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Events

Ohio Excels holds a number of events and webinars to bring together business, education and workforce leaders to strengthen collaboration in an effort to better prepare students for success.

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Workforce & Education Conference

 

Ohio Excels joins together each year with the Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation to host the Aim Hire Workforce and Education Conference to strengthen relationships between businesses and educators at all levels, share best practices, and strengthen our state’s ongoing efforts to improve the critical linkages between education and workforce. The conference, held each year in Columbus, attracts more than 500 educators and business leaders from across the state to strengthen relationships between education and business to help close the skills gap.

Upcoming Events

MAR 26, 2025

Career ConnectED Learning
 

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Ohio’s education system must adapt to meet the needs of students by emphasizing high-quality, career-connected learning and pathways. 

Join us to learn about recommended policy solutions from experts and advocates to transform Ohio’s schools!

OCT 16, 2025

Aim Hire 2025
 

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More Details to Come!

Save the date for the 2025 Aim Hire!

Past Events

OCT 15, 2024
In-Person Event

Aim Hire 2024
 

Over 500 business, education, political, and community leaders from across Ohio came together for the sixth annual Aim Hire Workforce & Education Conference! The event featured national experts and state leaders, including Lt. Governor Jon Husted, and focused on keeping Ohio globally competitive. The event explored education-to-work systems around the world that are renowned for their success in preparing students for careers. We dug into the details about what sets them apart, how Ohio stacks up, and how our state can find ways to potentially adopt promising models, policies, and programs from across the globe.

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APR 16, 2024
In-Person Event

"Right to Read" Screening & Panel

Ohio Excels co-hosted a screening of Right to Read, a documentary chronicling the efforts of an NAACP activist, a teacher, and two families to champion the importance of literacy and its foundational impact as an indicator of lifelong success. The April event, which included a panel discussion with Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, attracted nearly 500 people to the historic Lincoln Theatre in Columbus and helped underscore the importance of implementing literacy instruction grounded in the science of reading

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JAN 24, 2024
In-Person Event

​Affordability and Value of Education Beyond High School

Ohio Excels partnered with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Education Strategy Group, and Scale Strategic Solutions to host a forum on the affordability and value of postsecondary education and training in Ohio. The event highlighted the findings of a critical analysis that explored the evolving perceptions of education beyond high school.

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OCT 12, 2023
In-Person Event

Aim Hire 2023
 

500+ business, education, political, and community leaders from across Ohio came together to take part in the fifth annual Aim Hire Workforce & Education Conference! The event featured experts and state leaders, including Lt. Governor Jon Husted, discussing the impact of disruptive technologies like Artificial Intelligence on the state’s economy and the future of education.

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JUN 1, 2023
In-Person Event

Press Conference – Ohio Third Grade Reading Guarantee Works

Ensuring students are proficient readers before they leave elementary school is a critical benchmark for student success. Join us for a release of our recent study on the Ohio Third Grade Reading Guarantee retention policy and its positive impact on student academic performance. Find more information on the research here.

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MAR 23, 2023
In-Person Event

Literacy Matters – Shaping the Future for Ohio Students

Hosted by Ohio Excels, this discussion features state leaders and experts in literacy policy and practice as we discuss what Ohio must do to improve literacy outcomes for our students. Speakers include Ohio Governor Mike DeWine; President and CEO of the Ohio Business Roundtable and Ohio Excels’ Board Chair, Pat Tiberi; former State Superintendent of Mississippi, Dr. Carey Wright; and Ohio’s Interim State Superintendent Dr. Stephanie Siddens. We also heard from our frontline educators and administrators about the practices that are working for students in their classrooms.

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NOV 09, 2022
Virtual Event

Credentials, Pathways & What Happens Next

Policy Experts from ExcelinEd will share their research into the alignment between the credentials students earn and the demand for those credentials in the workforce. The presentation will shine a light on the industry credential landscape in Ohio and provide recommendations on how to improve career pathways and credentials in the state.

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OCT 27, 2022
In-Person Event

The Formula for FAFSA
 

Learn how to increase FAFSA completion rates from leading states and Ohio communities. Learn why Louisiana leads the nation in FAFSA completion and hear from local Ohio experts about strategies that can help drive FAFSA completion and help more students pursue postsecondary education.

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SEP 27, 2022
Virtual Event

Driving Achievement with Data
 

How data analysis can improve student outcomes. Florida education leaders will share how they created a system in which they use data from a variety of sources to inform stakeholders on workforce demands and credential outcomes while informing policymakers as they pursue innovative policy changes. National experts will also join to share how states across the country are benefiting from better data connections to workforce outcomes. Learn why it’s more important than ever to have data systems in place to drive the change we want to see.

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MAY 04, 2022
In-Person Event

Aim Hire 2022
 

Back in person for the first time since 2019, 400+ business, education, political and community leaders from across Ohio came together to take part in the fourth annual Aim Hire Workforce & Education Conference!

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APR 28, 2022
Virtual Event

Pathways Matter
 

How state policies build a skilled, educated workforce. Policy experts with ExcelinEd, a national organization that supports state leaders in transforming education, recently conducted a deep dive on career pathway policies in Ohio to help the state better understand the strengths and opportunities for improving our education and workforce systems.

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Virtual Event

MAR 24, 2022
Virtual Event

The Big Blur
 

Erasing the boundaries between high school, college, and careers – and creating one new system that works for everyone. In their new report, The Big Blur, Joel Vargas and Kyle Hartung lay out their argument for erasing the boundaries between high school, college, and careers – a radical restructuring they say can work better for everyone. Joel and Kyle join the Complete to Compete Ohio webinar series to explain how the Big Blur could work in Ohio.

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OCT 06, 2021
Virtual Event

Aim Hire 2021
 

The third annual Aim Hire Conference took place virtually on October 6, 2021. This year’s event brought together the voices of business leaders, educators, and policy makers.

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Virtual Event

SEP 22, 2020
Virtual Event

Aim Hire 2020
 

The second annual Aim Hire Conference took place virtually on September 22, 2020. This year’s event brought together the voices of business leaders, educators, and policy makers. Thank you to all our panelist, attendees, partners, and staff for making this possible.

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Virtual Event

MAY 16, 2019
Virtual Event

Aim Hire 2019
 

The first annual Aim Hire Conference took place virtually on May 16, 2019. This year’s event brought together the voices of business leaders, educators, and policy makers. Thank you to all our panelist, attendees, partners, and staff for making this possible.

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