Health care is a prime example of one of the wicked problems faced in education. Even after a training need is identified, it takes time to achieve agreement across stakeholders to identify the curriculum requirements and find resources to satisfy them. An emergent need can become critical in the time it takes to create and roll out a new training program. In the current pandemic context, this is especially true for licensed health care workers.

Shared vision and collaboration across stakeholders are essential to respond to wicked problems. In this seminar I’ll talk about the coordinated effort that has created a self-paced online Pandemic Readiness curriculum for licensed practical nursing (LPNs) serving California’s 40 million residents and the pop-up facilities anticipated for the COVID-19 critical needs.

 

Van Ton-Quinlivan is a nationally recognized thought leader in workforce development who has been quoted in The New York Times, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Stanford Social Innovation Review, U.S. News & World Report, and other publications. Her distinguished career spans the public, private, and non-profit sectors. She is currently CEO of Futuro Health, a $130 million nonprofit established to address the nation’s allied health workforce shortage starting in California. She previously served as executive vice chancellor for the California Community Colleges, the nation’s largest system of higher education, and grew public investment in workforce programs from $100 million to over $1 billion during her tenure. Her awards include being named White House Champion of Change under the Obama Administration, California Steward Leader, and mediaX Stanford University distinguished visiting fellow. Follow her at @WorkforceVan.