Workforce & Education

Adult Attainment & Postsecondary Education

Chamber staff works with community-based postsecondary institutions, organizations, employees, and government agencies to align programs and services to increase college enrollment, persistence, and success.

Nashville Reconnect

Nashville Reconnect is part of Tennessee Reconnect, an initiative to help adults return to higher education to gain new skills, advance in the workplace, and fulfill lifelong dreams of completing a degree or credential. Nashville Reconnect provides neutral navigation and connection to wraparound services in two Reconnect Cafés while working with employers to leverage Reconnect grants to build internal and external pipelines of talent. The Chamber has trained more than 250 people from employers, churches, community-based organizations, and training and education providers to serve as Reconnect Ambassadors.

Reconnect for Employers

Employers interested in leveraging Tennessee Reconnect to build internal and external talent pipelines can attend Reconnect Ambassador training to learn more about the benefits of this program. The Chamber, in partnership with Nashville State Community College, also hosts Reconnect to Career events to provide information about Tennessee Reconnect to employers interested in hiring Reconnect graduates or upskilling their existing employees. Informal networking at these events provides an opportunity to introduce Reconnect students to professionals in their fields of study with the potential to lead to employment after graduation.

Nashville Talent Hub

Lumina Foundation announced Nashville as one of 17 designated Talent Hubs in Fall 2017. Communities earn this designation by meeting rigorous standards for creating environments that attract, retain, and cultivate talent, particularly students of color, the first in their families to go to college, and those from low-income households. The Nashville Talent Hub leverages Tennessee’s free technical and community college tuition for adults and Federal Student Aid, coupled with high-touch navigation and completion coach services and resources to support adult postsecondary attainment, focused on the Nashville Promise Zone. The Nashville Talent Hub is a partnership of the Chamber, Metro Nashville, NSCC and TCAT Nashville.

Nashville Flex

Like most other states, Tennessee’s last-dollar promise scholarship, TN Promise, is limited to full-time students. In November 2021, the Tennessee College Access & Success Network was awarded a Kresge grant to support part-time students at Nashville State Community College through a program called Nashville Flex. The Chamber is a partner in this work, sharing student success stories with Reconnect Ambassadors, community partners, and employers, and advocating for funding and policy changes to support part-time students.

Tennessee Alliance for Economic Mobility

The TN Alliance for Economic Mobility is a public-private partnership that has developed an innovative approach to transform Tennessee’s safety net and ultimately improve low-income families’ economic mobility and wellbeing. The Chamber is one of the 30 organizations supporting this pilot initiative to reimagine how the state supports families in moving out of poverty and into opportunity.