Engaging with MNPS schools can be a complex process for industry partners, especially those new to such collaborations. It is essential to design a strategy that makes partnership opportunities accessible to businesses of varying sizes, encouraging broader participation and leveraging business partner experience and innovation. PENCIL has been instrumental in supporting the onboarding and engagement of business partners through comprehensive services, including PENCIL Connect—a platform that facilitates connections between businesses and schools. However, some businesses may still face challenges navigating the system, despite the robust opportunities available. Additional communication and clearer guidance about the various levels of engagement can help ensure that businesses can easily find the right opportunities to get involved, whether through one-off activities such as speaking to a class or participating in the MNPS career fair, to long-term engagements, such as hosting job shadows and career-based learning experiences.
The shifting demographics in MNPS and Nashville highlights the need to refine engagement tools to better meet the evolving needs of both students and business partners. Establishing a unified recruitment strategy, coupled with accessible tools and a simplified engagement process, will streamline collaboration and encourage broader participation. Highlighting success stories from industry partners and students can help shift these perceptions and showcase the benefits of these partnerships.
The AON Steering Committee, convened and facilitated by Alignment Nashville, is composed of diverse stakeholders, including a select group of support hub staff, business partners, founding partners, academy coaches, and school principals. This diverse perspective positions the committee to effectively sustain and grow the Academies model by monitoring progress, responding to academy needs, and supporting new initiatives. Building upon the insights from the proposed assessment, the steering committee should develop a clear roadmap for business partner engagement. During committee discussions, it was noted that many smaller businesses want to be involved but struggle to see a clear path to engagement. This more structured model should outline opportunities for partners to deepen or scale up their involvement and be provided during onboarding, with easy accessibility on the founding partners’ websites.
While a general onboarding process exists for business partners, an academy-specific onboarding process should also be developed, collaboratively by the AON Steering Committee, to help business partners better understand their relationships with schools, academy coaches, and students. The committee also recommends incorporating examples of successful partnerships into the onboarding process. Existing business partners should collaborate with founding partners to co-create this onboarding process, drawing on examples of successful partnerships to establish clear standards.
Amplifying success stories is essential to recruiting and retaining business partners. The founding partners should work with business partners to develop a comprehensive marketing strategy that highlights success stories, such as MNPS alumni thriving in their respective industries, and showcases how these partnerships have positively impacted businesses.
