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Co-designing Learning and Employment Records (LERs) to Power an Equitable, Skills-based Hiring Ecosystem
About ColoradoFWD
About ColoradoFWD
ColoradoFWD is an 18-month pilot demonstration working to catalyze an equitable, skills-based ecosystem that uses learning and employment records (LERs) to address urgent talent shortages in behavioral health and direct care. ColoradoFWD imagines a world where…
All Learning Counts
All Learning Counts
Whether an individual acquires skills through school, work, or other life experiences, there is a process for validating those skills and curating them so they can be used to access learning and employment opportunities.
Learners and Workers Control their Information
Learners and Workers Control their Information
Individuals can capture and communicate the skills and competencies they’ve acquired throughout their learning and working journey to convey a robust story of what they know and what they can do.
Employers Easily Connect to Skilled Talent
Employers Easily Connect to Skilled Talent
Employers can connect with a wider talent pool and easily match with workers who have the skills needed for their open positions.
The mission of ColoradoFWD is to power a future where learners and workers have greater control over their education and employment data and can use it to convey a robust story of what they know and what they can do. This will expand access to learn and work opportunities while helping behavioral health and direct care employers better connect to and upskill talent to address their talent shortages.
By activating skills-based approaches centered in equity, and pairing them with Learning and Employment Record (LER) infrastructure, Colorado will support a more seamless approach to developing, validating, communicating, and matching talent with open positions to improve outcomes for learners, workers, and employers.
ColoradoFWD builds on early progress in Colorado to blur the lines across education, training, and work through investments in skills-based hiring, work-based learning, apprenticeships, incremental credentialing, and the interoperable infrastructure of My Colorado, the state’s digital wallet. The initiative involves four primary stakeholders: learners and workers, credential issuers, employers, and tech and data solution providers.
Learners and Workers
Learners and Workers
The initiative focuses on learners and workers who are currently working in behavioral health and direct care or have an interest in these fields. Through ColoradoFWD these individuals will gain better control over their education and employment data, allowing them to more effectively communicate the breadth of their skills and experiences and take advantage of available education and work opportunities.
Credential Issuers
Credential Issuers
Credential issuers include colleges, universities, and apprenticeship programs committed to raising learners’ and workers’ awareness of the skills gained during their education and training experience, and testing new ways of equipping learners with access to their data to make more informed decisions about their education and career journeys.
Employers
Employers
ColoradoFWD engages employers in behavioral health and direct care working to co-develop solutions to address their talent and retention shortages. During the demonstration, employers will test the use of skills-based practices in hiring and upskilling opportunities.
Tech/Data Solution Providers
Tech/Data Solution Providers
Tech and data solution providers are the organizations who will create the interoperable digital infrastructure to help learners and workers access and curate their data and use it to connect with education and work opportunities.
Get Involved
Get Involved
Sign up to receive updates about the ColoradoFWD project as it progresses.
Learning and Resources
Learning and Resources
What are Learning and Employment Records (LERs)?
What are Learning and Employment Records (LERs)?
Learning and Employment Records (LERs) are digital, verified records of the skills, competencies, credentials, and employment history an individual has accumulated over their lifetime. The records are verifiable and secured according to web standards, and are controlled by users who can curate and use them to pursue education and employment opportunities as they see fit.
Check out this video Introduction to Learning and Employment Records from the T3 Innovation Network.
Source: National Student Clearinghouse, 2020
Why do LERs matter?
Why do LERs matter?
Education and hiring tools and technologies, especially those focused on leveraging skills, are advancing rapidly, but hiring practices still rely heavily on PDF resumes, references, and other proxies; all of which provide an incomplete picture of candidates. This can result in poor matches between talent and jobs, and often locks people into one particular vendor or platform. Without taking intentional steps to establish a more equitable and interoperable LER ecosystem for capturing, verifying, and sharing information about learning, employment, and service, it is likely that new technologies will perpetuate inequitable access to meaningful education and job opportunities.
We believe LERs are a tool with the potential to help increase economic mobility for all. Giving learners and workers control over their data empowers them to use it to access opportunities, e.g. to determine eligibility for benefits, market relevant skills to apply for jobs, and choose the skills they want to share absent of data that may trigger biases.
For employers, LERs can offer data rich predictors of performance and help ensure that time spent on upskilling and reskilling is responsive to workforce needs.
News & Updates
News & Updates
News
News
Skills-First Local Workforce Board Challenge
Goal: Increase awareness and adoption of skills-first practices encourage local boards to explore the use of LERs
Funding: A $5,000 grant is available to each local workforce board that completes a checklist of "Skills-first Board Activation" practices by August 31, 2025.
Checklist: Boards must complete several tasks, including attending a roundtable event, sharing insights, reviewing a toolkit, integrating skills-based language, and adopting a local policy related to skills-first practices.
Optional Challenges: Local Workforce Boards are invited to submit plans for exploring the use of a Colorado LER solution and adopting and advancing skills-first practices. The winner will be selected by CWDC Council Members and announced at the CWDC Council Meeting in September 2025.
The winner will receive an additional $10,000.
Learn more about the Skills-First Local Workforce Board Challenge here.
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