Kirstee Minnick

I started my career in higher education 9 years ago at the university, beginning at the bottom taking phone calls as a student. While getting my own education, I built strong relationships and climbed the ladder, eventually working in Program Development where all the content is created for programs. There I met incredible thought leaders who mentored me, and I discovered my passion for working with people and seeing that aha moment when someone achieves what they want to achieve. I then became an executive assistant to the CFO, which gave me insight into what really happens behind closed doors and taught me how to be more strategic. Currently, I serve as a Skills Architect, which is a fancy title for being a researcher who analyzes job market databases to identify top demand skills. I ensure our students not only learn what they need but can also articulate and communicate their capabilities to both systems and humans so they can get the jobs they're trying to get. I work with thought leaders and industry experts in fields like business and finance, meeting them where they're at to understand their vision and then researching what actually aligns to student success. We focus on programs that provide incremental value, help students make more money, and are aligned to low-income and middle-income individuals. I also maintain a robust skill taxonomy library of about 30,000 different skills as an open network where anyone can search for job skills. Beyond my core work, I'm passionate about human connection and serve on various culture councils because I believe it's super important that when people show up, they can be their best selves and feel safe and comfortable sharing their ideas, no matter how small or big they are.