Midwest Collaborative Spring Convening Report of Proceedings

A group of state workforce and education agencies and research universities in the Midwest have worked together to design a system that enables individual states to answer critical questions that are relevant to society. An earlier workshop, held in Chicago in September 2018, resulted in the creation and delivery of three classes in Ohio, Indiana and Missouri focused on a regional approach to describing educational and workforce transitions. Three more are planned for Kentucky, Tennessee and Michigan.

Over three days in March, 2020, the workshop brought together nearly 50 individuals from over 20 organizations and nine states to build on the success of that work. The first day of the workshop summarized recent work in demonstrating the value of organizations working collaboratively. The second day had working groups focused on three core topics: Governance, Data Models, and Projects. Each working group established a base understanding and identified next steps, as outlined in the “looking ahead” section below. A complete agenda, including slides presented during the session, is available on the workshop website.

This document summarizes the proceedings of the Midwest Collaborative: Data for Evidence-based Policy Spring Convening, which was generously supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Overdeck Family Foundation.