Topic: Crisis preparedness and response

NationSwell op-ed: Predicting the Future of Work

Posted on Jacob Lepiarz and Allie Mahler

We are currently living through one of the most profound shifts in the history of work. As AI, automation, and other emerging technologies redefine jobs, skills, and career pathways wholesale, leaders across sectors are being called to meet these industry-wide undulations head-on and help shape what comes next.

That imperative is at the heart of NationSwell’s new Workforce Innovation Collaborative — a cross-sector effort designed to help leaders explore emerging workforce trends and co-design scalable solutions for a more future-ready and inclusive economy. Through shared learning, strategic dialogue, and collective action, the Collaborative aims to create the kind of trusted space leaders need to navigate uncertainty and create a future-ready workforce where every person has the skills, opportunities, and support to succeed.

To mark the launch of that work, NationSwell invited leaders from the Collaborative to respond to a shared prompt:

Which emerging signals are giving you the most optimism about the future of work right now? And where do you currently see the greatest opportunity to build a system that is more responsive to where work is headed next?

Although their responses reflect different vantage points, they converge around the common belief that the future of work will be shaped by how well leaders connect learning to real opportunity, pair innovation with inclusion, and design workforce systems that can adapt as quickly as the world around them changes.

Prompt: Which emerging signals are giving you the most optimism about the future of work right now? Where do you currently see the greatest opportunity to build a workforce system that is more responsive to where work is headed next?

“We are at an inflection point in the future of work, and I believe the greatest source of optimism and opportunity is in mastering the art and science of building truly responsive workforce systems.

The science is the strategic leveraging of predictive labor market intelligence. By shifting away from reactive measures, we can now leverage data and insights to anticipate skill demands driven by global trends. Our data provides the scientific rigor needed to pinpoint future talent shortages, standardize risk indicators, and replace guesswork with reliable, real-time insights, allowing us to accelerate our workforce investments across the globe.

However, the true opportunity — the art — lies in translating those insights and data into hyper-local execution that allows us to co-create with the communities we work in. This essential human-centered approach ensures our work doesn’t just fill a business gap, but actively builds equitable, transparent systems that deliver a net-positive impact in local communities. We achieve this by cultivating bespoke, long-term partnerships with community leaders, educational institutions, and nonprofits. 

Linking our global data-driven approach to local trust and co-creation is the systemic approach necessary to ensure our interventions foster equity and accessibility, building the sustainable, resilient workforce the future demands.”

— Courtney Williams, Global Workforce Development & Labor Market Intelligence, Google

“Across the Design and Make industries, I’m seeing promising workforce solutions that connect access, applied skills, and real hiring pathways. It’s no longer enough to train people on tools in isolation — what’s emerging now are integrated models that build capability in real workflows, validate those skills through industry recognized credentials, and link learners directly to opportunity. That’s how we ensure both students and experienced professionals can adapt and thrive as technology reshapes the future of work.”

— Kate Buchanan, Workforce Innovation & Investment Lead, Autodesk Foundation

“Right now, what gives me the most optimism about the future of work is the growing consensus that, as AI reshapes roles, human-centric skills — critical thinking, communication, and creativity — matter more, not less. It’s really important that optimism is matched with action in this moment, and through Barclays LifeSkills, our programs are helping people to develop these skills in order to differentiate themselves for current and future roles.

As we look at the workforce development sector, the greatest opportunity is to build a system that keeps pace with change by connecting learning to work earlier and more often, and by updating training as employer needs evolve faster. That means scaling employer-aligned earn-and-learn pathways — apprenticeships, fellowships, internships and project-based work — so learners graduate with an increased level of experience. It also means widening access to growth sectors, including AI-enabled roles and the skilled trades, where we continue to see strong demand. Through Barclays LifeSkills, we’re working across our partnerships to turn demand into clear routes to good jobs.”

— Deborah Goldfarb, Global Head of Citizenship, Barclays

“What gives me optimism is how clearly manufacturing and industrial skills are being redefined as both high-tech and people-driven. Advances in automation, digital tools and connected systems are changing work on the factory floor and at job sites. Realizing the full value of those advances depends on sustained investment in our people through skills-building, learning and clear career pathways. I’m also encouraged by how employers are engaging more intentionally with collaborators beyond their organizations. We’re witnessing stronger coordination among educators, workforce systems and local communities to ensure training keeps pace with technological advancement. This alignment — of innovation, skills and purpose — is a compelling signal that manufacturing can provide meaningful, fulfilling careers in a dynamic industry.

One of the greatest opportunities lies in modernizing workforce systems to evolve alongside the technologies shaping manufacturing. High schools, community colleges and regional training providers are critical anchors in this system, and we need to align more closely and dynamically with them, given that roles and skill requirements are changing faster than traditional training cycles can keep pace.

That means co‑designing training pathways that blend hands‑on experience with digital and technology‑enabled learning. It also means creating opportunities for continuous upskilling throughout a career. When workforce systems are built to adapt — rather than react — they not only prepare people for today’s manufacturing roles, but also for the future. They also help ensure the industry can remain innovative, competitive, and resilient over the long term.”

— Asha Varghese, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, Caterpillar Inc. and President of the Caterpillar Foundation

“We are seeing a historic surge in systems readiness work at the local, state, and national levels. Stakeholders in the workforce ecosystem sometimes work in silos, but I’m seeing sustained interest in collaboration, especially across sectors. We are collectively examining what worked in the past to determine what must evolve for the future. 

There’s also growing consensus that career journeys of the future will be less linear. We know upskilling isn’t one-dimensional. It might mean deepening expertise to grow within an existing career trajectory, diversifying skills to transition into an adjacent role, or pivoting into an entirely new profession. A big opportunity right now is to reimagine our support systems to recognize this full spectrum of movement, ensuring that our infrastructure is as flexible as the workers it serves.”

— Diana Fischer, Senior Director, Workday Foundation

Predicting the Future of Work: Using Data to Build More Inclusive Workforce Systems

Posted on by Brianna Provenzano

As AI and automation accelerate change across the labor market, predictive analytics offer powerful tools to anticipate which jobs, skills, and communities face the greatest risk – and where new opportunities are emerging.

On April 14, NationSwell convened a group of cross-sector leaders for a conversation on how data-driven insights can inform equitable training pathways, smarter investments, and workforce systems that are more responsive, inclusive, and resilient – ensuring workers are prepared for what’s next. Some of the most salient takeaways from the discussion appear below:

Key takeaways

Build workforce systems around capabilities, not credentials. A skills-first labor market only works if the underlying data infrastructure can recognize how people actually build skills through work, not just through degrees. When systems continue to privilege credential proxies over demonstrated capability, they miss large pools of qualified talent and reinforce inequities that workforce initiatives are meant to solve.

Pair predictive tools with better upstream data. Forecasting tools are only as strong as the signals they rely on. If workforce data continues to over-index on traditional credentials or lagging indicators, even sophisticated models will reproduce old blind spots; the real opportunity is to feed these systems richer, skills-based, real-world signals that surface emerging pathways earlier.

Invest in verified outcomes data, not just self-reported program metrics. Too much workforce decision-making still depends on incomplete or anecdotal outcome data. Expanding access to administrative wage data and other verified sources can help providers understand which programs are actually driving employment and earnings gains, and make more strategic decisions about what to scale, refine, or retire.

Use labor market data to map mobility, not just demand. It is not enough to know which jobs are growing. More useful systems help workers and practitioners understand how people can move from one role to the next based on shared skills, adjacent occupations, and realistic transition pathways, especially in a labor market where workers will increasingly need to pivot across sectors over time.

Treat durable human skills as core infrastructure. As AI and automation continue to reshape tasks, foundational capabilities like problem-solving, judgment, adaptability, collaboration, and communication are becoming more valuable. Technical requirements will keep evolving, but these underlying skills are what allow workers to remain resilient and mobile across changing tools, roles, and industries.

Redesign learning environments for experiential learning, not just memorization. Traditional teaching methodologies are increasingly challenged in a labor market where workers are expected to interpret information, make decisions, and adapt in real time. Experiential learning where people must apply knowledge, navigate ambiguity, and solve real problems better prepares learners for a world in which execution is increasingly automated and judgment is the differentiator.

Center the learner’s lived experience when designing workforce pathways. Workforce systems often default to employer demand signals and institutional priorities, but durable pathways require equal attention to how individuals actually make decisions. People choose careers based on identity, values, belonging, perceived risk, and developmental stage so the strongest systems help learners navigate options rather than simply presenting them.

Avoid replacing one rigid pathway with another. As enthusiasm grows around alternatives to four-year degrees, there is a risk of steering lower-income learners into workforce tracks while more privileged peers retain access to broader optionality. The goal is not to substitute “college for some, training for others,” but to build multiple high-quality pathways that preserve dignity, mobility, and long-term choice across backgrounds.Reframe middle-skill and nontraditional career paths as real engines of mobility. Many high-demand roles outside the traditional college track now offer strong wages, lower debt burden, and meaningful advancement potential, yet outdated perceptions still diminish their value. Shifting both rhetoric and practice to put career and college readiness on more equal footing is essential if workforce systems are going to reflect today’s economic realities.

Place Based Impact: Preparing Communities for Shifts in Funding

Posted on by Brianna Provenzano

Many communities are bracing for a new era of volatility in public funding. Federal and state commitments that once underpinned local economic development, workforce programs, public health, and social infrastructure are shifting—sometimes slowly, sometimes abruptly. For place-based partnerships, the question is no longer how to “navigate uncertainty,” but how to get ahead of it: building durable coalitions, diversified capital stacks, and locally anchored strategies that can withstand political and budget swings.

On February 24, NationSwell hosted leaders from philanthropy, business, and nonprofit organizations for a virtual Leader Roundtable on what it means to be proactive rather than reactive in this moment. Together, we identified some of the emerging funding realities that matter most, examined models that successfully blend public, private, and philanthropic investment, and explored how communities can lock in long-term capacity.

Some of the most salient takeaways from the discussion appear below:

Key takeaways

Choose the sandbox before building the partnership. Cross-sector collaboration becomes more durable when partners identify a single, shared leverage point to experiment within first. Rather than attempting to solve everything at once, clarity about “where we play together” creates trust, momentum, and space for additional tentacles to grow over time.

Design for volatility, not stability. Federal funding cliffs, frozen allocations, and delayed rulemaking are cascading unevenly through state and local systems. The challenge is not only reduced dollars but radical unpredictability. Communities that build flexible structures — scenario planning, adaptable staffing, blended capital, diversified revenue — are better positioned than those waiting for clarity.

Build infrastructure that can outlast any single funding cycle. Place-based partnerships anchored around shared outcomes and generational time horizons prove more durable than programmatic responses tied to specific grants. When communities control data, define their own metrics, and align around long-term goals, funding shifts become disruptions — not existential threats.

Centering long term resilience while meeting emergency needs is critical. Crisis funding often pulls oxygen away from structural work. While emergency pivots are necessary, abandoning long-term capital strategies undermines resilience. Patient investment may move more slowly, but it builds the conditions that reduce the need for perpetual crisis response.

Sequence cross-sector roles intentionally — don’t assume alignment will happen organically. Many effective tools already exist across philanthropy, government, finance, and community organizations, but they operate in silos. Progress depends less on inventing new models and more on clarifying who de-risks first, who follows, and who sustains momentum over time.

Shift from dependency to agency in funding relationships. Traditional funding flows often create quiet dependency rather than shared ownership. This moment presents an opportunity to reimagine civic infrastructure so communities are less reliant on shifting political winds and more grounded in mutual aid, local partnership, and distributed leadership.

Define your highest leverage point with ruthless clarity. In periods of contraction, organizations that articulate a singular, sharp value proposition are better positioned to build durable partnerships. Simplicity creates alignment; alignment creates momentum.

Educate internally before reacting externally. Policy shifts, whether related to Medicaid, SNAP, or federal allocations, cascade through state and county systems unevenly. Investing in internal understanding of implementation realities builds smarter, steadier responses than reacting to headlines alone.

Plan for long-term disruption, not a return to “normal.” Assuming a political pendulum swing will restore prior funding norms creates strategic blind spots. Durable strategy accounts for sustained volatility rather than temporary turbulence.

Recognize that local governments are capacity-constrained, not idea-constrained. Municipal leaders are absorbing compounding responsibilities as federal roles recede. The barrier is rarely imagination; it is operational bandwidth and systems capacity. Partners who reduce friction and bring execution support add more value than those offering additional strategy alone.

Use this moment to reimagine civic infrastructure, not just fortify it. Resilience should not mean reinforcing fragile systems that created dependency in the first place. Volatility can serve as an opening to rethink power, partnership, and local agency. Cultural imagination and narrative often precede structural change.

Five Minutes with… Niagara Cares’ Ann Canela

Posted on by Brianna Provenzano

For this installment of Five Minutes With, NationSwell sat down with Ann Canela, director of Corporate Giving at Niagara Bottling and head of Niagara Cares, to talk about the new “Love Your Happy Place” campaign — a colorful, citywide initiative encouraging people to show love for the places they call home.

Rooted in behavioral science and built on empathy rather than guilt, the campaign aims to make environmental action feel joyful, personal, and contagious — proving that small, “too-small-to-fail” acts can add up to big community impact.

Here’s what Ann had to say:

NationSwell: What was the inspiration for this kind of community-focused coalition building? What are the main goals of the initiative? 

Ann Canela, head of Niagara Cares: The “Love Your Happy Place” campaign began as a national initiative but drew its real inspiration from local communities. The idea was to spark local “too-small-to-fail” actions — picking up litter, recycling, joining a cleanup — that collectively show love for where we live. Grounded in behavioral science, we studied why recycling rates stagnate, following people in their daily routines to understand their confidence, confusion, and barriers. What we found was that emotion — especially empathy and optimism — moves people more effectively than guilt or logic. This insight shaped a campaign that leaned into joy, play, and gamification in order to motivate environmental action.

Our first pilot in Austin wrapped the city in messages of love — from murals and bus wraps to community events—and boosted recycling confidence and civic pride by double digits. That success has since expanded to San Diego, where coalitions of partners are leading beach cleanups, park recycling competitions, and tree plantings, with activations culminating around Valentine’s Day and Earth Month. The model is spreading rapidly — next stops include Denver, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Oakland — and has already earned Keep America Beautiful’s award for Best Sustainable Communications. It’s a campaign powered by optimism, local pride, and the belief that love, expressed through small daily actions, can create measurable change.

NationSwell: What do you think it is about small coalitions that activates this optimism or civic pride lever in folks’ brains? 

Ann Canela: People see these huge signs that say love and it’s disruptive, it makes you stop and look, but it’s also universal. Love is something everyone understands; to me, it’s the purpose of everything. The challenge with many climate-related campaigns is that we often ask too much of individuals. But when you break it down into small, tangible actions — like picking up a piece of litter on a walk — and remind people that thousands of others are doing the same, the collective impact becomes visible and real.

Those simple acts connect people to a larger purpose. It’s not just about one person recycling or cleaning up; it’s about feeling part of a shared movement that turns small gestures into massive change. There’s a kind of magic in that: When people can see themselves reflected in the solution and recognize that love, expressed through everyday action, truly adds up.

NationSwell: What compelled you to get involved in sustainability in the first place? What galvanized your interest in piloting bold solutions? 

Canela, Niagara Cares: When I joined Niagara, there wasn’t a formal CSR platform, just a family fund rooted in decades of charitable giving. My career throughline has always been strategic philanthropy: using funding in ways that align with a company’s purpose, engage employees, and resonate with consumers. For Niagara, that meant mapping philanthropy to what we make — water — and investing in recycling, water restoration, and disaster relief. Rather than forcing climate work into our business, we’ve focused on making every dollar work smarter, advancing multiple goals at once: driving impact, supporting employee volunteerism, and shifting culture.

As a private, B2B company, we’re not a household name, but our products touch people’s lives daily. That’s why we hold ourselves accountable for every philanthropic investment — we want each dollar to serve both business and community. Beyond funding, we take an active role with grantees: fundraising alongside them, hosting events, and investing deeply in their success. My goal is to help move philanthropy forward — not just by what we fund, but by how we give, ensuring it’s collaborative, strategic, and built for lasting change.

NationSwell: What do you feel is the North Star of your leadership — the principle or ideal you look to in order to be the most effective leader possible? 

Canela, Niagara Cares: I’ve always believed that effective leadership, like strong branding, requires a balance between head and heart. To truly connect with people, you need both strategic clarity and emotional authenticity. I’m not afraid to show emotion; the issues we work on are real and deeply human. My approach is to pair a thoughtful, data-driven strategy with genuine empathy — to be both the mind and the soul of the business. That balance allows me to lead in a way that’s motivational, grounded, and real.

At the same time, none of this work happens alone. Behind every success is a team that inspires me daily, partners who share our vision, and nonprofits doing the hard work on the ground. It’s a collective effort — each part strengthening the other — and I couldn’t be prouder of the people I get to collaborate with. Together, we make each other better and turn strategy into meaningful, lasting impact.

NationSwell: What is exciting you right now? What is the next thing on the horizon that has you really excited? 

Canela, Niagara Cares: What’s exciting is that this is a new strategy for Niagara — we launched it at the start of 2024, so we’re only in our second year. The first year was about benchmarking: understanding what was possible and how to execute it. By year two, we established ambitious KPIs — feeding 150,000 people a month, planting a million trees, and restoring a billion gallons of water over five years. But we’ve already surpassed expectations: 400,000 trees planted this year alone, 70,000 people fed, and water goals we’ll likely reach within 18 months.

Now we’re asking ourselves what’s next — how we can stretch even further and scale our impact. Reevaluating and expanding these goals isn’t just a metric exercise; it’s a reflection of the legacy we want to leave in the world. Seeing how much we can accomplish in such a short time makes me incredibly proud and motivated for what’s ahead.

NationSwell: What, to your mind, is sort of defining the world of philanthropy right now? What are you seeing that is giving you the most hope? 

Canela, Niagara Cares: In corporate philanthropy, the shifting flow of money is redefining everything. Funding models are changing so quickly that many nonprofit leaders are struggling to adapt — but what I find hopeful is how many corporate peers are stepping up to help. Companies are working more closely with partners, offering flexible funding, and showing real empathy for the challenges nonprofits face. I recently joined a roundtable on the state of corporate giving where people were moved to tears — and to me, that emotion reflects deep commitment to sustaining impact in uncertain times.

Even as traditional funding sources dry up, I’m inspired by the innovation happening across the sector. Nonprofits are reorganizing, forming new partnerships, and finding creative ways to stay resilient. We may see more collaboration and consolidation, but not collapse — and that gives me tremendous hope. There’s a shared determination, both in business and philanthropy, to evolve together and continue supporting the work that matters most.

Chobani | Impact through product innovation

Chobani | Impact through product innovation

How Chobani’s Super Milk is redefining disaster relief and food security

Chobani’s idea for Super Milk came out of two urgent challenges: the growing number of climate-related disasters and a steep rise in food insecurity across the U.S. Today, billion-dollar disasters are hitting every couple of weeks, displacing families and driving up demand for shelf-stable, nutrient-dense food. At the same time, in 2023 food insecurity affected approximately 20% of households, putting even more strain on food banks. While milk is one of the most requested items, it’s also one of the hardest to get out quickly—it needs refrigeration and doesn’t last long, often arriving just before it expires.

To overcome these challenges, Chobani marshaled its in-house expertise in dairy innovation, supply chain management, and community impact to create a shelf-stable, nutrient-dense milk specifically designed for disaster relief and hunger alleviation. Produced at Chobani’s Idaho plant, Chobani Super Milk is made with a blend of real milk and ultrafiltered milk to achieve an excellent source of high-quality protein, with less sugar than traditional milk. An enzyme naturally converts sugars into galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS), a high-quality prebiotic fiber, that contributes to gut health and digestion. Chobani Super Milk is aseptically processed, which allows for a 9-month shelf life without refrigeration and without any added preservatives, resulting in a product that is accessible, nutritious, and highly transportable to the communities who need it most.

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PepsiCo | Feeding potential

PepsiCo | Feeding potential

How PepsiCo’s Food for Good is creating a blueprint for global food security

Food for Good — the PepsiCo Foundation initiative for advancing food security — launched in Dallas, Texas, as an exercise in deep listening. Through sustained conversations with trusted community volunteers and leaders, PepsiCo learned that the 19 million school-aged children in the U.S. who depend on free or reduced-price meals at school were facing critical gaps in access to nutritious food during the summer months, when school was not in session.

Beginning in the summer of 2009, PepsiCo leveraged its food production, logistics, and distribution expertise — as well as a partnership with Frito-Lay, the convenient foods business unit of PepsiCo, that allowed for borrowed access to trucks and warehouse space — to prototype a summer meal delivery model. The privately-funded program quickly expanded into new cities, eventually outgrowing its original facility but maintaining its original commitment to staying rooted in community feedback and mission to fight hunger through access and equity.

Food for Good combines large-scale meal distribution, job creation, targeted child nutrition, disaster relief, and impactful storytelling to distribute nutritious meals and address crisis-driven hunger at scale.

 

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Collaboration in Action: Supporting Communities Amid LA Wildfires

Posted on by Brianna Provenzano

As we take stock of the urgent needs on the ground in Los Angeles following the devastating wildfires earlier this month, a group of NationSwell members convened to discuss how to best allocate energy and resources in response to the near and long-term impacts of the disaster.

Below are some of the key takeaways that were surfaced:

Think in phases to align support with evolving needs during disaster recovery. As you build your response and recovery strategies, consider the distinct needs at different stages of recovery. Focus on immediate relief and first responder support in the near term, stabilizing communities with housing and essential services in the mid term, and rebuilding homes, mental health, and economic resilience in the long term. Phased grantmaking and collaborating with trusted community organizations during each phase ensures aid meets actual needs, preventing overwhelm or misallocation of resources. 

Invest in disaster mitigation and prevention to improve preparedness. Proactive efforts in disaster prevention, including for wildfires, can significantly reduce the impact of future disasters. For example, initiatives like clearing fuel sources, creating defensible space around homes, and providing home protection training can help communities better withstand wildfires. Find opportunities to invest in mitigation strategies during blue-sky periods to enhance resilience and reduce the strain on recovery resources after disasters occur. Consider encouraging employees to take wildfire prevention training (e.g. home ignition zone training). 

Work with credible partners to ensure product donations are targeted and effective. Collaborate with organizations that specialize in timely and efficient product distribution to increase the likelihood that in-kind donations reach the right people at the right time. Leveraging established relationships with grassroots organizations or well vetted partners can prevent product donations going to waste or the creation of logistical challenges for impacted communities. 

Prioritize cash assistance to meet diverse and immediate needs. Direct cash assistance is one of the most effective ways to help individuals and small businesses address their unique needs following a disaster. Cash assistance is particularly critical for underbanked populations and undocumented workers, who often face barriers to accessing traditional financial support. Supporting communities at risk of being left behind, such as day laborers and micro-businesses, can lessen lost livelihood from the fires. Flexible cash-based approaches empower recipients to make decisions that best suit their circumstances, from securing housing to rebuilding businesses.

Leverage platforms and create opportunities for employee giving. Activating employees as contributors to disaster relief efforts can amplify an organization’s impact while increasing a sense of purpose and community within the workplace. Companies are using platforms for employees to donate directly to vetted organizations, matched by corporate contributions. Companies can also create point-of-sale donation opportunities, raising funding through QR codes and round-up campaigns and increasing public awareness about disasters. 

Use informal networks and communication channels to improve collaboration during crises. Creating private and informal communication channels can be a valuable tool for leaders to coordinate and exchange ideas during times of crisis. For example, being part of a group of LA-based leaders or organizations for off-the-record exchanges of strategies and lessons learned can provide a safe space to troubleshoot challenges, share real-time updates, and identify opportunities for collaboration. 

Invest in narrative work to sustain attention on disaster recovery. Shifting the public and media narrative toward systemic issues like inequality and generational wealth loss can promote better understanding of community needs. Getting innovative with your funding choices, such as investing in photography projects or local storytelling initiatives, can help highlight underrepresented voices in public forums and the full scope of post-disaster challenges.