Stanford University Graduate School of Education

Yale University - Yale School of Management

Stanford University

University of California, Berkeley, Goldman School of Public Policy

Experienced Talent, Learning Experience, &  Human-Centered Designer  -  Founder & CEO of Next Shift Learning

Los Angeles, California, United States

As a Lecturer at the Stanford d.school, we built a learning experience focused on radical access to design and innovation. Throughout this four-unit course, students learned how to leverage the foundational mindsets and abilities of design thinking and innovation. We explored many design methods that culminated in a design project focused on sustainability in partnership with an organization. We believe that for design and innovation to change the world for the better it has to be inclusive, human-centered, and accessible to everyone everywhere, especially during a global pandemic.

Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford ( d.school )

Lecturer

As the Radical Inclusive Designer, I focus on connecting ideas, people, and organizations through learning experiences. I am on the mission to re-design systems and build stronger and sustainable businesses through a diversity, equity, and inclusion lens. I have the opportunity to deepen our design approaches through learning science. mechanics, and effective pedagogy that supports adult learners. In addition to designing learning experiences, I coach and shape teams through projects that shift company cultures, mindsets, and personal experiences.  I co-create these experiences with my design and management colleagues to solve interesting and complex business problems for Fortune 500 companies, high growth startups, and non-profit organizations.  People Rocket brings a unique human-centered approach to innovate the performance of people, teams, and cultures in the future of work.

People Rocket

Senior Designer

Next Shift Learning connects untapped and talented Black, Indigenous, and People of Color to the tech industry through targeted upskilling and learner-centric experiences, traditionally reserved for company employees. First-generation and non-four year degree career seekers of color have relevant skills in technology but need professional networks or connections to overcome hiring barriers in the industry. NSL leverages the prior lived, and educational experiences of these career seekers and reapplies their knowledge, skills, and abilities to a new industry context.Our work in government, post-secondary, academia, and technology companies informs our approach.  As design thinkers, technologists, researchers, program operators, and funders in the talent and workforce development, we stand up community-centered interventions that bridge gaps of economic and social mobility. We are committed to designing workforce development programs and technologies that create equitable learning experiences for these innovative learners and career seekers.Spotlight: In partnership with Snap, Inc.,  we built a one-of-a-kind 100-hour industry-based, project-driven instructional design and curriculum that has been operating for the past three summers. Since then, we have developed virtual blended learning experiences focused on Augmented Reality Lenses and Software Engineering, collaborating with the company and non-profit stakeholders.We're learning, reimaging, and shifting work futures. If you'd like to explore how to collaborate, email <a href="mailto:sergio@nextshiftlearning.com">sergio@nextshiftlearning.com</a> and we'll chat.

Next Shift Learning

Founder & CEO

Conceptualized, built, and launched the Tech Done Right National Challenge, a national $1M investment portfolio that financially and programmatically supported 10 BIPOC led organizations training job, seekers and entrepreneurs. I  overseeing strategic planning, cross-team collaboration, roll-out, program design, marketing, and managed our partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Our initiative invested in social entrepreneurs and organizations addressing community gaps and systemic barriers. Our goal was to support organizations driving innovative approaches that build inclusive opportunities in technology, whether those are skills-based training pathways or launching new companies, for communities with unrivaled creativity and potential.

Kapor Center

Program Lead

The Kapor Center is an inclusive tech foundation focused on making the technology ecosystem and entrepreneurship more diverse and inclusive. Oakland TechHire is an Initiative focused on placing 1,000  residents of color in emerging tech internships, apprenticeships, and jobs by end of 2020.I supported the TechHire Oakland team through design sessions focused on developing an employer engagement strategy of Bay Area technology companies that could be validated and scaled to support TechHire Oakland’s mission. These sessions included: Advising on the development of a strategic plan for employer engagement; Identifying best practices for work-based learning, and; Scoping the programmatic role of the initiative.  I worked collaboratively with the Director of TechHire Oakland and the Chief Technology Community  Officer to highlight the needed approach, resources, and timeline to meet desired milestones.

Senior Consultant, Employer Engagement and Workforce Learning

The Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce is an education and business organization dedicated to championing economic prosperity and quality of life for the Los Angeles region. Through the Center for Innovation and Technology, the Bixel Exchange is focused on developing startups, cultivating technology talent, to help build a more robust technology sector in the region.I designed, implemented, and scaled a $1M talent development program that sourced and prepared under-tapped community college talent. My day to day included: Creating and monitoring budgets; Prospecting and developing funding proposals; Evaluating program effectiveness, and; Recruiting hiring and coaching a cross-functional team.My most significant accomplishment was the re-brand launch of the program (now known as the LA Tech Talent Pipeline Program) in partnership with Mayor Eric Garcetti. We convened the inaugural Tech Talent and Training Committee of LA area technology CEOs where we released a report I co-authored on the growth of technology jobs in the region and announced 100 paid internships fo young adults from various diverse and resilient backgrounds.

Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce

Co-Founder & Director, LA Tech Talent Pipeline

I led the business development strategy targeting local startups and technology companies that resulted in 60 active partnerships focused on providing youth and young adults access and exposure to careers in web development, software programming, IT, and design. These partnerships brought together programming that impacted 10,000+ students via career fairs and pathway workshops, skills and competencies panels, job shadowing, and internships.

Senior Manager, Technology Industry Engagement

The Michelson 20MM Foundation is an education foundation dedicated to building education-technology partnerships with public institutions to increase student access and affordability in higher education.I conceptualized and launched Project CodeTruck, the organization’s first pilot program focused on exposing middle school and high school students to computer science. We served 100 students across three schools with the support of 10 community partners and dozens of volunteers. My day to day included: Establishing milestones and timelines for initiatives; Vetting proposed pilot projects; Defining key performance indicators, and; Collecting and analyzing data used to pitch policy recommendations for scaling education technology initiatives.  My most significant accomplishment was delivering the first-of-its-kind conference, "EVOLVE California Higher Education" to discuss online education initiatives. We brought together policy makers, higher education leaders, community organizations, and student advocacy groups to discuss strategies for serving 2.1 million students via the Statewide Online Initiative.

The Michelson 20MM Foundation

Director of Initiatives

I managed the statewide philanthropic partnership with California’s Open Source Digital Library initiative. I also led our research on state and national policies on open educational resources, alternative credit pathways, and online education that resulted in pilot grant programs focused on open educational resources and online supplementary learning modules for college remedial courses.

Program Manager & Policy Analyst

Families In Schools is an education organization dedicated to increasing parent engagement and community involvement to increase student outcomes in K -12 education.I managed the implementation of several grants and contracts focused on strategic planning, board development, fundraising and advocacy for leadership teams of organizations in the Central Valley. My day to day included program management, event planning and coordination, communications strategy and implementation, volunteer training, and; Represent the organization during advocacy coalition meetings.My most significant accomplishment involved developing a toolkit to train 400 Spanish speaking, under-resourced parents on the Los Angeles Unified School District School Report Card and organizing a local forum with 10 civic organizations for 100 parents, students, and teachers to stop statewide education budget cuts.

Families In Schools

Program Coordinator

I established the organization’s first employee assessment yielding 95% engagement. This analysis provided Senior Leadership and the Board of Directors recommendations to make talent capacity investments. The recommendations were adopted as part of the annual budget. Moreover, I helped build the organizations first communications and brand strategy increasing social media views 8 times.

Program Associate

The California Senate Fellow Program is a competitive eleven-month fellowship program often ranked among top ten national programs by Vault. Program provides eighteen individuals a paid, full-time legislative staff position in the State Capitol and graduate school coursework in public policy.As a Senate Fellow, I worked for the California Senate Majority Leader, where I analyzed bills, recommended votes, wrote talking points and press statements. Interfaced with state agencies and committees to direct statewide informational and oversight hearings on policy issues. My most significant accomplishment was organizing state-wide hearing that sought to hold the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal OSHA) accountable for heat regulations to protect farmworkers in the Central Valley. Cal OSHA board voted to strengthen heat regulations later that summer.

Sergio Rosas

Sergio Rosas