Make It Movement Launches National Marketing Pilot to Rapidly Build a New Generation of Young High-Skilled and High-Income Professionals

New purpose-based and motivating marketing initiative helps young people start their journey – while in middle and high school – of discovering their professional aspirations and high-skill/high-income careers soon after high school

Students across Texas will see a live-stream from AT&T stadium – home of the Dallas Cowboys – on the new program on Oct 6^th at the YTEXAS summit

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 21, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Make It Movement, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to connect young people to a new world of high-skilled and high-income careers that neither they nor their parents most likely don’t know about or fully understand, announced today a new national marketing pilot program to engage and inspire millions of students while they are in middle and high school to start their journey of discovering their talents, purpose and paths of achieving their full potential. Working with teachers, school counselors, career and technical education (CTE) instructors, parents and employers, the Make It Movement is dedicated to delivering rapid and impactful awareness of the high paying skilled careers in cities and states across America.

As the national skills gap plaguing the current and incoming workforce widens, especially in the high-skill industries, there is a critical need for a new generation of young, skilled, and motivated professionals. Coupled with the Biden Administration’s Infrastructure Investment and Job Act, a lofty $1 trillion national plan to help upgrade the nation’s crumbling infrastructure, there is a deluge of funding for roads, bridges and other projects, but not a trained and motivated workforce to fill these professions. For instance, the manufacturing skills gap could potentially reach 2.1 million unfilled jobs by 2030, according to a study by Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute. And earlier this year, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce projected that there is a massive shortage of skilled professionals that is already seriously impacting other industries reliant on young high-skilled professionals.

Roy Spence, the Make It Movement Founder, said that, for decades, America seems to have tried everything to convince young Americans to skill up and fill the demand for these “life-changing careers.” Our initiative seeks to meet middle and high school students where they are and inspire and activate them to take the first step by going to MakeItMovement.org. They can “start their Journey” by answering four simple but insightful online questions like, “Do you want to work inside or outside?”

Middle and high school students and recent graduates or those that have left high school can match up to their most ideal career based on talents, aspirations, preference and work setting. The Make It Movement, with their partners in purpose, including community colleges, technical colleges, workforce solution agencies in Austin, Texas and all over America, can then deliver a clear path for students to explore these career choices while they are in middle and high school.

Through training and educational courses, these future leaders can land life-changing careers for themselves and their families. Median annual salaries for these high-skill and high-income careers can range anywhere from nearly $60,000 for a welder or professional in the culinary fields, over $70,000 for electricians and health care technicians, and up to nearly $100,000 for advanced manufacturing and information technology-related positions.

“When I founded the Make It Movement, I was on a mission to discover ‘Is there anything that we as Texans and Americans agree on?’ But then it hit me: We all want our kids to be successful, to become financially independent doing what they really are good at and love to do,” said Spence. “Our campaign asks: ‘If you have the will, go to makeitmovement.org and start your journey of discovering your purpose and career paths – while you are in school – where you can Make it in America soon after graduating from high school.”

Spence explained that, “Across Austin, Texas and America, we can’t wait until after high school to give our young people the encouragement, confidence and tools they need to succeed in highly skilled careers. We have a massive nationwide skills gap impacting our future while at the same time we have millions of high school students in Texas and America who have no idea on how to best embrace and fulfill their full potential. Not simply jobs, these skilled life-changing opportunities are careers that will allow the next generation to become financially independent doing what they love to do soon after high school.”

He continued: “By building pathways to success through excitement and confidence, the Make It Movement helps young professionals to tap into their core strengths and aspirations and guide them towards a support network of school counselors, career and technical education instructors, community and technical colleges and local workforce solutions agencies close to home.” 

For the Make It Movement, the pilot initiative in Austin and central Texas seeks to tap into the tens of thousands of local skilled positions that go unfilled each year. Partnering with Austin Community College, Texas State Technical College and Workforce Solutions Capital Area and Rural Area Workforce Boards, as well as various local technical and manufacturing associations, the Make It Movement seeks to educate and provide confidence to young people seeking a high-income career while in school.

As part of its Austin launch, the Make it Movement will live-stream information for students in middle and high schools across Texas on the new pilot program. This will be done on the morning of Oct 6^th at the YTEXAS summit at the home of the Dallas Cowboys.

The Make It Movement was founded by advertising visionary Roy Spence, co-founder and chairman of the global advertising firm GSD&M and co-founder and chairman of the Purpose Institute in Austin, Texas. He and his partners co-created and produced culture-changing marketing initiatives like “Don’t Mess with Texas,” campaigns for Southwest Airlines, and the United States Air Force.

About the Make It Movement:
The Make It Movement, a 501c3 nonprofit organization, is a purpose-driven initiative that uses marketing as a force for good to inspire millions of students everywhere – while they are still in school – to start their journey of discovering their purpose and high-skill/high-income careers where they can become financially independent doing what they love to do soon after high school. The Make It Movement has brought together a coalition of organizations who know there is more than one way to Make It in Central Texas and in America. For more information, please visit makeitmovement.org.

SOURCE Make It Movement