Collaborating for a Happier Life
This pandemic has been challenging on so many levels. Highlighting many basic needs and functions that need to be revisited – healthcare, infrastructure, family, work, technology and education. We’ve had the gift of time to think about our priorities, what’s important and what brings us joy.
We all deserve to be happy. We all deserve to have work that is fulfilling.
The Zipper Junction Project (TZJP) is the brainchild of Jim Zumpone and a group of dedicated people. It has been an idea and philosophy for some time that is now getting closer to becoming a physical destination for providing the tools that will enable students to foster their passions as a livelihood. TZJP offers five FACETs for classifying interests: Fitness, Art, Citizenry, Education and Trades.
Dr. Kathy Houlihan is the CEO & Founder of Dream2Career, which is a social enterprise that works with schools, businesses, and workforce groups to promote, connect, and build synergistic relationships between workforce and education. She is the creator of the Horizontal Industry Framework (HIF), which is used on Dream2Career’s free digital platforms Edu-Advisor: The Ultimate Training Companion and Tiolita: Social Media for Jobs, Education, and Growth Opportunities.
The HIF helps teachers and students, employers and employees – identify strengths and natural talents. They are broken down to categories to identify where your true interests lie. This program offers a language to help support conversation. Much like how we are now familiar with the term STEM. Ten years ago, most of us thought of a flower when we heard someone mention STEM. And a teapot when Arts was added to create STEAM.
The basic categories show where you are most comfortable. No two people are the same. You can have interest in several categories which will help determine a favorable career path – like a personal recipe with the perfect ingredients.. Creating a common language for all of this will eventually help employers find the ideal candidates for positions.
Connecting these two visionary programs is a good fit for moving each forward. The Horizontal Industry Framework fits each of the five FACETs. There are several pilot programs for Dream2Career underway. And a pilot program connecting these two organizations is currently in development.
A great way that life in the Pocono Mountains can contribute to the global neighborhood is by creating a program that benefits our rural community which then can be adapted to others.
For more information visit Dream2Career.org and ZipperJunction.org.
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