America Needs Talent: Attracting, Educating & Deploying the 21st-Century Workforce

by Jamie Merisotis

Overview

With falling wages and rising inequality, persistent unemployment, failing schools, and broken cities, have America’s best days come and gone?

In America Needs Talent, Jamie Merisotis, a globally recognized leader in philanthropy, higher education, and public policy, explains why talent is needed to usher in a new era of innovation and success, and why deliberate choices must be made by government, the private sector, education, and individuals to grow talent in America.

What if you paid for education based on what you actually learned, instead of the time you spent in class? What if your visa application was processed as if you were an asset to our nation’s growing talent pool, instead of by Homeland Security? Merisotis proposes bold ideas to successfully deploy the world’s most talented people—from rethinking higher education to transforming immigration laws, revitalizing urban hubs, and encouraging private sector innovation.

The outlook may be gloomy now, but it doesn’t need to be. The second American Century can happen—by developing and deploying the next thinkers, makers, and risk takers who will power America’s knowledge economy in the 21st century.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780795345920
Publisher:	RosettaBooks
Publication date:	09/01/2015
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Jamie Merisotis is a globally recognized leader in philanthropy, higher education, and public policy. Since 2008, he has served as president and CEO of Lumina Foundation, one of the largest private foundations in the U.S. and a driving force for increasing Americans’ success in higher education. He previously served as co-founder and president of the nonpartisan Institute for Higher Education Policy, and as executive director of a bipartisan national commission on college affordability.

A highly regarded analyst and innovator, Merisotis is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York and the leadership council of The Aspen Institute’s Franklin Project on national service. He is frequently sought after as a media commentator and contributor. His writing has appeared in The Washington Post, National Journal, Washington Monthly, Huffington Post, Politico, and other publications.

Merisotis commits his time and energies as trustee for a diverse array of organizations around the world, including his alma mater, Bates College in Maine. He lives with his wife, Colleen O’Brien, and their children, Benjamin and Elizabeth, in Indianapolis.

Table of Contents

Prologue

I. America’s Talent Challenge

Chapter 1: The American Century
Historical perspectives on American economic and social prowess

Chapter 2: A Nation at Risk
The talent challenge/consequences of failure

Chapter 3: Winning the Future
Thesis statement for America Needs Talent

Chapter 4: Talent, You Say?
Can we define what talent is?

II. Five Ways to Attract, Educate, and Deploy Talent

Chapter 5: It’s the Learning, Stupid
Reforming our outdated higher education system

Chapter 6: Unleashing Private Sector Innovation
Social enterprise and the talent innovation dividend

Chapter 7: US Department of Talent
A new federal role—not another federal agency

Chapter 8: Immigration, Innovation, Inspiration
Immigrants, immigration policy, and talent

Chapter 9: Restoring the Rapids—Cities as Talent Hubs
Transforming our urban areas into hubs of commerce and innovation

III. Talent and American Prosperity

Chapter 10: The Second American Century
More talent leads to prosperity for both individuals and society

Conclusion

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Required reading for anyone interested in productive and disruptive policy change. —Darren Walker, President, Ford Foundation

Merisotis isn’t focused on scoring political points. Rather, his plan is straightforward, won’t cost $350 billion, and capable of engendering support from all sides, perhaps even Donald Trump. —Ryan Craig, Forbes

A sharp, timely blueprint for unleashing the potential of millions of Americans. —Bruce Katz, Centennial Scholar and Founding Director of the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program

Editorial Reviews

Talent in [Jamie] Merisotis’ world is not some innate ability but the potential every person naturally possesses to contribute to society with his or her unique strength—a lovely variation on the more commodified associations.” —Booklist

From the Publisher