Kate Buchanan
Kevin Iraheta Sousa
Our investment in SkillUp Coalition
Millions of U.S. workers build valuable skills outside a four-year college degree. This group of workers, known as STARs (Skilled Through Alternative Routes), includes more than 70 million people who gain skills through paths including community college, military service, apprenticeships, certificates, and on-the-job experience.
The path to a fulfilling career that doesn’t require a four-year degree can be confusing. Jobseekers must navigate job boards, different training providers, dozens of credentials, social services, and employer requirements—usually without clear guidance.
Meanwhile, infrastructure, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing can offer strong wages and career mobility. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects hundreds of thousands of openings in construction each year; clean energy employed millions in 2024; and manufacturing faces large hiring needs over the coming decade.
Still, these pathways are not always visible or accessible to STARs. The workforce system remains fragmented, with employers, training providers, credentials, and community resources often operating in silos. That creates a navigation burden for workers trying to move into good jobs and an efficiency gap for employers trying to fill critical roles.
Why SkillUp Coalition?
The Autodesk Foundation is supporting SkillUp Coalition (SkillUp) a national nonprofit platform founded in 2020 that helps STARs find and enter career paths that don’t require a bachelor’s degree. SkillUp helps users explore vetted careers and short training programs, find jobs, access coaching and wraparound support, and take clear next steps toward employment.
SkillUp provides localized, verified, and actionable information for job seekers across the nation. The platform evaluates careers and programs for living wage potential, employer demand, and affordability. That quality filter helps workers avoid low value options and focus on pathways that lead to real jobs.
SkillUp has already reached millions of workers: nearly 5 million supported, 110,000 training referrals, and more than 19,000 participants coached. Using platform analytics and user surveys, SkillUp estimates more than 291,000 jobs have been attained.
“Many organizations are throwing AI out there without strategy. We are laser-focused on intentional design that supports action. We don’t want to build a robot that answers questions; we want to build a guide that helps STARs move forward.”
– Steve Lee, Chief Executive Officer, SkillUp Coalition
Our collaboration
Our grant funding supports SkillUp to deepen its work in skilled trades, clean energy, and AI‑enabled career navigation. Funding will help SkillUp increase visibility of skilled trades pathways, advance clean energy career navigation through partnerships that connect training to local employer demand, and support the launch of SkillUp AI. SkillUp AI is designed to move beyond one-time answers and provide more intentional guidance across a worker’s career journey, from exploration to training, job search, and advancement.
“Our collaboration with the Autodesk Foundation is a strategic investment in the future of the skilled trades, allowing us to actively strengthen how STARs discover their potential and navigate high-opportunity trades pathways.
That kind of intentional exposure—allowing a worker to see themselves thriving in a highly skilled role they didn’t know existed—is precisely where confident career decisions and long-term economic mobility start.”
– Elissa Salas, Chief Strategy Officer, SkillUp Coalition
The partnership also sharpens SkillUp’s design and make focus by helping more workers discover and pursue skilled trades pathways they may not have previously considered.
Learn more about SkillUp’s impact.