MassSkills Coalition

The MassSkills Coalition brings Massachusetts employers together, from every sector across the state, who are committed to sharing, learning, reimagining, and implementing new ways to assess, hire, train, upskill, and retain talent.

About the MassSkills Coalition

In January 2024, Governor Healey signed an Executive Order establishing skills-based hiring across executive departments and agencies. Two months later (March 2024), she announced the MassSkills Coalition, a new public-private partnership aimed at accelerating the adoption of skills-first hiring practices across Massachusetts. 

Through this effort, the Healey-Driscoll Administration is leading by example by engaging employers already implementing skills-first strategies while encouraging more organizations to join a statewide coalition of employers, labor partners, educational institutions, and workforce organizations working together to build a more competitive and equitable workforce.

MassSkills Coalition Goals

The MassSkills Coalition focuses on three primary goals:

Convene

Lead by example to convene Massachusetts employers, large and small, and across industries, and learn from peers, additional experts, and proven best practices around skills-first talent management strategies.

Educate

Inform Massachusetts employers of tools and resources available to utilize skills-first talent management strategies to meet their workforce needs.

Diversify

Attract, retain, and develop untapped talent to build Massachusetts’ workforce by focusing on skills-first talent management strategies.

Become an MassSkills Coalition member

As a member of the MassSkills Coalition, your organization joins a learning community committed to sharing, testing, and implementing skills-first talent management strategies. Members collaborate and exchange best practices in key areas, including:

Data Management

Assessing workforce needs and measuring the impact of skills-first strategies.

Hiring Strategies

Revising job descriptions, updating hiring technologies (such as applicant tracking systems), strengthening sourcing partnerships, enhancing interviews and assessments, and exploring training pipeline models.

Retention and Upward Mobility

Creating career advancement pathways, expanding upskilling opportunities, fostering supportive work environments, and promoting mentorship and coaching.

Current Membership

MassSkills Coalition leadership

1. Lauren Jones, Secretary of Labor & Workforce Development, Commonwealth of Massachusetts
2. Tonja Mettlach, Executive Vice President, Massachusetts Business Roundtable
3. Jerry Rubin, Eastern Bank Foundation, Visiting Fellow Harvard Project On The Workforce
4. Chrissy Lynch, President, MA AFL-CIO 

Employers

Asterisk denotes founding member

Labor

Asterisk denotes founding member

• North Atlantic States Carpenters Training Fund

Academia

Asterisk denotes founding member

• Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts*
• Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology*
• Brockton Public Schools
• Bunker Hill Community College*
• Essex North Shore Agricultural & Technical School
• Greenfield Community College
• Northern Essex Community College*
• Northeastern University*

Advisory Councils

Asterisk denotes founding member

• Governor’s Black Empowerment Advisory Council*
• Governor’s Latino Empowerment Advisory Council*

Business and Professional Groups

Asterisk denotes founding member

• Amplify Latinx*
• Associated Industries of Massachusetts*
• Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce*
• Charles River Chamber of Commerce*
• Economic Development Council of Western MA*
• Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce*
• Massachusetts Association of Community Colleges*
• Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education*
• Massachusetts Business Roundtable*
• Massachusetts Competitiveness Partnership*
• Massachusetts Workforce Association*
• South Shore Chamber of Commerce*
• Springfield Regional Chamber of Commerce*
• Springfield WORKS
• The Partnership, Inc.*
• Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts*
• Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce*

Workforce Practitioners and Researchers

Asterisk denotes founding member

• Grads of Life*
• Hillcrest Educational Centers
• Jewish Vocational Service Boston (JVS)
• MassHire Central Region Workforce Board
• Muzzy Lane
• Opportunity@Work
• Per Scholas Greater Boston
• Project on Workforce at Harvard*
• SkillWorks (The Boston Foundation)