American companies are facing a crisis of skill, diversity and connection to the next generation of the workforce. With the launch of V3CONNECT, the tenured team at VisionThree (V3) has created the solution through Virtual Reality. The $80M initiative seeks to place VR Career Labs in every high school, community college and university in Indiana by 2025, followed by plans for national program expansion.
Content supplied by corporate partners and industry organizations will be shared in a sleek, modern, virtual environment, meeting multi-generational learners where they are and harnessing the power of immersion to leave a direct and lasting impression about a variety of traditional and non-traditional talent pathways.
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“It has become clear in our discussions with corporate, community and education partners that VR offers a unique solution to bridge the skills gap in our state and beyond,” says VisionThree CRO, Heather Jackson. “You can’t be what you can’t see – so many learners are never exposed to the opportunities available even in their own communities. V3CONNECT closes that gap, directly connecting the next workforce generation to relevant, engaging and career-focused experiences.”
Supportive of the initiative are a growing list of education, corporate and community partners, including Ivy Tech Community College (Ivy Tech), InnoPower, PivotCX, Field of Talent and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, to name just a few.
“We are honored to work with our colleagues at VisionThree to bring this program to life,” says Caroline Dowd-Higgins, VP of Career Coaching and Employer Connections at Ivy Tech. “At Ivy Tech, we are passionate about empowering students with career development tools that lead to high-demand, high-earning careers, and V3CONNECT is a significant innovation that will help us achieve these goals.”
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A key priority for the V3CONNECT program is ensuring equal access for all communities. “Creating talent funnels is critical to lifting our Most Vulnerable Populations,” says InnoPower Indy CEO Emil Ekiyor. “V3CONNECT allows us to scale exposure in ways the status quo cannot, removing barriers for these MVPs and helping to deliver equal opportunity through immersive technology.”
Development for the Phase 1 fall launch of V3CONNECT is already underway, utilizing a Human-Centered design approach and working in tandem with researchers from Herron School of Art + Design and Vanderbilt University to build peer-reviewed studies and a continued iterative process focused on delivering real, measurable results.
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