Pathways Action Summit: Connecting Ozarks Learners to Future-Ready Careers

Clare Bertrand is the Executive Director of Career Strategy and Partnerships at the College Board, where she leads national efforts to better align secondary education with the needs of today’s workforce. She drives cross-sector partnerships, including a flagship collaboration with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s CCC100 initiative, Preparing Tomorrow’s Workforce, advancing career-connected learning opportunities for students across more than 40 states.

Previously, Clare held leadership roles at Jobs for the Future (JFF), where she led large-scale digital transformation initiatives and directed a multi-million dollar Department of Labor effort supporting the National Office of Job Corps. She has also led the development of innovative career navigation tools that help students identify pathways to high-value credentials and in-demand careers. Most recently, she co-founded a company focused on supporting neurodiverse early talent in corporate and postsecondary environments.

A recognized voice on workforce readiness and education-to-career alignment, Clare frequently contributes to national conversations on building skills-first, future-ready systems. She holds graduate degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and Trinity College Dublin, and a bachelor’s degree from James Madison University.

Kimberly Smith is Chief Innovation Officer at Digital Promise’s Center for Learner Pathway Innovations. She collaborates with a national network of forward-thinking school district leaders working in partnership with their communities in engaging in equity-centered research and development of solutions to advance equity and excellence for every learner. She held previous R&D education leadership positions at the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, PBS, Discovery Education and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting pioneering education technologies, interactive curriculum, pathways programs and teacher professional development models.

An Aspen-Pahara Institute fellow and co-founder of the National Charter Collaborative, she received her MBA from Johns Hopkins University and BS in Journalism from the University of Colorado Boulder. She serves on the boards of Beacon House in Washington, DC; CatalystED, the Learner Centered Collaborative and the National Charter Collaborative.

Across national, state, and local contexts, Viki Young leads research studies featuring mixed qualitative and quantitative methods, with particular focus on teaching and learning within embedded contexts and the system supports, resources, incentives, and disincentives that shape change and unintended consequences. She has studied the implementation and impact of K–12 policy and improvement initiatives, including high school reform, inclusive STEM high school models, instructional coaching and educator development, and school choice initiatives.

As co-leader of the Center for Learner Pathway Innovations at Digital Promise, she is building inclusive research practices into an equity-centered R&D model, Collaborative Innovation, with students from historically and systematically excluded communities and those closest to educational challenges co-leading the R&D process. Before joining Digital Promise in 2019, she was Director of the Center for Education Policy at SRI International. She holds a Ph.D. in education administration and policy analysis at Stanford University.

Terra is a senior program officer with the Home Region Program. She manages a portfolio focused on cultivating a career ready workforce in Northwest Arkansas.

Terra most recently served as the education advisor at AmeriCorps, the federal agency for service and volunteerism, where she provided ongoing support to AmeriCorps grantees and developed partnerships with nonprofit, philanthropic, private, and federal organizations to harness the power of national service to expand opportunity. She has previously held roles at the school, district and federal levels, leading a wide array of policy and advocacy initiatives focused on improving student outcomes and eliminating opportunity gaps.

Terra began her career as a high school teacher in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana with Teach for America. She holds bachelor’s degrees in accounting and political science from the University of Iowa and a master’s in public policy with a concentration in social and education policy from Georgetown University.

Karen Buschmann is the executive director of the Missouri Chamber Foundation. In this role, Buschmann oversees research, strategy, grants and workforce initiatives within the Missouri Chamber Foundation.

The Missouri Chamber Foundation is the charitable (501c3) arm of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry is the state’s largest business association, representing thousands of employers from every corner of the state. The mission of the Missouri Chamber Foundation is to serve as a force multiplier for Missouri employers by driving data-informed policy and supporting initiatives that advance economic growth.

Buschmann has a Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Missouri. She has worked at the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry for more than 27 years.