A Conversation with STEMCONNECTOR Co-Founder Ted Wells

When our CEO, Tom Gray, connected with the STEMCONNECTOR team at an event in Salt Lake City last month, it reinforced something we feel deeply every day: building a sustainable talent ecosystem requires everyone at the table.

Tom reflected on the extraordinary energy of the gathering: "I was really impressed with the strategic group of leadership that attended the event, the format is small and very engaging for the 2 days. Working closely with all attendees created a much more powerful experience for creating and maintaining relationships among those who need to collaborate.”

For 15 years, STEMCONNECTOR has operated at the intersection of industry, education, and policy. To understand how the landscape has evolved and where it’s heading in the era of artificial intelligence, we sat down with Ted Wells, Co-CEO  and Founder of STEMCONNECTOR, to discuss the organization’s historic roots, the current relationship between education and industry, and what it takes to build a future-ready workforce.

STEMCONNECTOR

Born Out of a Tech Revolution

To understand STEMCONNECTOR’s mission, you have to look back to its founding in 2011. The late 2000s saw a massive cloud computing revolution with the emergence of Google App Engine, Microsoft Azure, and Amazon Web Services. Suddenly, technology wasn't just an isolated sector; it was being integrated at scale across every single industry, from manufacturing tractors to producing food.

"It really changed the need for the workforce," Ted shared during our conversation.

Recognizing this massive shift, the Obama administration's Office of Science and Technology Policy stepped in to design an innovative policy framework, they created an innovation policy initiative. The foundation of that was creating a strong STEM education system built on four distinct pillars.

Ted explained, “The first pillar was figuring out what was going on in the federal space and harmonizing the federal slate of investments in the STEM education workforce. The second pillar was recruiting role models for students who actually looked like them, helping build a true sense of belonging in STEM. The third was a really bold initiative to get 100,000 highly qualified STEM teachers trained in 10 years, which became known as 100K in 10. And finally, the fourth pillar was building a successful, effective, CEO-led industry coalition to drive employers as active partners in the education system. That led to an organization called Change the Equation.”

STEMconnector emerged from this national momentum to solve a critical puzzle piece: building that effective, industry coalition that positions employers as active partners in the education system. Today, they operate as a professional services membership organization, bridging gaps between corporate giants, federal agencies, and educational institutions.

As Ted put it, "Our effort is to communicate across these different communities, both to bring in new ideas and to disseminate good ideas.”

The Higher-Ed "Workhorses"

When it comes to higher education, Ted notes that STEMCONNECTOR’s  sweet spot isn’t necessarily just elite research institutions.

"Our sweet spot in the post-secondary space is community colleges that work as a bridge to K-12 education, as well as regional comprehensive universities," Ted explained. "Regional comprehensive universities are truly the workhorses of higher education. The largest system of these is the California State University system, but they exist all across the country. They tend to be where a lot of our nation's educators are trained, and they do a lot of work supporting K-12 teachers, making them a fantastic bridge… beyond higher education, we’ve also partnered closely with federal agencies over the years on various funding streams."

By linking these institutions with iconic global brands, STEMCONNECTOR scales blueprints, tools, and case studies that turn local successes into national standards.

Workforce Development Hurdles 

One of the biggest hurdles in workforce development is getting entirely different sectors to speak the same language. Industry moves at lightning speed, constantly changing its processes and human capital needs. The educational system, by nature, is slower to adapt.

Ted points out that this mismatch requires a cultural shift on both sides. For industry, it means recognizing that education is also about building civic virtue and problem-solving skills. For education, it means creating tighter, more consistent feedback loops, like career-connected learning experiences, to ensure what students learn in the classroom directly translates to the modern workplace.

STEM in the Age of AI

The times are incredibly different from 2011. There’s been a massive shift in Artificial Intelligence, and daily users, students, and companies are implementing AI like never before. So, how does it affect education and learning?

STEMCONNECTOR recently explored this question through their AI STEMcast podcast series. 

https://events.stemconnector.com/vodcast-series-subscribe 

Ted views the rapid rise of AI not as a threat, but as a disruptor with distinct paths forward. Pointing to data from the Brookings Institution, Ted emphasized the difference between two types of learning environments:

• AI Deprived: Where a young person merely sits passively in front of a tablet or uses technology as a crutch rather than a tool.

• AI Enriched: Where students are actively challenged to leverage AI to solve real-world problems around them, fostering deep critical thinking and problem-solving.

"We want students to use AI to solve problems, not just use it as a crutch," Ted explained. He pointed to organizations like Make48, Technovation, and the KID Museum as great examples of programs that push students out of their comfort zones. 

While AI is already reshaping entry-level technical roles, it's also accelerating breakthroughs in neighboring fields like biotechnology and quantum computing – such as rapid, targeted drug discovery for cancers and other illnesses.

What's Next: Bringing Manufacturing Back to the Classroom

Looking ahead, STEMCONNECTOR is heavily focused on regional, localized impact where "the magic happens."

One standout initiative over the past year includes a pilot grant partnership with the Battelle Memorial Institute (funded by the Walton Family Foundation). The project successfully pushed manufacturing programs across 12 school districts, challenging schools to rewrite their infrastructure, engage local manufacturers, and provide concrete educational opportunities that prepare students for modern industrial careers.

As the STEM talent pipeline faces unprecedented demand – from sustainable energy to advanced computing – STEMconnector's 15-year-old mission feels more urgent than ever. By grounding pathways in research, guiding them with data, and keeping industry at the table, they are ensuring every learner has access to a sustainable, future-ready career path.

To learn more about their research, consulting services, and upcoming convenings, visit STEMconnector's® official website or follow their updates on LinkedIn.