Chancellor Juan Salgado Shares Chicago Roadmap’s Wins During Detroit Keynote

Chancellor Juan Salgado delivered the keynote address during Detroit Future Careers: Reimagining Career Pathways for Youth Success on October 27, sharing City Colleges' work to advance economic prosperity for Chicagoans and strengthen connections between community colleges and employers.

Education, workforce development, and youth leaders gathered in Detroit for an event focused on expanding access to meaningful career pathways, strengthening collaboration across education and workforce systems, and putting student's experiences and aspirations at the center of career planning.

During his keynote address, Chancellor Salgado explained how the Chicago Roadmap, a partnership between Chicago Public Schools, City Colleges of Chicago, and the University of Illinois Chicago creates a seamless pathway from high school to college to careers. The initiative works with partners across Chicago to strengthen connections between what students are learning in the classroom and what they'll need to know on the job, ensuring they have the skills, credentials, and opportunities to pursue in-demand careers after graduation.

Chancellor Salgado's keynote left Detroit civic community with key takeaways: the importance of connecting education systems from K-12 to community colleges to four-year universities, the importance of building pathways to where the economy is headed, and finally, the importance of incorporating work-based learning into the educational experience.

"It takes all of us working as an ecosystem, with shared goals and shared accountability, but our community colleges can and do play a leadership role," said Chancellor Salgado.