Education Panelist: Stephanie Bermudez, Heather Betz, Blaine Young, and Dr. David Martinez

The future of 21st century education will be affected by the Age of Agility, Software, & Digital. We will meet with a few high school student educators to learn about their context, plans, and actions to help high students be prepared to survive in a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguity (VUCA) world.

In a recent article by PWC titled the “ The talent challenge: Harnessing the power of human skills in the machine age”, CEO’s top business priorities are: 1) innovation (23%), 2) Human capital (15%), and 3) Digital and technology capabilities (15%).

77% of CEOs struggle to find the creativity and innovation skills they need.

Question 1: What are the biggest challenge students will face to be ready to work in the 21st century workplace, where there is a digital and soft skills requirement?

Question 2: What is the big idea that will shape the level of readiness for high school students to complete in a 21st century workplace?

Question 3: What are a few tangible steps we can take now that will help the high school students’ readiness?

Panelists

* Dr. David Martinez – Early College High School Principal* Stephanie Bermudez – CEO and Founder, Startup Unidos* Blaine Young – Chief Technology Officer, Tucson Unified District* Heather Betz – English Teacher, Hope High School

Stephanie Bermudez BIO

Stephanie is a
gifted community builder, understanding the nuances of human behavior and how
to encourage positive interactions. Her innovative ideas create cross-border
communities and environments that expand on binational relationships to
encourage collaboration and co-inspiration. She focuses on building up
entrepreneurial communities and networks; including events, training,
consulting and research. 

Stephanie is passionate about taking her experiences and shaping binational business opportunities with Mexico and the United States. In April 2018, she was recognized and certified by Harvard University, University of Sonora and Sonora-lab for her business project, Startup Unidos and for her contributions in Strengthening The Innovation Ecosystem In The State Of Sonora. Stephanie is actively working with startups across the Arizona-Sonora by implementing Startup Unidos; most recently Startup Unidos Youth VozFrontera in Nogales, AZ and Pascua Yaqui in Tucson, AZ, Latinx In Tech Startup Weekend in Tucson, AZ and Emprende Amigo in Phoenix area.  In March 2019 she was recognized Minority Business Owner of the Year at Inside Tucson Businesswomen of Impact.

In October 2018 she was recognized at Idea Funding for initial and future efforts to build the entrepreneurial community in Tucson and received the Larry Hecker and Sherry Hoskinson Bright Futures Award. In December 2016 she was recognized by Arizona Daily Star and Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce as 40 under 40 Woman of the Year.

Blaine Young Bio

Blaine Young is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for Tucson Unified School District, the largest k-12 school district in southern Arizona. As the school district’s cabinet level representative responsible for Information Technology, Mr. Young must ensure IT strategy, planning and operations are fully aligned with the superintendent’s vision and the school district’s priority focus on student achievement and student preparation for college and career readiness. 

Mr. Young has over 30 years’ experience in all aspects of Information Technology.