Gladeo addresses skills shortages and gaps, an unsustainable student debt crisis, and generational racial income and wealth gaps, problems being exacerbated by COVID-19. Before this crisis, 30-45% of the U.S. working-age population were un- or underemployed. Due to COVID-19, more than 40 million Americans have lost their jobs, and according to the Pew Research Center, unemployment rates have increased notably more for Black, Latinx, women, immigrants, young adults, and less-educated workers.The current system to help the unemployed is outdated, underfunded, and was incapable of meeting the needs of workers before this crisis, let alone tens of millions more. There has never been a more timely and dire need for universal access to social equity-focused, future-of-work-ready, virtual career guidance.Gladeo’s free, online career navigation platform is the solution. On it, users can take a personal assessment, explore careers, see relatable role models, learn skills they'll need, find reputable education and training, and connect to internships and jobs. We are also currently piloting two new products:1. Gladeo for Colleges (pilot with Foothill College): To help community college students define career goals and find relevant CTE programs, internships, networking opportunities. 2. Regional Microsites (pilot with LA Economic Development Corporation): To address regional skills gaps, income inequality, and prepare local talent for middle and high-skill jobs in their region.

Resilience - we're improving the broader infrastructure for responding to pandemic outbreaks.,Recovery - we're positioned to support in the recovery of those directly affected.,Response - we're responding directly to issues caused or exacerbated by the COVID-19 outbreak.

I have a prototype or a simple version I can show my customers

(1) Product Development: Successful track record launching tech product. See Gladeo.org for our work.(2) Content: Combined 25+ years experience in video and editorial content production. See gladeo.org/spotlights for our work.(3) Navigating Government and Politics: Successful at building relationships with workforce stakeholders, economic development corporations, and education leaders.(4) Finance & Strategic Planning: 14+ yrs experience in financial modeling, strategic planning, corporate development, FP&A.Our team employs an impact- and data-driven approach to UX design to drive measurable outcomes, research-based intervention design to promote social equity and inclusion, and a human-centered design process to ensure meaningful, long-term impact for all stakeholders - the career seeker, the career counselor, the employer, and the regional workforce board or government.As children of immigrants who pursued careers in Hollywood, we understand what it’s like to overcome the doubt of lacking relatable role models and lacking someone to ask for career guidance. Our personal experiences and our volunteer work helped us develop a nuanced understanding of the barriers that block low-income, first-generation, and historically-underrepresented people from successfully navigating upwardly-mobile careers. We searched high & low for an effective, culturally-responsive, modern career navigation resource to help our students and didn’t find one, so we created one ourselves.

United States

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