NSF and New America Announce Strategic Initiative to Empower Community and Technical Colleges in Regional Innovation Ecosystems

Washington, DC—Today, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the nonpartisan think and action tank New America announced a first-of-its-kind strategic initiative to turbocharge the capacity, effectiveness, and impact of community and technical college partners across NSF’s 10 Regional Innovation Engines Investments. The NSF Engines program provides up to 10 years of funding to support applied research, technology translation, and workforce development for industries rooted in emerging technologies.

Launched with a $3 million grant from Ascendium Education Group, New America is initiating the Accelerator for Community Colleges in the Innovation Economy (Accelerator). The Accelerator will provide community colleges engaging with NSF Engines with a community of practice, technical assistance, best practices, research insights and recognition, capacity-building funding, and broader support structures to support institutional policy, programmatic, and practice innovations necessary to maximize their impact across the innovation ecosystems being fostered by NSF Engines.

Additionally, New America will collaborate with NSF’s new Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP) Directorate, itself authorized by the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, and the NSF Engines Builder Platform to disseminate insights among the NSF Engines workforce leaders around best practices for cultivating a robust and diverse skilled technical workforce through community and technical colleges.

The project builds on a long-standing body of work that New America’s Future of Work and Innovation Economy Initiative has pioneered around community and technical college contributions to emerging technology workforce development, industrial strategy, and regional innovation ecosystems. The Accelerator will help ensure that community and technical colleges have the resources and support they need to succeed in these areas.

Earlier this year, NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan underlined the importance of community colleges in training the skilled technical workforce during a public forum hosted by New America, stating, “None of the Regional Innovation Engines will be successful if we don't have the capacity of the skilled technical workforce unleashed at full force and full scale, everywhere.”

“I am thrilled to see our NSF Regional Innovation Engines program continuing to unlock investment and resources to expand pathways to opportunity all across America,” said Director Panchanathan. “This initiative by New America, made possible by Ascendium Education Group, will help stand up the training and workforce readiness programs that will ensure working families can access good-paying jobs in critical technologies that are vital to American economic competitiveness.”

“We couldn’t be more excited to partner with NSF to help realize the promise of a more competitive, representative, and vibrant American innovation economy,” said Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New America. “Community and technical colleges are essential to that mission. We look forward to deepening our support of their work and the NSF Engines.”

In December, Slaughter will be featured in a plenary session during the inaugural ROADMAP Summit co-convened by the NSF and the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA), which will convene stakeholders from the NSF Engines, the EDA Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs program, and other partners. New America will also organize a workshop during the summit focused on strategies to engage community and technical colleges in innovation ecosystems.

“It’s critical that students have access to reliable workforce pathways leading to the jobs of the future as federal investments and technologies shape our economy,” added Keith Witham, Ascendium’s vice president of education philanthropy. “We are pleased to support New America and the NSF in ensuring that community colleges receive the support they need to create those opportunities and eliminate barriers to participation across our innovation economy.”

NSF’s Focus on Community and Technical Colleges and a Skilled Technical Workforce

Created under the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, the NSF Engines program represents one of the most significant investments in place-based research and development in the nation's history—uniquely placing science and technology leadership as the central driver for regional economic competitiveness.

In recognition of the critical role of community and technical colleges in fostering a skilled workforce necessary for Engines' success, NSF Director Panchanathan and First Lady Jill Biden, a long-time community college professor, announced the historic investment at Forsyth Technical Community College in North Carolina in January 2024.

The collaboration with New America is the latest in NSF’s ongoing efforts to ensure a strong, skilled technical workforce in emerging and advanced technology areas. Since the passage of CHIPS, NSF’s TIP Directorate has expanded funding and support of community and technical colleges in emerging technology areas in new ways, such as through the Experiential Learning for Emerging and Novel Technologies (ExLENT) and Enabling Partnerships to Increase Innovation Capacity (EPIIC) programs.

The Accelerator will be led by Shalin Jyotishi, founder and managing director for the Future of Work and Innovation Economy Initiative at New America, to whom questions may be addressed at jyotishi@newamerica.org. Interested parties may follow the Accelerator’s activities by subscribing to the initiative’s newsletter.

About New America: New America is a think and action tank dedicated to renewing the Promise of America in an age of rapid technological and social change. Its work prioritizes care and family well-being, advances technology in the public interest, reimagines global cooperation, builds effective democracy, and ensures affordable and accessible education for all. Learn more at newamerica.org.

About FOWIE: New America's Future of Work and the Innovation Economy (FOWIE) Initiative is situated within our Center on Education and Labor. FOWIE is a research, storytelling, policy incubator, and a force multiplier for meaningful change. We are dedicated to improving and aligning federal and state science, innovation, workforce, and labor policies and practices to renew the American middle class. We seek to mitigate the risks–and maximize the benefits–of scientific and technological innovation for work, workers, and families.