 My name is Tyra Mariani. I am the co-founder and managing partner of Opportunity at Work based here at New America. We just had a very rich panel conversation, and I want to build on that actually and offer a slightly different perspective that thinks about some of the context in which these conditions operate, as well as some of who I think are the key players that contribute to what it means and what things should happen differently. So as we engage in the rich and important dialogue about how far we have or have not come and making the integration of work and life a reality for all Americans, I want us to take a step back and think about Americans who can't get in on the act that we've been talking about. My Aunt Lena, who often struggles with physical pain from perhaps working physically too hard for her family, often struggles to get in on the act of stable work. She shows up for work every day despite her pain, yet she's been subject to more than one round of layoffs at different companies. My girlfriend, Tony, a woman of color who has her PhD and had twin boys while earning it, struggles to get in on the act. Despite consistent efforts, she's been unable to apply or transfer the impressive knowledge and skills that she's built within her field or related one. And while they like the challenge of balancing work, life, and family, they haven't found and permeated the organizations that would let them in. And then there's Tiffany, who's developed strong skills and data analytics within the education sector, but can't seem to get to the next level. These three individual stories are representative of many women, many Americans, quite frankly, those that are in the job market and those who can't get in, who feel stuck. US job openings are at their highest level in at least 15 years, and we've had over five straight years of private sector job growth. And unemployment rates are down, yet so many Americans find themselves stuck. Why is that? It seems like a paradox, but a few data points offer some clues. In the US, voluntary job changes, which is basically quitting to find a better job, is down. This rises and falls with the economy, of course, where there are not people who are willing to quit their jobs looking for a better one. But this kind of voluntary mobility has structurally declined and been down by 27% since 2001. Consider the fact that almost 100% of administrative assistants are women, 96%. And Burning Glass shows that in 2014, less than 20% of administrative assistants have four-year college degrees, which means 80% of administrative assistants don't. But 65% or 2 thirds of the new job postings require a four-year degree, not prefer, require. That means that 80% of current administrative assistants, no matter how good they are at their job, no matter how much at the top of their game they are, professionally cannot apply for 2 thirds of the jobs in their field. And this is happening in a lot of different sectors, and it's part of what's creating the tremendous sort of stickiness that exists in the market. Of course, it also dramatically affects young people, many of whom are in this room, trying to enter the market. And anyone who's trying to make a transition is going to find their skills undervalued if it's not a sort of straight shot for the current thing that they're doing. That applies to women who've been out of the workplace for a dozen years and trying to come back. Their skills, which are often quite high, are undervalued. And it certainly applies to people who've acquired their skills on the job. Less educated workers receive only half the formal on-the-job training than more educated workers receive, less than half. Employers are only half as likely to grant an interview to a long-term unemployed candidate compared to someone more recently employed with identical education, skills, and experience. Yet an evolved study of 20,000 hires found that this distinction made no difference to likely job performance. Because of these examples and more, the job seeker or worker's confidence gets lowered because they begin to believe these opportunities maybe or not for them, further limiting the talent, pipeline, and pool. Too many Americans struggle without a way to translate their best efforts into economic progress that we spoke about on the panel. And this undermines our economic growth as a country because human capital, which really is our most valuable asset on America's economic balance sheet, is really not realizing its full value. Right now, our job market works best for those Americans who follow conventional paths to four-year college degrees and who have the social capital and mentorship that encourages employers to take a chance on hiring, training, and advancing them. It works poorly for the growing number of Americans whose journeys are less linear or gilded, including 43 million Americans with some college but no degree, mid-career, industry, switchers, uncredentialed, skilled workers who master the skills on the job, full-time parents re-entering the workforce and the list goes on. It would be relatively easy to blame the job seeker or worker for this dynamic because that, after all, is what we often do when people struggle with jobs. And such might be the case with my aunt, whom I mentioned. Maybe she hasn't tried hard enough. We think and say they must not be smart enough. Maybe they don't work hard enough. They don't get the right education. She's not assertive enough. She's too aggressive. And while it's possible that the education or training pathway didn't lead to meaningful and in-demand skill development, we shouldn't stop with preparation or preparedness. In fact, employers play a critical role and their individual hiring and training practices are inadvertently limiting the collective U.S. talent pipeline and creating skills mismatches, if you will, with economy-wide ripple effects. In other words, employers are looking for their slice of talent but not growing the pie. We need smarter employer practices and partnerships and public policies to support them. Now, I'm not making a blanket statement about all employers nor am I ignoring the tremendous efforts that have been and continue to be directed towards those that are investing in the workforce, skills by partnering with educators or unions to shape vocational training curricula or offering apprenticeships or other work-based learning. Some are also innovating more inclusive ways to identify talent. There are now many pockets of success to emulate but adopting these strategies remains too slow, too costly, too complex as each one invents or reinvents its own approach. But what I am suggesting is in trying to raise the quality of the workforce to allow people to get ahead with very few indicators of quality, employers have made a four-year college degree too great a barrier to hiring and job opportunity and too often resonating screening software prematurely cuts out candidates who would do a great job if given a real shot. We need collective action. As we think about solutions to the situations described, we really need collective action from businesses and civic leaders, government, educational institutions and the like to better align their own investments with each other's priorities, recognize potential and respond to market needs. If achieved at scale, such alignment would result in higher value education and training programs, more inclusive and better match pools of candidates to hire and a more engaged and productive workforce. So as we consider the limitations and strategies that address making the integration of work and life a reality for Americans regardless of race or class, let us consider the parallel effort of growing the pie of talent and enabling progression for those who are stuck inside and outside the job market, but want to get in on the act. Because until we solve this problem, the balancing act that we speak of will seem like more of a luxury to many than a dilemma. Thank you.