When Opportunity@Work sought to capitalize on its thought leadership momentum, I crafted an award-winning national campaign with the Ad Council that inspired policymakers and business leaders to remove exclusionary degree requirements from hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Challenge:

Over the course of two years, Opportunity@Work had released a series of groundbreaking research reports revealing the skills and potential of STARs (workers Skilled Through Alternative Routes, rather than a bachelor's degree).

Coverage in The New York Times, NPR, PBS News Hour, and other top tier media outlets helped spark conversations among a small group of employers and funders. But we knew much more was needed if we hoped to challenge the unnecessary degree requirements that held back too many STARs.

To accelerate change, we needed a way to engage elected officials and policymakers whose actions could open up millions of state and federal jobs to STARs.

Solution:

Working with the Ad Council and creative agency Ogilvy, I launched Tear the Paper Ceiling, a national awareness campaign and coalition of 50+ partners calling on employers to remove the invisible barriers STARs face, including biased algorithms, degree screens, and stereotypes.

Leveraging donated media and an investment in social influencers on TikTok and Instagram, the campaign generated the widespread public attention our policy team needed to engage policymakers.

Within one year, elected official in 16 states had announced efforts to remove degree requirements from their state government jobs, opening up more 400 thousand jobs to STARs.