Students across the country are pedaling hard—enrolling in career pathways, completing credentials and seeking on-ramps to meaningful work. Employersare also turning their wheels—posting jobs and calling for better-prepared talent. Yet, forward motion remains uneven. The problem isn’t effort. It’s connection.
Between learning and earning lies a fragmented system where opportunity too often depends on who you know, where you live or which doors happen to be open. Intermediaries are the missing link in the chain—connecting education to industry and allowing the system to move forward.
Students overwhelmingly aspire to thriving careers, but aspiration alone does not guarantee access. In 2023, an estimated 8.2 million learners sought internships, yet fewer than half secured one. At the same time, employers report growing concern about workforce readiness: over 80% of hiring managers say high school graduates are unprepared for work, and that readiness is declining.
These gaps are not evenly distributed. Students of color, students from low-income communities and rural learners face the steepest barriers to career-building experiences. Limited access to professional networks, paid work-based learning and responsive employers compounds existing inequities—turning preparation gaps into opportunity gaps.
We understand training programs, and we understand jobs. What is far less visible are the connections between them. Intermediaries function like the chain on a bicycle, linking work-based learning and industry so that effort generates real movement.
Intermediaries sit at the intersection of education and employment, translating the needs of one system into actionable opportunities in the other. As highlighted in a recent Strada webinar and brief, Scaling Work-Based Learning: A Framework for Effective Employer Intermediaries, these organizations are diverse in form but unified in function.
The Commission on Purposeful Pathways recently released a research-backed blueprint for developing “purposeful pathways” for all students. Intermediaries are central to this vision, helping to formalize cross‑sector relationships, reduce friction and build trust.
Intermediaries build and sustain the relationships that individual schools or employers often lack the capacity to maintain on their own—especially at scale. Effective intermediaries take many forms, such as community colleges, economic development agencies and nonprofits. When intermediaries are effective, they consistently perform several core functions identified by Strada:
Together, these functions can do more than support individual programs; they are the connections that allow pathways systems to function at scale and with consistency across regions and student groups.
ExcelinEd has developed a student-centered policy framework at pathwaysmatter.org that enables intermediaries to operate effectively and sustainably. The right policy infrastructure can protect participants, improve performance and ensure momentum—especially for learners historically excluded from opportunity.
Three policy levers outlined in pathways matter are critical to long-term success for intermediaries:
When intermediaries have stable funding, they can expand access to high-quality, paid experiences and ensure pathways lead to real economic mobility. See ExcelinEd’s newly released intermediary model policy.
Sustainable funding can support:
When participation feels safer and simpler, more employers engage—and students gain access to a broader range of paid, meaningful experiences.
Enhanced Unemployment Insurance (UI) wage data is a powerful—yet often underused tool. When states require its collection, it can help intermediaries and students better understand:
This data provides schools, districts, states, students, parents and employers a clearer insight into outcomes–helping to drive better decisions.
Iowa offers a strong example of how sustained investment and clear policy can empower intermediaries to connect learners to meaningful work and employers to prepared talent. State law has established a dedicated intermediary infrastructure that facilitates partnerships between educators and employers, supported by ongoing funding for 15 regional intermediary networks serving every school district.
In 2022 alone, Iowa’s Work-Based Learning Intermediary Network Program supported more than 90,000 student experiences, demonstrating the impact of a coordinated statewide approach. Building on this success, the state expanded the model through the Statewide Intermediary Grant Program, extending support to educational institutions and workforce boards.
The lesson is clear: intermediaries thrive when policy reflects their role—and learners benefit when systems are designed with equity and outcomes in mind.
