Driving Force
AccelerateMS
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THE SITUATION
Based on the positive impact of career coaching programs in northeast Mississippi and on the Gulf Coast, AccelerateMS was charged with launching a statewide expansion of the career coaching strategy in 2022. As Mississippi’s lead workforce development office, AccelerateMS desired to build public awareness and support for the strategy by emphasizing its role in helping Mississippi fill 100,000 skilled jobs by 2030.
BACKGROUND
Narrative12 saw the career coaching strategy as an opportunity to highlight Mississippi’s strong focus on career and technical education and the growing network of businesses and industries that are supporting CTE programs in high schools throughout the state. As a specialized liaison between high schools and employers, career coaches would be instrumental in connecting graduates with transformative career pathways—often in their own communities.
APPROACH
“Career coach” was a new job title that we knew would garner public interest, and we wanted Mississippians to know these individuals and why they’re an important part of the solution in building a skilled workforce for their communities and for Mississippi. Under the theme “Driving Force,” we designed a new website with the strategy’s mission, vision, purpose and values along with individual profiles of career coaches and blog posts and updates from AccelerateMS’s executive director. In tandem with the new website, we created a news release/video series spotlighting each career coach that is available on the website and promoted in monthly “Driving Force” email blasts.
RESULTS
Narrative12 launched the “Driving Force” campaign in fall 2022 as AccelerateMS was starting to deploy the first wave of career coaches into Mississippi high schools. After initially funding Mississippi’s career coaching strategy in spring 2022, the State Legislature voted in its spring 2023 session to increase funding, allowing AccelerateMS to significantly widen the geographic coverage of career coaches in Mississippi. We believe that our early and sustained “Driving Force” communications efforts have been essential in building awareness and support for the career coaching strategy in Mississippi.
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