[HARTLAND, VERMONT] — The Center on Rural Innovation (CORI) has been selected as one of 10 grantees in the Advancing Workforce Mobility initiative, a $3.5 million national effort led by Education Design Lab in collaboration with Credential Engine and supported by Walmart.

Chosen from more than 400 applicants nationwide, CORI will receive $396,000 to support its work piloting a skills validation model co-designed with employers and workers across four rural communities in Vermont, Ohio, Alabama, and Arkansas — embedding performance-based assessment into work-based learning so that skills proven at one employer are recognized by the next.

This initiative brings together leading nonprofits and public sector organizations working to make workers’ skills and credentials more visible, trusted, and transferable — helping more people connect to quality jobs and career advancement.

“At CORI, we believe rural workers deserve workforce systems that recognize the full value of their skills and open doors to quality jobs,” said Shaniqua Corley-Moore, Director of Tech Workforce at CORI. “This grant allows us to partner directly with employers and communities to pilot a model that makes skills more visible, portable, and trusted, helping more people turn real-world experience into lasting economic opportunity.”

Why this matters

Across rural America, many workers have developed valuable skills through work experience, community college, military service, or other non-degree pathways. However, these skills are often difficult for employers to identify or verify.

Through this initiative, CORI will work with employers and workers in Springfield, VT; Portsmouth, OH; Chambers County, AL; and Helena-West Helena, AR to co-design and pilot a skills validation process for tech-enabled roles. Workers in CORI’s work-based learning programs will complete performance tasks scored by supervisors using a shared rubric, then receive a portable skills record and evidence portfolio they can use in job applications. The pilot will engage 5–10 employers across the four communities, with local partners including Black River Innovation Campus, Shawnee State University’s Kricker Innovation Hub, the Chambers County Development Authority, and Delta Circles.

About Advancing Workforce Mobility

More than 70 million U.S. workers are Skilled Through Alternative Routes (STARs), yet many face barriers because their skills are not easily recognized or translated across systems.

The Advancing Workforce Mobility initiative supports solutions that:

  • Make skills more visible and easier to understand
  • Build employer trust in non-degree credentials
  • Connect credential data across education and workforce systems
  • Expand access to economic opportunity

Over the next 18 months, grantees will participate in a national learning cohort to test, refine, and scale solutions that improve how skills and credentials are recognized and used.

“Too many workers have the skills employers need, but lack clear, trusted ways to demonstrate them,” said Tara Laughlin, Senior Director of Skills Visibility at Education Design Lab. “These grantees are building solutions that move us closer to a more transparent, skills-based economy.”

 

About the Center on Rural Innovation

The Center on Rural Innovation (CORI) builds the infrastructure for inclusive innovation in rural America. As a national nonprofit, CORI works with a growing network of communities across the country to develop tech-based economies by supporting local leaders, learners, and founders. Combining data, capital, and hands-on partnership, CORI helps rural regions create jobs, launch startups, and compete in the digital economy. Its work has supported more than 400 startups, 1,000 tech jobs, and $238 million in follow-on investment. CORI’s model ensures rural communities are the drivers of the innovation economy. Learn more at https://ruralinnovation.us/about/.

About Education Design Lab

Education Design Lab is a national nonprofit that co-designs inclusive, skills-based education-to-work pathways that improve economic mobility for the New Majority Learner-Earner. Learn more at www.eddesignlab.org.

About Credential Engine

Credential Engine is a nonprofit dedicated to creating transparency in the credential and skilling marketplace to help people find pathways to opportunity. Learn more at credentialengine.org.