SkillWaze®, Pangea Learning, and DAP Form Strategic Alliance to Launch Guaranteed Career-ready Talent Pipeline for Collegiate Athletes at over 500 Universities

WASHINGTON, Dec. 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ --  SkillWaze, the pioneer in AI-driven skill verification, today announced a transformative strategic partnership with Pangea Learning and DAP (Dynamic Athlete Placement). This alliance establishes a high-quality talent development pipeline designed to solve the global skills gap by providing student-athletes at 500 top-tier universities with direct access to guaranteed career-ready skill training and verification.

DAP, through a partnership with the National Esports Collegiate Conference (NECC) will enable this new "Learn, Earn, and Verify" ecosystem from SkillWaze that connects competitive digital natives directly to employers in critical industries such as Healthcare, Military/Defense, Advanced Manufacturing, and FinTech.

Solving the Verification Crisis  As highlighted by recent national headlines including announcements from the White House, the modern workforce crisis is driven not by a lack of people, but by a lack of verified skills. This strategic partnership addresses the US skills gap by combining three distinct powers into a single guaranteed talent development funnel:

• Direct Access (DAP & NECC): DAP serves as the entry point, activating a high-performance talent pool of student-athletes who possess the discipline, strategic thinking, and resilience inherent in esports—traits highly coveted in sectors like Aerospace and Computer Science.
• The Knowledge (Pangea Learning): Pangea powers the educational phase, delivering foundational knowledge through a vast library of online courses and career readiness programs, ranging from Cyber Security certifications to soft-skill development.
• The Powerful AI Verification Engine (SkillWaze): acting as the core of the funnel, SkillWaze converts potential into "guaranteed career-ready skills" using its proprietary AuthentiSkill™ AI technology. This validates learner capabilities through:
  • SkillWaze Innovation Challenges: Real-world problem-solving scenarios that test skill application in addition to skill acquisition through learning.
  • Internships & Apprenticeships: Structured "Learn & Earn" work experiences where work effort, work quality and skill application in a work environment are scored.
  • AI-Driven Verification: A proprietary AI Observation Engine scores and validates employer specific and curated skills including AI and key soft/durable skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration and more.

**Critical National Industry Impact **

"Traditional degrees no longer guarantee job readiness," said Dan Benveniste, CEO of SkillWaze. "By integrating DAP's massive pipeline of competitive high-quality student talent with Pangea's curriculum, SkillWaze can focus on what we do best: employer-required AI and HI skill development and verification. We are not just graduating students; we are delivering a verified, career-ready workforce to industry employers, trade association partners, as well as NGOs/NPOs with high quality guaranteed skills".

Andrew Mirken, Co-Founder and President of DAP, added: "Student-athletes possess extraordinary drive, resilience, and leadership—traits employers demand. This partnership transforms those innate qualities into verified career momentum. By bridging our higher education ecosystem with SkillWaze and Pangea, we are ensuring that the competitive potential of these digital natives translates directly into lifelong economic opportunity."

A National Solution for Critical Industries  Leveraging the nationwide footprint of the NECC, this alliance deploys talent specifically to sectors where the skills gap poses a systemic risk:

• Healthcare & HealthTech: Addressing urgent shortages by translating the rapid decision-making of esports athletes into roles ranging from Health IT to Patient Services, verifying soft skills like empathy alongside technical proficiency.
• Military, Defense & Aerospace: connecting disciplined, team-oriented talent to defense contractors for security-sensitive roles in engineering and logistics that require precision and reliability.
• Financial Services & FinTech: Capitalizing on the algorithmic thinking native to gamers to produce analysts, blockchain developers, and cybersecurity experts.

Media Contact:
Samuel Amsterdam
Senior Vice President (SVP), Head of Communications Practice
[email protected]
(202) 910-8349.

About SkillWaze  
SkillWaze is the definitive "System of Record" for skills in the AI era. As the leader in AI-based talent verification, SkillWaze utilizes its proprietary AuthentiSkill® engine to provide a 3D view of a candidate's capabilities, bridging the gap between education and employment. (https://skillwaze.com/)

About Pangea Learning
Pangea Learning is a premier educational ecosystem dedicated to closing the digital divide. Through its "Pangea Placement™" initiative and robust library of industry-recognized certifications, Pangea ensures education translates directly into economic opportunity. (https://www.pangea-learning.com/)

About DAP (Dynamic Athlete Placement)
DAP is a mission-driven platform democratizing access to career opportunities for the digital generation. As the exclusive workforce development partner for the NECC, DAP connects diverse student-athletes from 500+ universities with forward-thinking employers. (https://wearedap.com/)

SOURCE SkillWaze