Matching Employers' Needs with Workers' Aspirations

Today’s labor market is contradictory. According to Jake Hirsch-Allen, our guest speaker, “there are both more people looking for jobs and, at the same time, there are more employers looking for people to fill those jobs than there are people who can fill those jobs.”

Workforce development requires career development. It’s crucial to make people more aware of the pathways to better skills and jobs, to inspire and build their confidence that there is a career out there for them.

So how can we match employers’ needs with workers’ aspirations? Let’s find out in this session by chatting with Jake Hirsch-Allen and Marna Lagerquist!.

• Moderator: Sam Fiorella

• Speaker: Jake Hirsch-Allen
North America Workforce Development and Higher Ed System Lead, LinkedIn
1. Jake Hirsch-Allen builds public private partnerships between North America’s governments, workforce development organizations, colleges and universities, and LinkedIn Talent Solutions. Through this work, Jake supports and is learning to be an ally to groups such as newcomers and refugees, indigenous populations, the formerly incarcerated and people with disabilities. 
2. Jake advises several startups including the Learning Economy Foundation, Hireguide and Readocracy. He speaks regularly on the changing nature or future of work and learning and is passionate about skills-based hiring and learning. 
3. Jake is a Director on the Boards of the Ontario Tech Talent, Canadian Council for Youth Prosperity, Information and Communications Technology Council, and the Canadian Club. He founded Lighthouse Labs, Canada’s foremost software development bootcamp and Hacking Health. A former intellectual property and international criminal lawyer, Jake was also Chair of the Technology Committee of the Global Education Platform, taught Global Health at McMaster University and clerked at the Supreme Court of Israel.

• BOA: Marna Lagerquist
17th Floor BOA member // Talent Acquisition & Development Manager, 4Refuel
Marna Lagerquist is the operating Talent Acquisition and Development Manager at 4Refuel. As a Talent Acquisition professional with over 15 years of experience in the industry, she leads the recruitment team at 4Refuel and specializes in developing new programs to support the employee experience, retention, and strategic hiring. Within this lens she additionally holds certifications in Payroll and Human Resource Management. Marna has focused her career on data driven Human Resource decisions centered around analysis for full lifecycle hiring and employment. As a passionate leader in her field, she also holds distinctions as current Chair for the Peel Branch of the National Payroll Institute and is an active Board Member of the 17th floor.