Opportunity@Work Names LaFawn Davis to Board of Directors as Skills-First Movement Gains Ground in the AI Economy

Accomplished STAR executive join the board as the nonprofit expands its STARs Advisory Council – and reports 20% gains in jobs newly opened to STARs

WASHINGTON, July 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Opportunity@Work, the nonprofit social enterprise working to rewire the U.S. labor market for the more than 70 million workers who are Skilled Through Alternative Routes (STARs) – rather than a bachelor's degree – today announced the appointment of its newest member to its Board of Directors: LaFawn Davis, former Chief People and Sustainability Officer at Indeed. The organization also announced the addition of 12 new members to its STARs Advisory Council, supporting and guiding Opportunity@Work's strategy and direct partnerships with STARs – including ambassadorship, advocacy, and advisory services.

The appointments come as the skills-first movement is gaining momentum at a pivotal moment for the American workforce. As artificial intelligence reshapes career pathways and opportunities, employers in Opportunity@Work's networks have taken intentional action that is already producing measurable results for workers. According to the organization's 2026 State of the Paper Ceiling Report, over the last year employers have increased the number of jobs open to STARs by nearly 20% for a total of almost 600,000 jobs – with 90,000 STARs having experienced upward mobility since 2022.

"Today's labor market is full of bad design choices and unintended consequences, and this AI labor market transition is a vital opportunity to rewire it – using AI as amplified intention – to create new pathways, solve new problems, and empower more problem solvers," said Byron Auguste, CEO and co-founder of Opportunity@Work. "LaFawn is exactly the kind of leader we need today. She is a STAR who built a remarkable career on the strength of her skills and experience and she has led talent teams at the highest levels of large, complex organizations. She knows firsthand that when you hire for skills rather than pedigree, you unlock talent that makes your business more competitive, innovative, and resilient. Her lived experience and operator's instincts will sharpen our work as we help employers turn AI into a tool for amplified opportunity."

LaFawn Davis is a C-suite enterprise transformation executive known for designing operating models that align people, technology, and strategy at the intersection of human and AI-enabled capability. As former Chief People and Sustainability Officer at Indeed, she led globally scaled teams across talent, learning, DEIB, ESG, and responsible technology. At Indeed she also helped implement skills-first hiring practices, giving her a practical, operator-level understanding of the barriers, incentives, and platform levers involved in moving beyond credential-based hiring. A STAR who entered the workforce navigating the barriers faced by workers without formal credentials, she brings lived experience alongside a systems-level perspective on AI, employment, and the talent platforms shaping the future of work.

"I've sat in the seat where decisions get made about who is considered 'qualified,' and I know how much talent gets filtered out before anyone ever looks at what a person can actually do," said Davis. "AI is about to make those decisions at a speed and scale we've never seen. We can either bake the old degree bias into these systems or we can build them to recognize skills. That choice is everything, and it's why joining Opportunity@Work matters. Our work together will make skills, not pedigree, the default signal of who gets a shot.

Expanding the STARs Advisory Council
Opportunity@Work also welcomed 12 new members to its STARs Advisory Council, reflecting the organization's belief that STARs should be co-creators – not just beneficiaries – of the systems that shape their economic mobility. The Council is chaired by LaShana Lewis, CEO and founder of L.M. Lewis Consulting, and its full roster of 19 members can be found here.

"Every STAR knows what it feels like to be told you're 'one in a million' – when the truth is we're one of millions, ready to contribute if someone will just open the door," said Lewis. "The progress we're celebrating today didn't happen by accident. It happened because real people made intentional choices to recognize skills over credentials. As we grow this Council and welcome a leader like LaFawn to the board, we're making sure STARs are co-creators of the solutions — not just the people they're designed for. The folks closest to the paper ceiling should be in the room helping tear it down, especially now, as AI rewrites the rules of who gets hired."

Momentum Built on Intentional Action
Today's announcement builds on the momentum Opportunity@Work generated in 2025, when it released the first State of the Paper Ceiling – a report showing that, after a decade of decline, STARs had stopped losing ground in their share of good-paying jobs.

The story of 2026 is what comes next: how intentional action by employers, governments, and individuals – amplified rather than undermined by AI – can convert that stabilization into real, sustained upward mobility. The nearly 600,000 jobs newly opened to STARs and the 90,000 STARs who have moved up since 2022 are early proof that the movement is not only holding the line, but advancing.

This worker progress is matched by the rapid growth of the movement's infrastructure. The Tear the Paper Ceiling Coalition has grown to more than 90 members, 33 states have now removed degree requirements for many public-sector roles, and Opportunity@Work's Transformers in the Public Sector cohort has tripled in size. Together, these milestones show a movement that is not only widening at the top, with more employers and governments committing to skills-first hiring, but deepening on the ground, where those commitments turn into jobs and mobility for STARs.

Opportunity@Work and its partners continue to work toward the goal of enabling 1 million STARs to attain better upward mobility through higher-wage jobs, generating a $20 billion annual earnings boost by 2030.

To learn more about Opportunity@Work, the STARs Advisory Council, and the Tear the Paper Ceiling movement, visit opportunityatwork.org.

About Opportunity@Work
Opportunity@Work is a 501(c)3 nonprofit social enterprise on a mission to rewire the labor market so all Americans can work, learn, and earn to their full potential. Our work advances economic opportunities for the 70+ million U.S. workers who are Skilled Through Alternative Routes (STARs) instead of through a bachelor's degree. Opportunity@Work engages with corporate, public sector, talent technology, and philanthropic partners through landmark research and labor market data analysis, public awareness and narrative change, STARs-centric software tools, and multi-sector networks. Our goal is to enable upward mobility for 1 million STARs by opening up 10 million jobs, and boost their earnings by 100 billion dollars by 2035. Learn more at opportunityatwork.org

Rena Ramirez | [email protected]

SOURCE Opportunity@Work