Tag: Advancing San Diego

Advancing San Diego summer internships bridge education and industry

By Emily Chowaniec,

Advancing San Diego: Building talent pipelines

EDC’s Advancing San Diego (ASD) internship program, run in partnership with the Border Region Talent Pipeline K-16 Collaborative and Imperial Valley EDC, has transformed how students across San Diego gain early career experience, while helping local businesses address talent needs. In Summer 2025, the ASD program placed 210 interns at 110 companies across San Diego and Imperial Counties, creating an invaluable bridge between education and industry in high-growth, high-wage fields like engineering, computing, and business. This program plays a crucial role in addressing regional talent shortages, helping local companies access vetted, diverse talent and offering students paid, hands-on learning opportunities in high-demand industries.

Summer 2025 by the numbers

*Priority populations include low-income individuals, first-generation college students, current community college students or community college transfers, veterans and active-duty military students, and students with disabilities

Addressing the talent gap with community impact

At the heart of ASD’s mission is a commitment to reaching under-resourced communities, ensuring that students from diverse backgrounds gain valuable career experience while helping local businesses address critical talent needs. Companies apply each year by early spring to host students from Advancing San Diego Verified Programs to be interns. These Verified Programs are selected based on industry-determined criteria, including industry engagement, diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as curriculum that teaches the most in-demand skills in computing, engineering, and business. This approach ensures that students’ skills align with evolving workforce demands, enhancing the overall impact of the internship experience.

EDC recruits local small to medium-sized businesses to host interns, and once companies are selected, students from Verified Programs apply for available internship roles. With more student applicants than available positions, students from priority populations receive preferred access to internship positions. In Summer 2025, 82 percent of interns identified with one or more priority populations, up nine percent from 2024. Importantly, the program provides financial support covering intern wages at a competitive rate. In 2025, local companies saved more than $1 million in payroll costs, ensuring businesses can prioritize mentorship and on-the-job training over recruitment logistics.

Real-world experience and career advancement

Each year, the internship program provides students with valuable work experience directly linked to their academic pursuits, equipping them with practical skills and career confidence. At the same time, companies benefit from student contributions. Surveyed companies shared that hosting interns improved their outlook on early-career talent: 91 percent agreed or strongly agreed that the program increased their likelihood of hiring a university student, and 82 percent said the same for community college students. For employers, this means a pipeline of highly motivated, well-prepared candidates who bring immediate value.

Day in the Life of a San Diego Intern video campaign

During the 2025 summer internship program, ASD launched its first “Day in the Life of a San Diego Intern” video campaign, inviting interns to share a glimpse into their internship experience through short videos. Thanks to generous donations from the San Diego Padres, San Diego FC, San Diego Wave FC, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, and SeaWorld San Diego, ASD was able to give five lucky winners tickets to signature San Diego experiences. The video campaign gave ASD interns the opportunity to share their professional experiences with the local business community and increase exposure of careers in San Diego to diverse groups of local young talent.

“After our sixth year partnering with this valuable program, Left Coast Engineering has hosted more than a dozen interns across electrical, mechanical, and aerospace engineering, plus computer science majors. As a small business here in San Diego since 1999, we see this as an opportunity to help develop and equip these engineering students with both the skillsets and mindset for successful product development. Our goal is to help engineers graduate with more experience and more value to benefit any hiring company.”

—Anita Baranowski, CEO, Left Coast Engineering

Is your company interested in hosting summer interns in 2026?

Apply now

Learn more about San Diego’s workforce trends and insights

Explore the talent dashboard

To learn more and get involved in EDC’s work, contact:

Emily Chowaniec
Emily Chowaniec

Coordinator, Talent Initiatives

A note from Mark on Giving Tuesday

By Mark Cafferty,

Dear EDC board members, investors, and friends,

“Giving Tuesday” officially began in 2012 as a fundraising campaign associated with the 92nd Street YMCA in New York City. Today, it has grown to become a “global generosity movement, unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world.” In just 13 years, the effort has gone from raising a few million dollars to support a single cause/campaign to raising billions of dollars for organizations and causes across the globe.

With the Thanksgiving holiday behind us and the year-end holidays just weeks away, we encourage everyone to continue to practice and promote the generosity and kindness that has had such a strong impact in our community over the last few months and throughout this past year. Our own local ‘generosity movement’ has meant the world to individuals, families, and valued institutions during a very difficult time.

Among the list of important and valuable causes, initiatives, and organizations within our region, one effort that remains near and dear to my heart—and one that our work at EDC has become fully aligned with—is that of youth employment and internship programs. As many of you know, I started my career working in school-to-work and school-to-career programs in Boston’s high schools and community colleges. Decades later, I have seen how those very programs changed and improved lives while strengthening and supporting the city’s economic growth and prosperity. We have started to see the same results here in the San Diego region through our Advancing San Diego program, partners, and the Border Region K-16 Collaborative.

As we head into 2026, Advancing San Diego’s post-secondary internship program that has been so generously supported by JPMorganChase and the state of California over the last few years is seeking new and sustained funding and support. Recognizing it as both a critical and important talent recruitment strategy for employers and an impactful work and learning experience for our local first-generation college students, we are hoping that far more San Diego-based employers will lean in to support the program in 2026. For more information on hosting an intern at your business this coming summer, please contact Taylor Dunne. Just hosting and supporting one more intern makes a world of difference.

And for those who cannot host an intern but still wish to support these efforts financially, we encourage you to make a donation to our 501(c)3 to ensure we can maximize the number of young people we place this summer at small and growing businesses. A $7,500 donation will fully cover the wages for an intern for the entire summer at a San Diego small business. A $500 donation will support the transportation, professional clothing, and any other support services needed by most students (especially those who are from more under-resourced backgrounds). And any donation will help support, grow, and advance this important cause.

We know that there are so many important initiatives and organizations that need support right now, but we also know that this is one way where your donation can help individuals and families within our region while also strengthening our economic outlook for the future.

As always, we cannot thank you enough for your leadership and support over the past year, and we look forward to working by your sides to make the year ahead as strong and stable as possible for our region’s businesses, workers, and households.

May all of your days ahead be merry and bright.

With gratitude and respect,

Mark Cafferty
Mark Cafferty

President & CEO

Support the internship program

Read EDC’s monthly report

Report: Meeting San Diego’s healthcare talent needs beyond 2025

By Bridgette Coleman,

Strengthening San Diego’s RN pipeline and expanding specialty training

Healthcare is San Diego’s second largest sector, supporting 160,000 jobs throughout San Diego County and providing critical care for our community. However, a national nursing shortage and aging population are intensifying the demand for skilled healthcare professionals. Simultaneously, communication breakdowns between regional industry and education are leading to misunderstandings around the supply and demand of talent.

To better understand San Diego’s regional demand for talent, EDC’s Advancing San Diego program conducted a comprehensive talent demand survey focused on priority roles in healthcare. The survey engaged nine of the region’s largest healthcare providers, collectively employing 66,000 and operating more than 175 regional facilities, to understand real-time data around critical nursing positions.

Key findings

  • Like much of the nation, San Diego faces a critical shortage of skilled nurses, with the highest demand for Registered Nurses (RNs). Labor market information indicates that the region will need more than 1,500 additional RNs in the next three years, but data from this working group revealed that new graduate nurses—those who have recently completed a training program—account for just 300 of the in-demand roles. Meanwhile, the region is graduating around 2,000 new RNs each year.
  • Most of the future regional demand for RNs will focus on specialization. Employers identified Operating Room RNs as the highest priority for specialty roles.
  • Regional healthcare employers reported a misalignment in the training of Radiological Technologists. 100 percent of surveyed employers said that cross-training Radiologic Technologists and Computed Tomography (CT) Technologists would add value to their organizations and emphasized a need for additional Imaging Technologists (X-ray, CT, Sonography, etc.) in the region.

Healthcare Talent Demand Report 2025

a critical need for specialty nurses

While traditional labor market data shows more than 15,000 regional job postings for RNs in 2024, the bulk of these postings are actually for experienced and specialty nurses, not entry-level roles. At the same time, regional education programs are graduating close to 2,000 RNs each year. The available labor market data does not differentiate demand based on entry-level versus experienced roles, creating a misalignment between employer need and the talent pipeline.

This misalignment illustrates how readily available labor market data—often the primary source for education institutions and policymakers—can misrepresent actual workforce needs

EDC’s employer working group verified this, reporting that regional demand for specialty RNs significantly outpaces demand for new graduate RNs, and ranked Operating Room, ICU/Critical Care, and Labor & Delivery RNs as their top hiring priorities.

Furthermore, as many employers pointed to the oversaturation of new graduate RNs as one reason for the frequently cited shortage of clinical placement opportunities, hospitals must balance the need to upskill incumbent nurses with the growing demand for new grad placements, all while working with an already strained pool of available preceptors. While many hospitals invest heavily in internal training to grow their staff, this model puts the burden of training solely on hospitals who are already feeling the strain of a limited workforce. Limited clinical placement capacity, high costs, and competition across healthcare systems make it increasingly difficult to keep pace with growth and turnover.

Across the nation and in San Diego, specialty RNs remain at the heart of quality care and operational efficiency, nursing career mobility. They support the next generation of nurses through training and precepting – an important factor in retaining talent in the region. Ensuring a steady pipeline of these skilled professionals is not only a workforce issue—it’s also essential to driving the future of San Diego’s innovative healthcare systems and standards of excellence.

San diego’s strong healthcare future

As hospitals focus on building solutions for specialty training, the region must also continue to strengthen the new graduate RN pipeline.

“A balanced healthcare workforce means investing in both new talent and advanced training. By working together as a region, we can create innovative solutions that meet today’s challenges and ensure San Diego’s healthcare system thrives for years to come.”

– Elmerissa Sheets, Senior Director Talent Acquisition and Development, Scripps Health

New graduates trained through local institutions form the foundation of San Diego’s nursing workforce and will be essential in healthcare systems’ ability to meet rising demand.

From there, San Diego’s healthcare providers have a critical opportunity to secure a strong regional talent pipeline and ensure healthy communities into the future—by investing in new graduate RNs and accelerating their pathways into specialty roles.

Explore the full report to learn more and see how the group is beginning to build solutions.

Explore more Talent Demand Reports

Check out Talent Demand Reports across other priority sectors to stay up to date on workforce trends in San Diego.

Dive into the data

Use EDC’s Data Dashboard to explore how local education programs align with regional workforce needs and identify equity gaps in real-time. The dashboard highlights race and gender disparities, program completions, and connections to priority occupations—all designed to support more data-informed talent development efforts in San Diego County.

To learn more and get involved in EDC’s work, contact talent@sandieogbusiness.org.

Bridgette Coleman
Bridgette Coleman

Sr. Manager, Talent Initiatives

Addressing the talent gap through inclusive innovation

By Taylor Dunne,

A regional call to action

In May, San Diego Regional EDC hosted its quarterly convening on the Inclusive Growth goal focused on skilled talent. With more than 50 leaders from private companies, educational institutions, and nonprofit organizations, the discussion focused on creative ways to grow San Diego’s innovation economy workforce. Participants engaged in critical conversation about the ways work-based learning, credit for prior experience, and new forms of education funding will help the region reach its skilled talent goal.

Within the Inclusive Growth framework, the talent goal is the only one measured in annual cohorts. Each year, EDC tracks the number of San Diegans completing a post-secondary education within six years of high school graduation. The goal is to see 20,000 newly skilled workers in San Diego each year.

Post-secondary education completions include certificates, associate’s degrees, bachelor’s degree and post-graduate degrees. The data focuses on students that completed high school in San Diego County, capturing their post-secondary completions regardless of where they went after high school graduation. The goal is driven by two factors:

  1. A thriving innovation economy and evolving technology in every sector mean that most of the jobs being added to the economy require a post-secondary degree.
  2. As San Diego’s high cost of living continues to threaten talent attraction into the region, it is crucial to ensure access to quality jobs for current residents.

For a full breakdown on the purpose of the goal, take a look at the original report.

The goal update

Of the 31,510 students that graduated from a San Diego high school in 2018, 12,850 of them had completed a post-secondary education by 2024. While we did see a one percent decrease from the last report, completions have generally remained consistent following the largest recorded increase from 2020 to 2021. We are not yet seeing the impacts of the COVID pandemic, and likely will not for another two years.

San Diego K-16 Students have sustained PSE completion rates

A double-click into degree completions

When we look one layer deeper at the students that completed a post-secondary degree by 2024, the data reveals good news for San Diego. The demographic distribution of degree-completers is generally reflective of the region’s demographics, and the areas of study are evenly distributed, with Business Administration boasting the highest portion of graduates. Nevertheless, when comparing the types of degrees conferred from 2020 to 2023, there was a decrease in bachelor’s and associate degrees and a significant increase in awards of less than two academic years. With most of the jobs being added in San Diego’s innovation economy requiring a bachelor’s degree, there is a crucial need for stackable credentials. These credentials would allow certificate holders to follow the path to a bachelor’s degree but offer the option to pause along the way while still being qualified for a good job.

The ability to move between the education system and a career is a win for everyone involved. Employers often struggle with unrealistic expectations or an inability to apply theory when hiring people from the academic system with little to no time in industry. On the student side, the cost of getting an education can be a barrier to student completion. Many people benefit from programs that are broken up into more “bite-size pieces,” allowing them to save up between sections/courses. Notably, education institutions that receive additional funding for successful student completion are able to count the same person multiple times when programs are broken up into smaller pieces. This opens the door for more funding opportunities.

Bachelor’s degree completions decrease despite that being the most in demand for new jobs

Talent is evenly distributed, opportunity is not

Despite being an epicenter for innovation and groundbreaking ideas, not all of San Diego’s residents have access to that innovation economy. Poverty disproportionately affects people of color, leading to barriers in educational attainment and the ability to compete for innovation jobs.

Additionally, shrinking high school class sizes mean that the portion of high school graduates going on to complete a post-secondary degree will need to increase for the region to meet its annual goal of 20,000 new skilled workers.

All of this is compounding to create a challenging hiring environment for employers. Even when the economy is facing higher levels of unemployment, the long-term trends around skill alignment and the need for more workers with a post-secondary education remains constant.

As mentioned before, one potential solution is for the region (and the country) to invest in more ways for learners to obtain industry-recognized degrees and credentials. Credit for prior learning or experience, dual-enrollment, and generally improved alignment across education systems become critical.

Innovation economy demographics are not reflective of regional demographics, or the workforce of tomorrow

Addressing the talent gap with strategic partnerships

During the May roundtable, a few partners were able to share how they are working to integrate the education and work journeys for participants.

  • Companies like Vertex Pharmaceuticals, in partnership with Junior Achievement of San Diego County, offer high school internship programs to support students in exploring the professional world and understanding their career aspirations before ever leaving the K-12 system.
  • The community college system is working with employers like GKN to build an apprenticeship hub the enables more earn-and-learn models without the headache that often comes with standing up a registered apprenticeship.
  • Organizations such as Family Health Centers of San Diego have been exploring loan forgiveness as a retention tool for staff, while ASML is investing in internal upskilling to support employee advancement and long-term workforce development.

Call to action

EDC cannot do this work alone. Progress on the 2030 Inclusive Growth goals is only achievable with and through the region’s employers scaling innovative and intentional solutions. If you want to be a part of the incredible group of organizations that are carrying the torch to 2030, EDC invites you to endorse the goals, use data tools like our talent dashboard and the progress reports to tell San Diego’s story, and share with us how you are driving progress toward an Inclusive San Diego.

Also: EDC and Junior Achievement are surveying businesses to understand the benefits of hosting interns. If your San Diego company has recently hosted an intern, please share your insight.

Taylor Dunne
Taylor Dunne

Director, Talent Initiatives

More on inclusive growth

A note from our Talent Initiatives Director

By Taylor Dunne,

Education & how business can fill the gap left by government funding

In the past five months, we have seen our education systems face cuts that threaten our most vulnerable communities. To help contextualize their impact, here’s what we know about the current state of education funding for our region:

  • The Governor is proposing a 7.95 percent cut to the CSU and UC systems. This equates to $128 million in cuts to San Diego alone and makes up nearly 40 percent of all state budget reductions.
  • The House Education and Workforce Committee has proposed $351 billion in budget cuts, including adjusted requirements for Pell Grant eligibility that would impact more than 125,000 students in the CSU system alone.
  • Federal agency research funding faces significant threats. This funding accounts for more than half of total research awards in the UC system, which produced 78 startups in FY23 alone.
  • The state continues to cut funding to the California Strong Workforce Program, impacting its ability to support career education. These cuts could reduce access to direct workforce training and supportive services, limiting opportunities for both students and workers.

Now more than ever, we are challenged to come together, discuss, and ideate. As San Diego emerges from the shock and chaos this year’s headlines have already caused, let’s pause to think about the opportunity ahead of us.

What is not news is that many of our systems, in their current forms, often struggle to serve the individuals and communities that need them most. While we know higher education to be an effective vehicle for socio-economic mobility, we continue to see a positive correlation between income and the test scores that determine college eligibility. Proposed reductions to Pell Grant availability, especially impacting individuals that must work full-time to make ends meet, will exacerbate these issues and make educational attainment even more challenging for low-income individuals.

In order to meet business needs for our future workforce and ensure all San Diegans have an opportunity to succeed—two goals that inextricably go hand in hand—we need creative and cross-functional solutions. Where the government divests, enterprise must invest to ensure its most critical asset, its people, remain available and prepared.

San Diego Regional EDC will continue to serve as a convener for the region, bringing the right people to the table for collaborative solutions. With changes in technology, an ever-increasing cost of living, and significant shifts in skills needs, EDC will advocate for a less linear and more intertwined relationship between industry and education. This comes in the form of:

  1. frequent exposure to the World of Work through experienceships and company tours;
  2. internships, like those available through Advancing San Diego and the K-16 Collaborative;
  3. and skills-first hiring practices like those available through apprenticeship models and advocated for by Opportunity @ Work.

EDC will also continue to explore new and innovative ways for businesses to help fill gaps, such as company-supported ScholarShare 529 plans or loan forgiveness programs for upskilling education.

Join us on May 21 for our Q2 Inclusive Growth Roundtable to learn more about this work and see how you can get involved. This small lunchtime event aims to bring together investors and partners engaged in the Inclusive Growth Initiative—especially the talent goal—to discuss where we stand as a region on doubling the number of skilled workers with just five years left in our timeline. If you are interested in joining that lunch, drop us a line!

Thank you,

Taylor Dunne
Taylor Dunne

Director, Talent Initiatives

San Diego employers share 2025 talent needs across critical roles

By Olivia Jones,

To better understand San Diego’s talent demand in priority industries, EDC’s Advancing San Diego program partnered with BW Research to conduct a comprehensive talent demand survey focused on business, computing, and engineering occupations. A survey of 264 businesses in San Diego County was fielded in March 2025. The survey prioritized larger firms to develop a more comprehensive profile of each of the listed occupations. All companies surveyed had at least five employees. Participation spanned all four of the primary regions in San Diego (North County, South County, East County, and Central San Diego) and several industries to ensure diversity of responses.

Talent Demand Report 2025 updates

This data-driven effort supports Advancing San Diego’s Verified Program process and provides a real-time look at the workforce needs of local employers. Results show that while businesses are ready to grow, many face ongoing challenges in finding candidates with the skills and certifications needed to fill both entry- and mid-level roles.

Key findings

  • The largest share of employers considered internally-facing business roles—finance, purchasing, or project management positions—the most important out of all business, computing, and engineering roles.
  • The most difficult entry-level roles to fill included general engineers, project managers, engineering technicians, and software developers.
    • Businesses that prioritized engineers cited engineering as the most difficult occupation to fill with qualified entry-level talent.
    • Entry-level software developer roles took the longest for companies to fill, with 19 percent of companies reporting that it takes more than six months to fill this role.
  • The most challenging experienced position to fill was software developers, followed closely by experienced general engineers.
  • In computing, employers prioritized IT and network security skills, with certifications like A+, Security+, and CCNA frequently required or preferred.

What’s next?

Advancing San Diego verifies educational programs that meet or exceed industry expectations across five key areas. Programs that earn this designation gain public recognition and connection to regional employers.

The 2025 application is now open for business, computing, and engineering programs. Programs that are already verified do not need to reapply; see current roster here.

Timeline

  • April 21: Verified Program application opens
  • September 26: Application deadline. EDC notifies programs that passed part one of the application process
  • November 13: Verified Program Designation Day
    • Programs pitch to industry to share diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts at in-person event. Industry participants fill out rubrics based on program pitches as part two of the application
  • Early December: EDC announces Verified Programs

Apply Now

Explore more Talent Demand Reports

Check out Talent Demand Reports across other priority sectors to stay up to date on workforce trends in San Diego.

Dive into the data

Use EDC’s Data Dashboard to explore how local education programs align with regional workforce needs and identify equity gaps in real-time. The dashboard highlights race and gender disparities, program completions, and connections to priority occupations—all designed to support more data-informed talent development efforts in San Diego County.

To learn more and get involved in EDC’s work, contact:

Contact SDREDC
To learn more, please contact us.

Industry Insights: Soft skills emerging as competitive advantage in hiring

By San Diego Regional EDC,

Key takeaways from Advancing San Diego’s Verified Program Workshop on soft skills

In February 2025, 30 regional educators gathered for the latest installment of EDC’s Verified Program Workshop series. This quarter’s focus: embedding essential soft skills into higher education curricula. This workshop was designed to provide faculty at Verified Programs, education providers recognized for aligning their curricula with industry needs, with tangible strategies to help students develop soft skills critical for career success.

The significance of soft skills

Feedback from employers that hosted Advancing San Diego summer interns in 2024 highlighted that while students often excel technically, gaps remain in communication, adaptability, and professional workplace behavior. A recent Forbes report highlights that 80 percent of employees say soft skills are more important than ever, while a General Assembly survey found that nearly half of executives and about a third of employees cite soft skills as the reason entry-level employees are underprepared for jobs. Employers noted challenges in areas like navigating team dynamics, taking initiative, and responding to emails—reinforcing the necessary role of soft or interpersonal skills in career readiness. Yet, we often overlook how these skills are developed—through upbringing, home-life, career services, and work-based learning (WBL) opportunities.

While some may think soft skills should come naturally, many take for granted the access they had to environments that developed these skills. For students without such access, learning interpersonal skills isn’t as intuitive. Inclusion plays a major role in career preparation—without the right exposure at home, school, or work, mastering these skills can be much harder.

Now, with automation and AI reshaping our lives and our industries, soft skills like communication, adaptability, and problem-solving are more critical than ever. Simultaneously, automation and a digital-first world can mean fewer opportunities for young people to practice these skills in day-to-day life.

Four things we learned:

1. Simulating job environments can ease the classroom-to-workplace transition

To better prepare students for professional settings, classrooms should mirror workplace dynamics. Apprenti shared how its instructors integrate structured check-ins, competency checklists, and team-based projects that simulate real work environments before moving on to work-based learning. Team meetings, capstone projects, and realistic simulations—such as crisis management exercises and client presentations—offer hands-on experience in communication, teamwork, and professionalism. By treating the classroom like a job environment, students gain practical exposure to workplace expectations in a safe and controlled environment.

2. Communication and public speaking practice remain valuable

Strong verbal communication continues to be a high-demand skill. A workshop discussion led by National Foundation for Autism Research shared the value of Toastmasters-style speaking exercises, structured presentations, and improvised workplace conversations. With AI taking over routine tasks, the ability to articulate ideas effectively will determine career growth and leadership potential.

3. Teach workplace norms to bridge generational gaps

Many students lack exposure to professional etiquette, workplace expectations, and unspoken social norms. Whether this is due to changes during the COVID pandemic or the omnipresence of social media, being transparent and communicative about workplace norms can help ease the transition from student to employee. Presenting programs suggested making implicit rules explicit–responding professionally to emails, understanding office hierarchies, and navigating different workplace cultures–to ease students’ transition into the workforce.

4. Leverage alumni to engage employers in sharing real-world experience

One of the most effective ways to develop soft skills is through direct employer interaction. Industry-led capstone projects and structured mentorship programs help students develop professionalism in real-world settings. Alumni in particular can bridge the gap for students who lack personal industry connections, offering invaluable career insights and mentorship.

Next steps

Advancing San Diego’s Verified Program Workshop reinforced what many of us know to be true: Soft skills are just as critical as technical expertise in today’s workforce. By fostering adaptability, communication, and professionalism in the classroom, educators can equip students with the skills needed for long-term career success. As industry and academia continue to collaborate, structured employer partnerships, alumni engagement, and innovative teaching methods will help bridge skill gaps and shape the future workforce.

  • Employers: Ensure students are prepared for entry-level jobs by participating in an employer working group.
  • Educators: Ensure your curriculum aligns with employer needs by becoming a Verified Program.
Contact SDREDC
To learn more, please contact us.

Voice of San Diego: How to set your child up for socio-economic success

By Taylor Dunne,

Originally authored by Taylor Dunne in Voice of San Diego’s ‘A Parent’s Guide to San Diego Schools’

Every parent wants to see their child pursue a career that makes them happy, and it is a bonus when they can feel confident that that career will also set them up for financial success.

In San Diego, one of the most dynamic economies in the world, there is abundant opportunity for high-impact careers and upward mobility—sometimes you just need to see it to believe it.

In my role as the director of talent initiatives for San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation (EDC), I have devoted my career to improving the pathways from local education programs into high-wage, high-demand jobs across San Diego County. Here are some common questions I get asked about these efforts in our region.

Q: What is Career Technical Education?

According to the state of California’s Department of Education, Career Technical Education (CTE) is “a program of study that involves a multi-year sequence of courses that integrates core academic knowledge with technical and occupational knowledge to provide students with a pathway to post-secondary education and careers.” Here in San Diego County, the board of education’s first goal speaks to CTE as a priority, stating that the public education system should aim to “connect the educational experience to the world of work, to guarantee all students graduate prepared for college, career, and beyond.”

CTE courses can fall into one of 15 industry categories, identified by the California State Board of Education. The courses can be standalone, or part of a multi-year series. Some of them also count toward A-G requirements, which must be completed for admission into a California public university.

Q: When should I start thinking about career pathways for my child?

CTE opportunities at school are a great time for students to begin thinking about prospective career paths. K-12 schools across the region offer these courses, and some have gone the extra mile to really set students up for success.

For example, the Chula Vista Elementary School District offers Innovation Stations where students learn about careers in life sciences, health, technology, and more. A portion of this experience includes local tech giant Qualcomm, which brings to life what the students are learning in the classroom.

Helix High School offers a biotechnology pathway that stacks courses for grades nine through 12. Kearny High Education Complex runs four small, unique schools, each focused on a critical industry, embedding CTE in students’ learning throughout their four years. These kinds of curriculum, coupled with internships, school clubs, and other opportunities, can offer students the chance to begin exploring what careers are available to them in San Diego and how they might begin preparing for those careers today.

In fact, employers agree that experience indicating a proven interest, like school clubs, extracurricular activities, and elected courses like those available through CTE pathways, rise above other qualifications in roles like computing and engineering. Candidates with less formal training that can articulate how they have independently pursued opportunities are more appealing than those who are fully trained but disinterested.

On the other hand, these opportunities can also help young people weed out the careers they do not want during these formative years, before they invest time and money into further training.

Q: What are the jobs of tomorrow?

Looking ahead, future jobs are technical in nature, and they’re in industries like technology (especially with the rapid development of artificial intelligence), healthcare, life sciences, and advanced manufacturing. We also anticipate alternative energy will continue to climb that list. Increasingly, these jobs require some sort of post-secondary training.

Everything from trade schools to four-year degrees and beyond become critical for preparing students to take on those roles into the future. In fact, over 100,000 more jobs require a post-secondary degree today as compared to just eight years ago. Luckily, they are also some of the highest paying in our region. We see growth in jobs that pay salaries of upwards to $149,000 per year.

So, what does that mean for San Diego’s future talent and local companies?

It means that community college, trade school, and university classrooms need to be accessible to all San Diego students regardless of economic status or family history. This economic growth, combined with a declining population, means that companies cannot continue to rely on traditional recruitment patterns like sourcing from elite universities, and instead must consider additional channels.

Working age population vs. jobs over 10 years:

In fact, to keep pace with the economy, the San Diego region will need to double the number of people receiving a post-secondary education by 2030.

Q: What tools and resources are available?

EDC is excited to have been able to help bring a new distinction to this year’s version of Voice of San Diego’s A Parent’s Guide to San Diego Schools. You can look for the labor market score for schools offering Career and Technical Education programs. Additionally, parents can explore local learning opportunities in relevant fields at the San Diego STEM Ecosystem’s web directory, which includes a filter for cost-free options.

READ THE PARENT’S GUIDE

Finally, our organization offers resources that can help parents connect with the local economy and industry-vetted training programs:

  • Explore EDC’s Talent Dashboard where you can access more real-time local data, like what is shared above, to help with understanding the future of jobs in San Diego.
  • Check out Advancing San Diego’s Verified Programs. These are post-secondary training programs across the region that have been vetted by local companies for teaching the skills needed for the jobs of tomorrow while also reaching and serving a diverse student population. In receiving this status, Verified Programs open opportunities for students to access paid internships and other critical work-based learning experiences.
  • Learn more and get involved in EDC’s Talent Initiatives. Contact our team today:
Taylor Dunne
Taylor Dunne

Director, Talent Initiatives

This story was first published by Voice of San Diego. Sign up for VOSD’s newsletters here.

Healthy economy, healthy communities: Strengthening regional healthcare talent pipelines

By Bridgette Coleman,

On January 15, San Diego Regional EDC, in partnership with Bank of America, hosted a dynamic luncheon to explore the healthcare talent landscape in San Diego County. This event brought together a cross-section of 75+ healthcare industry leaders, educational institutions, nonprofits, and community advocates to spotlight the region’s healthcare workforce challenges and opportunities. Together, we launched a critical conversation about how collaboration and an industry-led approach can strengthen our regional healthcare talent pipelines.

Advancing San Diego: A look at the state of healthcare in the region

“I think everyone in this room can agree that a strong healthcare system is important for our region to thrive,” said Pamela Gabriel, senior vice president for Bank of America, San Diego.

San Diego’s healthcare sector is one of the fastest-growing industries, essential for a thriving economy. However, the gap between education and workforce needs presents a challenge. During the luncheon, Bridgette Coleman, program manager for Advancing San Diego at EDC, shared compelling data that underscored the urgency of addressing these issues:

  • Registered Nurses (RNs): More than 15,000 unique job postings were recorded between December 2023 and November 2024, in San Diego. Yet, fewer than 2,000 program completions were achieved annually, creating a severe supply-demand mismatch.
  • Demographics: The healthcare workforce demographics do not reflect the diversity of San Diego’s population, emphasizing the need for inclusive access to training and career pathways, especially into high-wage roles like RNs. Better diversity in lower-wage roles such as Medical Assistants (MAs) and Licensed Vocational Nurses (LVNs) indicate that a focus on these feeder roles might be an impactful way to support the RN talent pipeline.
  • Clinical hours bottleneck: Limited opportunities for nursing students to complete clinical hours exacerbate the talent pipeline challenges, delaying the transition from education to employment.

Review the full Advancing San Diego Healthcare Employer Working Group slide deck for more information about the current state of healthcare in San Diego County.

Addressing the talent gap with strategic programs and partnerships

The luncheon featured a panel of leaders with successful initiatives to bridge the talent gap and fostering inclusive growth:

  • Cal State San Marcos highlighted its interdisciplinary mobile clinic, which provides healthcare services to underserved communities while envisioning its expansion as a potential clinical hour completion site for students.
  • Scripps Health showcased its innovative employee training and retention programs, which boast only a 3 percent vacancy in nursing positions, emphasizing commitment to collaborative regional leadership in addressing healthcare workforce challenges.
  • San Diego State University (SDSU)–Imperial Valley discussed its targeted nursing programs designed to increase access for Imperial Valley College students to access education and training at SDSU for nursing careers and identify new opportunities for clinical placements.
  • San Diego and Imperial Counties Community College Consortium focused on how its improving access through standardized processes, career pathway research, outreach to underrepresented groups, and expanding advanced nursing degree transfer programs.

These initiatives exemplify the power of partnerships in addressing workforce challenges and ensuring that all San Diegans have access to career opportunities in this vital industry.

Join us in building stronger talent pipelines

EDC’s Talent Pipeline Management (TPM)© framework is a critical tool in addressing these gaps. By fostering stronger collaboration between employers and educational institutions, we can create scalable, employer-driven solutions that meet the region’s healthcare needs.

The healthcare talent needs in San Diego demand a unified, proactive approach. EDC’s Advancing San Diego program invites industry partners to join our Employer Working Group in leveraging the TPM to address these challenges. This employer-led strategy provides real-time insights, enabling us to:

  • Evaluate pain points and opportunities directly from the employers’ perspectives.
  • Build tailored solutions that address immediate and long-term workforce needs, while measuring return on investment of these solutions.
  • Grow skilled talent in San Diego by connecting underserved populations to training and career pathways, aligning with the region’s Inclusive Growth framework.

By working together, we can ensure a robust healthcare workforce that meets the needs of our region while driving economic growth and community well-being.

Take action

Ready to get involved? We are looking for healthcare employers to join our mission to strengthen San Diego’s healthcare talent pipeline. Learn more and connect with us:

Plus, contact our team today:

Taylor Dunne
Taylor Dunne

Director, Talent Initiatives

EDC designates San Diego’s top computing, engineering, business programs

By San Diego Regional EDC,

To fill talent gaps, regional employers vet training curriculum aligned to industry needs

Together with more than 80 industry representatives, San Diego Regional EDC is proud to announce Advancing San Diego’s newest Verified Programs of 2024: 28 education programs from 15 different institutions that are best preparing students for jobs in computing, engineering, and business.

These programs earned a three-year verification status through a rigorous evaluation process led by Advancing San Diego, the flagship program of EDC’s Talent Initiatives, which serves to double the production of skilled workers in San Diego while prioritizing historically underrepresented populations in the innovation economy. 

San Diego and the nation are grappling with a critical talent supply and demand challenge. Since 2017, San Diego County has experienced a 1.3 percent decline in its working-age population even as jobs have increased by 3.1 percent, intensifying competition for skilled talent. Additionally, 83,000 more jobs now require a bachelor’s degree than in 2016, underscoring the growing demand for advanced training and education alongside skill-based hiring practices.  

At the same time, demographic shifts are reshaping the future workforce. More than 70 percent of San Diego’s K-12 students are people of color, a group that has historically faced systemic barriers to accessing high-wage, high-demand careers. These changes present an opportunity—and an imperative—to invest in training programs that equip local, diverse populations for the region’s most in-demand careers. By expanding access to quality post-secondary education and training, the region can build an inclusive talent pipeline that supports both economic growth and equity in San Diego’s innovation economy.  

“The numbers are clear; the region cannot fill its talent gaps unless we open doors for more San Diegans. Our Advancing San Diego work is part of the solution—connecting industry to vetted local education programs that they might not yet be recruiting from. This new roster, which includes universities, community colleges, adult schools, and more, offers employers a go-to for sourcing qualified and diverse talent, and arms training programs with the boots-on-the-ground intel needed to shape the curricula of the future,” said Taylor Dunne, Director of Talent Initiatives at San Diego Regional EDC.  

How programs are verified

Employers met with and vetted applicants’ curriculum at EDC’s ‘Reaching Tomorrow’s Talent’ event on November 13, which brought together more than 150 businesses, educational programs, and community organizations working to close talent gaps by aligning education with industry needs.  

Status as a Verified Program indicates five critical elements:

  • Alignment of educational curriculum with industry requisites of necessary hard skills (ex: coding)
  • Alignment of educational curriculum with industry requisites of necessary soft skills (ex: problem solving)
  • Continuous engagement with industry
  • Ability to reach and serve a diverse student population
  • Proven history of collaboration along the education continuum and with critical community organizations

By participating in the process, local training programs get an inside look at the most critical skill expectations for students coming out of their programs and begin to explore how those expectations will change as technology and artificial intelligence evolve.  

“Poway Adult School is excited be recognized as an Advancing San Diego Verified Program. We believe that further developing industry partnerships, encouraging reflection on learning objectives, and aligning with the needs of local industries will help set our students up for success as they enter the workforce,” said Kathleen Porter, Executive Director of Career Technical, Adult, and Alternative Education at Poway Unified School District. 

“By equipping students with the skills needed to thrive, we help them transition successfully into the workforce. EDC’s Talent Demand data is an invaluable tool that allows us to align our programs with the skills students need to launch new careers,” said Elizabeth O’Shea-West, Principal at Vista Adult School. 

The 28 programs verified in this round represent more than 79,500 students across San Diego and Imperial Counties, and join a roster of others across key industries including Healthcare, Business, and Life Sciences. Last done in 2020, 10 programs were re-verified while Advancing San Diego welcomed 18 newly verified programs. 

hire summer interns at no cost

With the new designation comes the opportunity for students to take advantage of paid work-based learning experiences. In conjunction with the Border Region Talent Pipeline K-16 Collaborative, companies in  San Diego and Imperial Counties  are invited to apply by February 28, 2025 to host funded computing, engineering, and/or business interns for the  summer of 2025, sourced exclusively from the Verified Programs roster. In 2024, 322 interns were placed at 104 local companies, up from 48 interns placed in 2023, and creating an invaluable bridge between education and industry in high-growth, high-wage fields. Learn more and complete the interest form here. 

“I was drawn to this internship program because of my commitment to social mobility and reducing socioeconomic gaps. Companies have a pivotal role in building a more equitable future, especially by empowering the next generation of talent. My favorite part about working with the Advancing San Diego interns at ChakraTech has been their contagious enthusiasm and unwavering dedication to the work,” said Ravi Chawla, founder and CEO of ChakraTech, a 2024 summer intern host. 

Learn more at advancingSD.org and explore Verified Programs for other industry clusters here.

Apply by February 28

Verified Programs of BUSINESS

  • California State University San Marcos
  • Cuyamaca College
  • MiraCosta College
  • National University
  • Palomar College
  • Poway Adult School
  • San Diego State university
  • San Diego Community College District – College of Continuing Education
  • UC San Diego Division of Extended Studies
  • UC San Diego Rady School of Management
  • Vista Adult School

Verified Programs of Computing & ENGINEERING

  • California Institute of Applied Technology
  • Cuyamaca College (Engineering)
  • National Foundation for Autism Research
  • National University
  • San Diego City College
  • San diego MiraMar College

Learn More About Advancing San Diego