NextGen Talent is a Boston-based organization that provides tools to counselors, students, and families to help them understand the landscape of postsecondary education and workforce pathways. The organization’s goal is to increase the number of students enrolling in postsecondary programs and help communities make sense of the opportunities available to them. With NextGen Talent’s support, students, job seekers, and employers in the area can compare regional salary data, explore career pathways, and find what local programs are training people to fill high-quality jobs.

Even with the innovative, data-driven work accomplished by NextGen Talent, current state data systems make achieving their goals difficult. To power their tools, NextGen Talent staff must manually comb through a vast array of data sources, consuming a significant amount of time and effort. Just as states have made investments in data collection, infrastructure, and connecting data across sectors, state leaders must prioritize providing access to data in ways that enable individuals and organizations to use it to make informed decisions.

Our latest resource provides a look into how NextGen Talent’s work offers a model for states to provide the tools and resources that make it possible for communities to access data and take action.