Rajinder began her dedicated focus on skills development, and its power to create greater equity across populations, while studying abroad in graduate school. During her time at Oxford University, she conducted extensive research into effective career education counseling practices. Rajinder realized the underlying success of an upskilling or reskilling program comes from developing curriculum designed to foster both self and social awareness as a means to gain and retain employment. These best practices were incorporated when she co-created and was Executive Director of New World of Work, leading to the program’s success in achieving scale across the California Community Colleges system. In co-founding the Essential Skills Program, Rajinder continues this best practice methodology where soft skills training curriculum and assessments culminate in digital credentials to provide valuable currency for workers in the ever-changing global economy.