I didn’t follow a traditional college-to-career path.  My first career choice was based on a classmate’s offhand comment: “You’re really good at art, you should just go to art school.” I attended college for a while but never completed my degree.  

Today, as I lead the Greater Houston Partnership’s Connectivity Platform, an AI-powered career navigation and workforce development system, I understand firsthand why our region needs a solution like this. 

RELATED: Greater Houston Partnership Shares Vision for AI-Powered Workforce Development Platform 

My Journey 

After high school, I entered the workforce quickly, learning by doing—earning certifications, watching tutorials, and saying “yes” to challenges I hadn’t yet solved. Over the years, I built departments, grew teams, owned multiple companies. I proved that skill, curiosity and grit – not a diploma – often determine success.  

But event with more than a decade of experience, I still ran into what many call the “paper ceiling.” At one point, I was recruited for a job at a Fortune 500, only to be told I couldn’t be hired because of an HR policy requiring a degree.  Another Fortune 500 company eventually hired me but only after months of internal approvals to make an exception.  Those experiences made it clear: too many capable people are shut out of opportunity by outdated hiring barriers.  

That belief – that talent exists beyond traditional four-year degrees – has fueled my commitment to supporting entrepreneurship programs, mentorship, and organizations that create opportunity for those who choose non-traditional pathways. 

So when Rafa Alvarez, sr. vice president of regional workforce development at the Partnership, shared his vision for the Connectivity Platform, I was excited. For years I’d said, “If only Houston knew what Houston knows.” I’ve met incredible organizations doing meaningful work, but too often those efforts are fragmented. The people who could benefit most don’t know they exist. 

Now, with the Partnership’s leadership and the collective power of our region’s businesses, colleges and community partners, we have the opportunity to change that – and connect Houstonians to the opportunities they deserve. 

The Challenge 

Each year, tens of thousands of students graduate from Houston-area high schools, and just as many jobs are created. In a perfect world, those two pipelines—education and employment—would connect seamlessly. Yet too often, they don’t. Many young people never find clear paths into careers that match their interests and skills, while employers struggle to fill critical roles. 

The issue isn’t a lack of talent—it’s a lack of connection. Our education, training, and employment systems operate in silos. The information and opportunities exist; they’re simply not connected in ways that allow people to act on them. 

At the same time, new technologies like generative AI are reshaping the workforce. Entry-level positions are changing, and skills are evolving faster than ever. But AI also offers enormous potential—it can democratize access to knowledge, simulate mentorship, and personalize career guidance at scale. 

The Solution: Houston’s Connectivity Platform 

That’s exactly what we’re building with the Connectivity Platform, a cornerstone of the Partnership’s Talent and Economic Mobility imperative under our multi-year framework, Houston Next: Advancing Opportunity. 

The Partnership recently selected Pathful Inc., a national leader in career readiness and development, as our technology partner. Pathful’s technology already serves more than 2.5 million learners nationwide, and together, we’re co-designing the next evolution of that system—built for Houston, by Houston. 

Over the next year, we’ll work with educators, employers, and community partners to develop a platform that will: 

  • Help individuals discover careers aligned with their strengths, interests and experiences 
  • Connect learners to real-world experiences—videos, tours, internships, and mentorships 
  • Recommend training and education pathways, both college and non-college 
  • Match users with jobs that fit their skills while highlighting upskilling opportunities 
  • Provide wraparound services that remove barriers to advancement 

It’s more than a platform—it’s an ecosystem-level solution designed to align talent supply and demand, remove friction, and give every Houstonian a fair shot at upward mobility. 

Looking Ahead 

The work ahead is ambitious, but it’s also deeply necessary. As we move through the design and development phase with Pathful, our goal is to launch pilots in 2026 that will lay the foundation for a generational shift in how Houston connects people to opportunity. 

If you’re an educator, employer, or workforce leader in our region, this is your moment to get involved. The Connectivity Platform will only be as strong as the partnerships behind it. 

GET INVOLVED: Houston’s AI-Powered Tool for Career Navigation, Workforce Connection and Opportunity at Scale 

Together, we can unlock Houston’s greatest advantage—its people—and ensure every Houstonian can see, and reach, the path ahead. 

About the Author 

Summer has spent over 20 years working at the intersection of product strategy, experience design, and innovation consulting working with some of the largest companies in the world to solve complex challenges and identify how new and evolving technologies, such as AI, can integrate into their strategies.