Grow Local: Recentering Community-Based Talent Pipelines

Recorded live at the 2026 ASU+GSV Summit in San Diego, this session featured Amy Loyd, CEO at All4Ed; Raghu Krishnaiah, Chief Operating Officer at University of Phoenix; Monique Perry-Graves, CEO at Road to Hire; Lisa Larson, CEO at Education Design Lab; and Kiersten Barnet, Executive Director at the New York Jobs CEO Council.The speakers explored how talent lived within communities, but opportunity too often did not. They examined how local pipelines could be intentionally designed to connect residents to meaningful careers while strengthening regional economies and ensuring organizations remained deeply rooted in the communities they served.This session brought together leaders shaping community-based talent pipelines to discuss how community programs, higher education partnerships, and AI-enabled workforce infrastructure were working together to bridge the gap between local talent and real economic opportunity. Panelists highlighted actionable strategies for building systems that connected residents to career pathways, expanded access, and supported both workforce mobility and regional resilience in a hybrid, post-COVID world.The conversation focused on how organizations could “be where their feet are” by recentering community in workforce development strategy. By aligning education, technology, and local partnerships, this session explored how leaders could scale talent pipelines that delivered measurable impact while keeping community needs, inclusion, and long-term economic vitality at the center.