Building the Agile Community College

By Simba Gandari

On a cold and rainy morning in October, more than 90 leaders from community colleges, industry, government, and the nonprofit sector assembled on Harvard Business School’s campus. For me, this was a full-circle moment, having graduated from a community college myself sixteen years ago. Now, I had the opportunity to moderate a student and alumni panel at a community college gathering presented by Harvard’s Project on Workforce: Leading with Evidence: Data & Technology in Action at Community Colleges.

The mood was both urgent and optimistic. From California to Texas, Northern Virginia to Tennessee, the stories varied in scale, but shared a common theme: community colleges are no longer just training students for existing jobs; they’re also training students for jobs of the future. 

Leaders are innovating within rigid educational systems that were built in—and for—the past. And as the labor market continues to shift, they are exploring how to be agile and responsive to the evolving needs of both students and industry. As one college president put it, “We have to make learning match the pace of work, not the other way around.”

From Data to Decisions

One of the central themes of the convening was using data strategically to design better programs and services. Colleges compared how they track wage outcomes, respond to labor market shifts, and revise programs when needed. The message was clear: progress isn’t just about having data, but using it well.

Kim Nelson and Janelle Koepke from Riverland Community College in Minnesota (featured in a recent volume of case studies) showed what this looks like in practice. Faced with a shrinking rural workforce and the rise of automation, they used state labor market data to identify a workforce gap in electrification and energy systems. Their employer advisory boards confirmed this challenge and supplemented the data with what they missed — small shops and dealerships were struggling to find electric vehicle (EV) technicians. Within months, Riverland launched a new EV certificate program, co-designed with and supported by local employers.

Riverland’s approach used state analytics, industry surveys, and faculty partnerships to create flexible, stackable pathways in manufacturing and transportation. The real takeaway wasn’t the certificate itself, but how they built it—aligning grant funding, data insights, and employer engagement around a single workforce strategy.

When Crisis Hits: NOVA’s Rapid Response

Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) is known as a mover and shaker, unafraid to tackle regional challenges head on. In an afternoon session, Steven Partridge, Vice President of Strategy, Research, and Workforce Innovation, illustrated how community colleges can serve as first responders when economies shift. When federal job cuts shook the D.C. region, 300,000 Virginians with jobs tied to the government faced an uncertain future.

NOVA’s team acted quickly. Using its own reserve funds, the college launched NOVA Next, offering free certification programs and career coaching to displaced federal employees. More than 2,000 people applied within weeks. Partridge mentioned that most individuals had advanced degrees and decades of experience; “they didn’t need education—they needed a bridge.”

That bridge included building community, in addition to credentials in project management and artificial intelligence. NOVA hosted networking events where job seekers could meet with local employers and others facing similar challenges, blending retraining with peer support.

Nearly 80% of participants sought private-sector roles and many hoped to stay in the D.C. market. To guide them, NOVA leaned on quarterly labor market pulse surveys and regional job data. The college now uses that model to spot labor market shifts early, bringing data teams, faculty, and employers together to move quickly as old industries fade and new ones emerge. 

Being Intentional with Employer Relationships

Rachel Nessel and Blake Brittain from Victoria College demonstrated that innovative workforce practices, paired with solid internal structures and systems, can yield promising results. The Texas college has built an institutional structure that aligns employer engagement across departments. Shared calendars, tracking systems, and monthly coordination meetings keep faculty, career services, and the administration on the same page.

This approach makes partnerships more intentional and integrated. Employer relationships start with clear asks: join an advisory board, host a site visit, or help update a course. Interactions are logged, follow-ups are assigned, and feedback loops are formalized. Another attendee mentioned that faculty externships (short summer placements in industry) can help instructors stay current and strengthen ties with local businesses.

Each program also includes a “career reality sheet” for students, outlining expected wages, employers, and optional certifications. It helps students see a complete picture of their career path, providing transparency and reducing program attrition, especially for first-generation learners.

Elevating Student Voices

My favorite part of the event (I may be biased) was a panel discussion featuring two current community college students, Anuvhuti Bisht from Hudson County Community College and Eliah Rashchuk from Community College of Aurora, and a recent graduate, Daniel Almarez from Riverland. The session enabled leaders to hear directly from those most impacted by their work. 

The students shared how faculty members deeply influence their understanding of potential careers—often serving as informal mentors. They also highlighted how wraparound supports, such as scholarships and flexible class schedules, make it possible to balance school, work, and personal responsibilities.

Finally, the students highlighted the importance of developing professional skills, like time management and teamwork, to not only succeed in school but also gain a competitive edge in their careers. Work-based learning, like apprenticeships, exposed them to the realities of the workplace, from the speed of work to the importance of showing up on time.

A Broader Definition of Learning

The convening closed with a conversation about experiential learning—not just internships, but real work integrated into education in other flexible ways. Colleges discussed treating every student’s job as a place for learning, even if it’s outside of a traditional career pathway. One college shared how they turned on-campus technician work into structured, credit-bearing experiences. Another is piloting “earned experience” models, where students’ hours in part-time jobs are formally evaluated for credit. 

Experiential learning, then, is a mindset shift that touches all of the institution, from curriculum development to advising. The challenge, many said, is culture change. Colleges were built for stability, while students and employers need speed.

Carrying the Momentum Forward

Across the discussions, the tone was both creative and pragmatic. Community colleges are finding ways to innovate within their systems, leveraging a combination of data and regional partnerships to build pathways to economic mobility for their students. They are proving that workforce innovation can come from within.

This event spotlighted campuses that listen closely to students and employers, act quickly, and build programs proactively at the intersection of structure and ingenuity. One panelist summed it up best: “We stopped waiting for the market to tell us what to do. We decided to become part of the market itself.”

As I left Harvard Business School that evening, it was still raining (no surprise). However, I felt hopeful that the conversations and practices shared would create blueprints of action for other community colleges across the country.

Simba Gandari began his higher education journey in a community college classroom. A recent graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Education and former researcher with the Harvard Project on Workforce, he now works at Tulsa Innovation Labs, helping build pathways where education and industry align to create an inclusive innovation economy in America’s heartland.

This convening is part of a joint research and design project between the Project on Workforce and Education Design Lab. The sessions highlighted findings from the first year of the project and will contribute to the development of a playbook to be released in summer 2026. This project is generously supported by Axim Collaborative.