Talent Finance
Exploring new ways to finance people and skills.
Like much of our education and workforce system, the methods we use to finance education, training, and credentialing are outdated. The Talent Finance initiative involves both the public and private sectors working together to develop alternative approaches for how we finance our most pressing workforce challenges and opportunities, including how we support the rapid upskilling and reskilling of our workforce.
Talent Finance explores new ways to pay for education and skills training that are more affordable, result in less debt, and improve education and employment outcomes.
- $1.7 trillionCurrent Debt for U.S. Students
- $101 billionAmount U.S. Businesses Spend on Training
A Public-Private Financing Approach for Upskilling and Reskilling in a Dynamic Economy
Talent Finance Design Workshop and Innovation Network
The Talent Finance Design Workshop series is intended for public and private organizations and professionals who want to: (1) learn more about finance instruments and innovations that can used in talent development and management; (2) network with peers and finance experts; and (3) design a new or improve an existing project(s) for implementation. Eligible applicants and teams can include, but are not limited to, chambers of commerce, employers, workforce investment boards, student finance/aid agencies, CDFIs, education and training providers (e.g., universities or community colleges), funders collaboratives focused on education and workforce outcomes, economic development organizations, and other organizations that stand to benefit from designing new talent finance products, services, and partnerships.
The Talent Finance Innovation Network (TFIN) is a community group dedicated to putting the Talent Finance guiding principles and framework into practice. TFIN is tailored for individuals/organizations who have participated in a Talent Finance Design Workshop Series, solution providers, and others who have a particular interest and understanding of the Talent Finance initiative.
To learn more about joining the Talent Finance Innovation Network, contact the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation at workforce@uschamber.com.
- Read the ReportIn late 2022, we launched the Quality Assurance Workgroup, co-chaired by Workforce Talent Educators Association and the U.S. Chamber Foundation.Read the Report
- Read the ReportThe Employee Education Benefits Workgroup was asked to review and analyze Section 127, a tax code-driven employee education benefit that has been in place since 1978.Read the Report
- Training and Development Landscape StudyWe partnered with SHRM to survey the training and development landscape and employer appetite for alternative approaches to financing talent.Read More
Talent Finance Solution Provider Directory
The Talent Finance Solution Provider Directory is a way to connect organizations who are offering products or services that advance sustainable and equitable ways to finance talent. The goal of the directory is to provide TFIN members and workshop participants with information that enables them to find the right fit for themselves or their clients. It can also help TFIN members and workshop participants prepare for meetings with solution providers to increase efficiency at the beginning of a partnership.
Interested in being included in the Talent Finance Solution Provider Directory? Fill out the Solution Provider Directory Form.
Talent Finance Workgroups
- Employee Education Benefits WorkgroupCo-chaired with SHRM, this workgroup is exploring how to reimagine and transform employee education benefits. Our current approach to employee education benefits was build for a different economy and workforce. This workgroup is designing a solution that can make employee education benefits more flexible, portable, and worker-centric and that can reskill and upskill the workforce.
- Quality Assurance WorkgroupCo-chaired with Workforce Talent Educators Association (WTEA), this workgroup is exploring an alternative quality assurance framework that can be used to recognize education, training, and credentialing programs that meet the business community’s standard of quality. Such recognition can help providers better partner with employers and be eligible for alternative finance.
- Talent Finance Innovation FundLed by Uncommon Impact Studio, this project is exploring how to launch a “fund of funds” that could help to seed, catalyze, and scale alternative finance solutions in states and communities. Projects emerging out of the Talent Finance Design Workshop would be eligible to access solutions supported by the Innovation Fund.
Stay Connected to Talent Finance
Latest Content
New survey from Strategic Education, Inc. points to the strategic value of tuition assistance (TA) benefits. Explore four key questions employers should answer when implementing an effective tuition benefit program.
Cohort participants in four states will pilot the LiLAs, a universal, portable skilling investment tool, in their respective communities, empowering learners nationwide.
New Jersey needed to help employers fill critical vacancies and workers get the skills to take those jobs. A public-private collaboration created an affordable revolving loan fund for workers to get training and enter the workforce.
There is a lost opportunity — for workers and employers alike — when learners drop out of their degree or skills credential programs. A new company has an innovative insurance product aimed at incentivizing them to complete their studies.
A new initiative offers loans — repayable later by some employers — to students who might otherwise have difficulty overcoming traditional credit thresholds.
Employers facing a severe shortage of customer service representatives formed a partnership to encourage more workers to train and refill the talent pipeline.
Hospitals around the United States have tried many financing models to recruit and retain more qualified nurses. A new financing initiative in Vermont is showing promise to improve the odds of success.
The loss of eligibility for public safety-net programs and the benefits they provide as income rises above eligibility limits is called a “benefit cliff.” Benefits cliffs can significantly impact lower-wage workers and their families financially and may act as a disincentive for pursuing modest promotions and incremental raises and career development.
Jason Tyszko, vice president of the Center for Education and Workforce, outlined the significance of financing at the ASU+GSV Summit, and how the U.S. Chamber Foundation's Talent Finance Initiative can help.
