WHAT WE DO

WHY

More than ever, job seekers are looking for work that is both financially and personally fulfilling, while employers need to find people with the right skills to thrive within an organization or team. Without an effective way to connect these groups through skill building opportunities and verified credentials, the employment crisis will continue to grow.

HOW

We offer essential skills video training with a focus on behavior-based learning, delivered within a​n accessible e-learning platform, combined with digital badge certificates that can be used to showcase skills to employers all over the world. Our content is designed in collaboration with our partners and test users from diverse backgrounds to ensure we truly serve everyone.

MISSION & VISION

It’s our mission to build an empowered, future-ready workforce by providing essential skills training for students, adult learners, job seekers, and employees.

We envision a world where everyone has the opportunity to develop, demonstrate, and refine their essential skills to prosper and thrive both personally and professionally.

WHAT WE OFFER

SKILLS TRAINING

FREE

10 FREE Skills Training Modules

Partner With Us for LMS Integration

ADVANCED

15 Advanced Training Modules

Support Us for Development

CUSTOM

Custom Training Modules

Partner With Us to Learn More

DATA & ASSESSMENT

SURVEYS

ESP Skills Ranking Surveys

Partner With Us to Understand Your Skills Culture

DIGITAL BADGES

Skills Credentials Tied to Labor Market Data

Support Us to Develop Open Access Badging

PEER/TEST USERS

FREE, Early Access to ESP Training Modules

Partner With Us to Provide Equity-Based Feedback

Let’s work together to provide equitable skills training and help make economic mobility possible for everyone!

Let’s work together to provide equitable skills training and help make economic mobility possible for everyone!

MEET OUR TEAM

In 2012, we started the New World of Work (NWoW) 21st Century Skills program under the California Community Colleges (CCC) system to serve the 116 member colleges, their K-12 district partners, and local workforce development boards. In 2020, after achieving scale in California, we created the Essential Skills Program to provide “soft” skills video training through our partner network across the country and internationally.

Rajinder Gill
M.S. Ed.

CEO
Co-Founder

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.

Kate O’Rorke
M.S. OL

COO
Co-Founder

Throughout her career, Kate has focused on the expansion and promotion of career development programs for students in K-12, community college, and adult education. As the Executive Director of the Northern California Girls Inc. affiliate, Kate led a team providing services to nine counties. She focused intensely on rural communities where programs and resources were severely lacking. In her role at New World of Work, Kate served as Statewide Director, coordinating partnerships that expanded across the country. Transitioning from this role, Kate co-founded the Essential Skills Program to continue her commitment to build a skilled, empowered workforce. With a Master’s degree in Organizational Leadership from Colorado State University, Kate is ideally suited to designing innovative ways to scale soft skills training for incumbent workers while engaging a variety of partners at the local, national, and international levels.

William Ogle
M.Ed.

Digital Badge & Analytics Specialist

Billy believes strongly in the rigorous assessment of outcomes and using data as a means for ongoing comprehensive systems improvements. Through his decade of experience working in community college programs, he has firsthand knowledge of the pervasive deficiency in soft skills attainment among those entering the workforce. With a Master of Education degree from the University of Texas at Arlington, Billy expertly directed a federal TRiO education grant through Feather River College while also developing the New World of Work’s digital badge and data collection methodology. As part of the Essential Skills Program team, Billy brings his passion for identifying data-driven solutions to prepare the labor force for the many challenges of the modern economy. He feels these pedagogical methods provide workers the vital tools that allow them to excel both in the workplace and as productive members of society.

Erin Maloney
M.S. Ed.

Curriculum & Instructional Design Specialist

Erin is an experienced collaborator, communicator, trainer, and creator. She began her career as an English teacher for international students, and designed curriculum at the university level before receiving her Master’s in Instructional Design. A firm believer in lifelong learning with career pivots to support skill growth, Erin served as Project Coordinator for educational entities Connected Lane County and Lane STEM for two years before transitioning to Digital Marketing Manager at Ruby Porter Marketing & Design. Erin joined the New World of Work team as a curriculum and assessment developer, which led to her expanding into Train-the-Trainer work. She is thrilled to be part of the Essential Skills Program where she applies her instructional design background to creating hybrid online skills offerings. Erin is focused on balancing the needs of a growing remote workforce with supportive guidance for interpersonal development.

OUR ADVISORS

Caleb Jonas
M.B.A.

Sustainability & Partnerships

Caleb is an experienced social impact and social enterprise leader, with a passion for ensuring equality of opportunity and economic dignity for everyone, regardless of personal circumstance or demographics. He has more than 10 years of experience leading teams and initiatives at organizations including Goodwill Industries of San Francisco, Samaschool, and the City of St. Paul (MN). Having led, developed, and managed many job training programs for people overcoming barriers to employment, Caleb believes deeply in the power of “soft skills” to change people’s perspectives and pathways and is excited to develop new partnerships that will help the Essential Skills Program grow and thrive. Caleb has an M.A. from Macalester College, an M.P.A from the Harvard Kennedy School, and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

John Duda

Digital Platforms & Tech

John Duda brings nearly 25 years of technology experience to his role as a digital advisor. John has worked with all sizes of organizations in both private and public sectors to solve specific workforce challenges related to analytics.  As a business executive, John recognized early in his career the importance of strong interpersonal skills for job success and career growth, regardless of the industry. In partnering with the Essential Skills Program team, John saw an opportunity to apply his years of technology and analytics experience to help develop a digital “best in class” training methodology and platform to make economic mobility possible for everyone.

Kelley Keller
Esq.

Intellectual Property & Contracts

Kelley Keller, who received her Juris Doctor of Law, cum laude, from the Catholic University of America, is an intellectual property (IP) attorney, speaker, and legal business educator. With more than two decades of experience in the IP field, she works with individuals, non-profits, and businesses in a wide variety of industries helping them transform their ideas, knowledge, and innovation into valuable assets that promote sustainability. Kelley’s career began with “boots on the ground” work for the National Intellectual Property Law Institute. During that time, she traveled to nearly 20 countries working with U.S. and foreign embassies and high-level government, academic, industry, and judicial personnel on issues related to IP and global trade. Kelley brings this global perspective to her advising work with ESP, as she sees the need across countries for services that ensure the resilience of the workforce.

Sophie Everett
M.A.

Branding & Marketing

Sophie Everett is a PR and communications specialist with nearly 15 years of experience in the field. As the owner of Everett PR, Sophie has worked with countless startups, foundations and private companies from a variety of industries, to help them communicate more clearly. Sophie is convinced that the answer to confusion is always a resounding “no” and she aims to clarify messages to truly engage the target audiences. Her strength is an unwavering focus on the end client and an ability to highlight what’s relevant from the customer’s perspective. Her work encompasses all aspects of branding: naming new companies, designing logos, websites, print materials and writing content for traditional and social media. She’s now bringing her know-how to the Essential Skills Program and she is excited to help shape the ESP brand along with the rest of the team.

OUR DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS

Concentric Sky

Product Design

Badgr

Digital Credentials

CreatorUp

Scripting & Videos

NextThought

Scripting & Videos

Trifoia

LMS and Tech Support

OUR SEED FUNDERS