How to Build a Workforce Agenda for the AI Economy | Brooke DeRenzis | National Skills Coalition

Brooke DeRenzis from the National Skills Coalition talks with Paul Fain about how to build a workforce agenda for the AI economy. The National Skills Coalition is a nonprofit organization that advocates for inclusive, high-quality skills training. DeRenzis is the group’s DC-based CEO. She shares how the US can leverage bipartisan concern about AI’s impacts to improve on decades of unfinished workforce policy. Chapters 00:00 How ready is the US?: The main workforce law is a generation old and its real funding has shrunk. The safety net is built for normal ups and downs, not structural change. 02:15 We spend far less than our peers: The US is at the bottom of the OECD chart on workforce spending. 03:15 What Americans are saying: Nobody has a crystal ball. People want to know what AI means for their own job, family and community. 06:05 From "second chance" to "first choice": Treating workforce spending as a core investment, and why the lack of partisan lines on AI is an opening. 11:45 "Job training doesn't work"?: What workers actually want: economic stability, and control over their own careers. 14:55 "Economic infrastructure": People shouldn't have to choose between putting food on the table and getting training. 17:20 Where basic income and reskilling overlap: New Mexico's guaranteed income for student parents, and pandemic emergency aid at community colleges. 20:00 The pilot problem: Low spending produces modest results, which justifies low spending. Per Scholas, and $2K training vouchers versus a $10K program. 25:05 Scaling up: Community colleges, union-management training partnerships, and employers who want in from the start. 29:40 Corporate money: Lowe's and others investing in the skilled trades, and the building of AI infrastructure itself driving demand for workers. 33:05 States or Washington? Why not to wait, and the broken promises of past economic transitions. 37:45 Pennsylvania: Deindustrialization, Gov. Shapiro's shift on data centers, and where people can look for hope. 41:40 Community anchors: Community colleges and community groups as the places people go when they're worried about work. 44:45 A New Promise of Work: About 500 conversations nationwide, policy proposals coming at the National Skills Coalition’s March 2027 Skills Summit, and who needs to champion them. Mentioned in this episode National Skills Coalition, https://nationalskillscoalition.org/ New Promise of Work, https://nationalskillscoalition.org/campaigns/a-new-promise-of-work/ Skills Summit, https://nationalskillscoalition.org/event/skills-summit OECD spending, https://www.oecd.org/en/blogs/2025/11/active-labour-market-policies-in-oecd-countries-why-renewed-investment-matters.html The $2K voucher, https://pw.hks.harvard.edu/post/publicjobtraining Per Scholas evidence, https://mdrc.org/work/publications/long-term-effects-sectoral-advancement-strategy/file-executive Corporate spending, https://corporate.lowes.com/newsroom/press-releases/lowes-foundation-plans-expanded-250-million-investment-help-train-and-develop-250000-tradespeople-over-next-decade-increasing-skilled-trades-workforce About The Cusp This podcast explores how the U.S. should be preparing for potential AI-driven disruption to jobs. Host Paul Fain talks with top experts about how the U.S. education and workforce systems can be part of the solution, what sort of policies will be needed, and who should pay for all this. The Cusp is produced by Work Shift, an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on connections between education and work. Get The Job, Paul Fain's weekly newsletter: https://workshift.org/the-job/ All episodes: https://workshift.org/the-cusp/ Work Shift on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/workshiftnews