Can we be upwardly mobility?

Hello everyone! I'm at Harvard this semester during my sabbatical from Youngstown State University (YSU).

Today, I went to the Conference on Poverty and Inequality. The keynote speaker, Nisha G. Patel, national expert on economic and social mobility, lectured about upward mobility. ​She shared the findings of the Mobility Partnership (https://www.mobilitypartnership.org). 

Upward mobility represents the ability of a person to move from one economic class to another. For example, this could represent the transition of a first generation college student from a low socioeconomic household to the upper middle class after receiving professional job as an accountant at a CPA firm. 

The speaker and website clearly lays out the future of work, the case for upward mobility, how to harness the power of high expectations, and a study about community colleges supporting economic mobility (which could also apply to us at YSU).

My goal is to gather intelligence so that we can help formulate a better plan to reduce inequality in our region and to reach untapped markets in NE Ohio.
 
Opportunity Insights published research about zip codes and upward mobility. The chances of moving from the bottom 20% to the top 20% varies depending on where you live in the country. Green represents good mobility and red represents poor mobility. Ohio is a red state meaning we have some work to do.

As the semester continues, I will be blogging on the future of work, the gig economy, the need for reskilling and upskilling of the labor force, and opportunities for my educational institution, YSU. I hope you will follow me and share my blogs with others.