America Succeeds equips education and workforce leaders with research, advocacy, and solutions that foster economic mobility. We envision a future where every learner and earner is prepared to succeed as a contributor to their local community and as a competitor in the global workforce.
Why We Exist
Today’s labor market is changing faster than ever. As automation and AI reshape the workplace, durable skills – human-centered abilities like critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and adaptability – are in high demand.
Employers regularly tell us:
“We’ll hire the lowest-ranked technical candidate with durable skills over the top-ranked one without them.”
And yet, our education and workforce systems still struggle to prioritize, teach, and validate these foundational competencies. Monumental shifts in education and hiring are creating both the urgency and the opportunity to act:
- Education systems are expanding their focus to include holistic student outcomes, including essential life and work skills.
- Employers are shifting toward skills-based hiring that values what candidates can actually do—not just the degrees they hold.
- Workers need resilient, transferable skills to succeed in a world of constant disruption and change.
We’re advancing the national movement for durable skills through a powerful two-part strategy.
Our Approach
This two-pronged approach enables us to drive systems-level change while delivering real solutions to those preparing learners and earners for the future of work.
The High Demand for Durable Skills (2025 Update)
At America Succeeds, we’re working across the full school-to-work continuum, from K-12 districts and community colleges to employer organizations and state agencies, to embed durable skills in instruction, elevate them in student experiences, and ensure they’re visible, verifiable, and valuable in employment practices. Our approach supports competency-based, skills-first models that serve both traditional and nontraditional learners.
“Contractors are at the heart of infrastructure in every community across America. The technical skills of today’s craft professionals are second to none, but it’s absolutely essential that they have the durable skills to be able to contribute and succeed in this dynamic workforce.”
Greg Sizemore
Vice President of HSE and Workforce Development, Associated Builders and Contractors
“When we think about durable skills, we think about skills that have this elasticity that will empower students to not only create opportunities for their career but help them move up the ladder, and help them become part of the C-suite as well. So we think this is such an important vehicle for change, ensuring that students have the right skills in order to enter the workforce and be truly prepared.”
Ahva Sadeghi
Co-Founder & CEO, Symba
“The men and women who manufacture in the United States are called upon to produce an amazing variety of products, especially as we continue to serve on the front lines of the COVID-19 response. From the supplies that make our lives easier and safer to the medicines, vaccines, and treatments that make our lives healthier, manufacturing employees create the world of today and tomorrow. It is the durable skills of these employees, the creativity and teamwork, that makes innovation possible and brings these new and vital products to life.”
Carolyn Lee
Executive Director, The Manufacturing Institute