When Opportunity@Work set out to expand career opportunities for workers without a bachelor’s degree, I created a new term, language and brand to redefine those workers in terms of the skills they had, instead of the degree they lacked.
Challenge:
Opportunity@Work grew out of the Obama White House’s Tech Hire initiative with a mission to rewire the labor market so that every American might work, learn, and earn to their full potential.
In 2019 an analysis by our insights team revealed that the 70+ million workers without a bachelor’s degree faced some of the greatest challenges to upward economic mobility. This insight led us to focus on changing employers’ hiring practices, including removing unnecessary degree requirements.
We quickly gained traction with provocative data-driven thought leadership. But we also knew data alone rarely changes minds.
To inspire real and lasting change, a brand must win hearts and minds with a powerful narrative that's brought to life with inspired storytelling.
Solution:
I coined the asset-based language STARs - Skilled Through Alternative Routes - as a more compelling way to speak about the 70+ million workers in the U.S. who do not have a bachelor's degree.
Working with with the boutique branding firm Chuck Routhier Office, we created a brand identity anchored in a 7-point purple asterisk to represent STARs, paired with a toolbox of colors and other asterisk forms to represent partners, segments, and the rich diversity of the STARs talent pool. I also helped STARs tell their own stories through a series of video profiles, amplified with social media and digital marketing.
Since launching in early 2020, the STARs narrative has been embraced by leading employers and featured in major media outlets including The New York Times. More importantly, many STARs have proudly adopted the label as an empowering way to bring attention to the skills and potential that are too often overlooked by employers.
The STARs language has been embraced by 60+ companies and funders, including Indeed and the Gates Foundation, has been referenced by The New York Times, and has been amplified by Reid Hoffman, Adam Grant, Trevor Noah and other public figures.
