people ready to join apprenticeship programs, or whether it is making sure that we’re supporting minority-owned businesses and entrepreneurs who are often finding that they need help navigating the system, they can create some of those opportunities for different kinds of skilled workers. We also support them by making sure those skills are present. This is only going to become more important as our economy becomes more and more high tech, it means that there’s going to be a real urgency around making sure that people have the kind of skills that will be needed no matter what’s happening with technology. Critical thinking, working with other people, things that can’t be done by a machine. We need to make sure that we are supporting that at every stage of somebody’s career path. Here in South Bend, we’re working on a lifelong learning pilot, we’ve got backing from foundations and philanthropies to help set up a platform for people to get these kind of skills and then track online the credentials they’re getting so that employers know how to recognize the skills that they’ve gained. We are finding that has created a lot of opportunity for people here who might not have been able to participate in the economic recovery that has been going on in recent years. So, there is a lot of work to be done here, but the biggest thing is recognizing that not only do we need to support people who seek college and higher education. We need to recognize that at any part of the economy whether it is something that requires a college degree or not, we have to be very serious about creating opportunities for skill-building and recognize that in an economy where people are going to change careers more and more often, especially people in my generation or younger that it is vital to prepare people for perhaps multiple changes in the skills that are needed and give them the tools they need to succeed in that world. Celeste: In closing, do you have any final thoughts that you would like to share? Buttigieg: I believe we are in a moment that is really pivotal in the life of this country not just all the reasons why we know that there is a lot at stake in this election but really the possibility of opening up a new era in American political and economic life. If we want to get anywhere, we have to rise to meet that moment and we can’t just be tinkering around the edges of the system that has let us down, economically and politically, over the course of my lifetime. We need to be ready to take up bold reforms and ensure that our democracy is more fair. We need to be ready to really work to ensure our economy lifts up more people and has more equality of opportunity. I think that if we work to raise wages, to increase access to education, to reduce health disparities, and above all to empower everyone with an equal voice and an equal vote if we get this right, we could actually have a really positive stage in the life of this country while moving out of the incredible division, chaos, and negativity that we’re living through today. Celeste and Gary: Thank you to you and your staff. __________________________________________ __________________________________________
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