Global Workforce

Global Workforce Initiative

Since 2019, the Global Workforce Initiative (GWI) has hosted workshops for over 240 high school and community college educators, introducing global learning pedagogies used to help students investigate the world, recognize perspectives, communicate ideas, act on issues that matter, and be better equipped with career readiness skills. The initiative has:

Resulted in the creation of the Global Workforce Skills Certificate at Ivy Tech Community College.
Featured employer panels to connect educators with Indiana’s globally engaged businesses.
Provided flipped-learning content and collaborative lesson planning aligned with Indiana Academic Standards and Employability Skills.
Expanded nationally through online workshops for educators.

The GWI supports global workforce needs through collaborations with educators across Indiana. The project originated to support the growing reality that the Indiana economy was intimately tied to the global economy and preparing Indiana students to participate post-graduation. This project was supported by a U.S. Department of Education National Resource Center grant, units across IU, external education partners, and national non-profits. It is currently supported through an anonymous gift to Indiana University's Center for the Study of Global Change.

Fall 2026 Professional Development

Indiana University’s Global Workforce Initiative (GWI) is launching a new educator cohort program designed to strengthen global workforce readiness instruction across Indiana’s high schools, Ivy Tech Community College, and Indiana University. Building on GWI’s track record—training more than 240 educators since 2019—the next phase expands the initiative’s reach through deeper cross‑sector collaboration and sustained professional development in partnership with Digital Promise and the Association for Community College Trustees. Participants will receive a $550 stipend at the completion of the initiative.

The upcoming program pairs high school, community college, and university educators to identify learning bottlenecks, improve student career readiness, and integrate global perspectives into career and technical education (CTE) fields that have historically been underserved. Participants will engage in a series of virtual workshops throughout the Fall semester, employer‑led sessions that connect classroom instruction to Indiana’s global workforce needs, and collaborative development of lesson plans addressing global workforce competitiveness within their pathways - all aligned with state standards. A tentative spring in-person culminating session is being planned.

Participant expectations (must be completed to receive the $550 stipend):

Develop lesson plans and revise curriculum to integrate learning about the global workforce
Attend all synchronous sessions (approximately 7) and complete independent work
Complete program feedback surveys
Submit revised syllabus or curricular artifact for inclusion on IU’s Access Global platform, creating a sustainable repository and supporting a train-the-trainer model for long-term impact

We are recruiting interested Indiana high school, Ivy Tech Community College, and Indiana University educators in career and technical education fields now. If you are interested in participating, please apply here by May 29th: https://digitalpromise.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bKOLaSU1N7cql1Q

Global Workforce

Global Workforce Initiative

Fall 2026 Professional Development

Center for the Study of Global Change social media channels

Office%of%the%Vice%President%for%International%Affairs