using our technology to reskill our focused population of PNJs

Current year Barriers

+ Funding to support development team for matching system development

+ Funding to support continued skills development course initatives

Five year barrier

+ Marketing plan to support scalling to 20 state usage

Current year barriers

+ seeking funding through opportunities like this

+ approaching companies with in-demand job opportunities and creating win-win partnerships

+ self funding ad sweat equity in the development of software systems

Five year barrier

+ hiring marketing skilled organizations of consultants to help with formulating expansion plan.

Identifying a way to measure and then collecting measurement data about pose-reskilling:   1. Retention rate in terms of time in position, job satisfaction, and fulfillment

   2. Effectiveness of training courses

Robert earned B.S. and M.S. from MIT in Electrical Engineering and an M.S. and Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon in Computer Science. Former Data Scientist and Director for Stanley Black & Decker. Has built 100s of Web, Mobile, Desktop, and Learning applications. University Professor, taught over 4,000 students bulk adult learners. Holds a patent for an internet radio DJ system. Speaks frequently at conferences, recently, the Wall Street Journal AI Executive Forum. Greatest accomplishment father two awesome teenage boys.

Donna earned BS, MS, and Ph.D. engineering degrees with a focus on electrical engineering, computer science, artificial intelligence, and data science.  Experience includes designing and implementing STEM education programs with and in communities that are underrepresented in STEM fields.  Donna co-founded a technology startup company that grew to include 64 employees, over 3000 customers, and software products that are still serving customers almost 20 years after the startup was acquired for $147M.  She has managed diverse teams of technical staff, providing professional development coaching to individuals in entry-level roles, mid-career staff, and experienced R&D engineers.

Craig received an S.B. in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, attended graduate school at the University of California at Berkeley, and studied at La Sorbonne in Paris. He has managed and trained technology development teams in the US and Europe, at companies including AT&T Bell Laboratories, Pacific Bell, Verilog, Oce, and served as technology director and/or operating officer in several start-up ventures including Team MindShift, an innovative training and technology solutions company.

By establishing a funnel to businesses for in-demand job candidates as well as services to help with better retention we create a value add to employers that they are willing to pay for. They will pay in terms of:

1. Opportunities to develop focused talent pools

2. Support in professional development

3. Through an opportunity marketplace that will provide current learners an opportunity to deliver learned services to company needs while also developing keep business expertise (apprenticeship, internship type of program). Currently being developed with project in the Chicago area.

+ Grant funding in Chicago partner area

+ Business funindg source in Atlanta from training program enrollment

+ Grant applications TBD from large corporations looking for reskilled entry and mid level job candidates.

We are looking for $250K

1. Run hybrid online/virtual training program

2. Market to companies as potential employee candidate sources

3. Continued development and refinement of Job Matching system

Estimated expenses categories

1. System infrastructure (cloud systems, data storage and AI infrastructure)

2. Wages surrounding development and support team

3. Marketing and corporate liasons

for more detail financials and budget please fill out contact us information at https://teammindshift.com/cont...

We’re developing and improving QuickReskill to positively impact our communities.  We understand the urgency of people needing jobs, and how important that is to individuals and families on many different levels — financial, emotional, cultural, and others.  We’re applying to be a part of your like-minded community to help solve these challenging problems, and because we would appreciate your financial support. 

1. Funding and Revenue Models - help with identifying grants, organizations and infrastructures to support. This will help augment our grant and organization opportunities.

2. Legal - Help to provide legal and IP protection guidance for our technology. We are currently seeking IP legal advisors.

3. Marketing, Media and Exposure - Helping to augment our development of an effective marketing strategy for PNJ, organization who need employees and other organizations that our technology can plug into to make a significant difference.

Workforce Development Boards - feeder for our PNJ and guidance of where our resources will make the most positive impact.

Companies that need in-demand entry level workers and don't have the supply chain to fill all the positions.

Organizations that are working to create a workforce prepared for work now and in the futre by not only understanding the needed skills but also how to learn how to learn future skills and processes.