Skills Shift AI brings together expertise from workforce development, strategy, and economic mobility to better understand how artificial intelligence is transforming work.
The initiative is led by a founding team working at the intersection of workforce systems, research, and institutional strategy.
Together, the team focuses on helping organizations and leaders understand how AI is reshaping tasks, skills, and career pathways, and how workforce systems can adapt in ways that expand economic opportunity.
As the initiative grows, Skills Shift AI will continue building partnerships with researchers, workforce organizations, employers, and policy leaders working at the intersection of AI and economic mobility.
Leadership
Debra Means-West
Founder & Executive Director
Debra Means-West is a workforce innovation leader and systems thinker whose work spans more than two decades advancing economic opportunity and strengthening workforce systems.
Throughout her career, she has worked at the intersection of workforce development, education, and economic mobility, helping organizations, policymakers, and institutions design strategies that expand access to meaningful employment and long-term economic participation.
Her work has focused on addressing structural barriers to opportunity and strengthening pathways into quality jobs for workers from historically underserved and underrepresented communities.
Across leadership roles in nonprofit and workforce ecosystems, she has contributed to initiatives that connect talent, training, and labor market opportunity in ways that support more inclusive and resilient economies.
She founded Skills Shift AI to explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping work at the task and skill level and to help workforce leaders better understand how emerging technologies will influence jobs, career pathways, and economic mobility.
Through this initiative, she is working to ensure that the transformation of work driven by AI expands opportunity rather than deepening existing inequities.
Wagaye Johannes
Chief Strategy & Impact Officer
Wagaye Johannes leads strategy and impact for Skills Shift AI. She shapes how insights are applied across institutions, sectors, and policy contexts, and oversees partnership strategy and alignment with systems-level outcomes.
Her work focuses on translating research and insight into practical strategies that help organizations navigate technological change while maintaining a focus on equitable and responsible outcomes.
Through her leadership, Skills Shift AI aims to ensure that its work delivers meaningful, measurable impact while remaining grounded in institutional realities and responsible use of emerging technologies.
Advisors and Collaborators
Skills Shift AI is designed as a collaborative initiative.
As the work evolves, the initiative will engage advisors and collaborators from across workforce development, research, policy, industry, and philanthropy to help deepen insight and expand the impact of this work.
Join the Work
As Skills Shift AI evolves, we collaborate with researchers, practitioners, and organizations aligned with our mission. We welcome conversations with those interested in advancing the future of workforce intelligence.