Workers without a college degree often feel they have limited job opportunities. Skillful, a nonprofit initiative of the Markle Foundation, believes that with skills-based training, workers can overcome their lack of a degree.

A series of Skillful initiatives were rolled out in Colorado with support from the governor’s office, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, Microsoft, and LinkedIn.

The Rutgers Education & Employment Research Center (EERC) designed an implementation evaluation that enabled Skillful to learn how well its initiatives were being implemented, identify strengths and weaknesses, and make adjustments to improve the program. EERC applied a mixed-method approach, collecting and analyzing both qualitative and quantitative data.