iBuild America Podcast

The iBuild America Podcast empowers workforce development professionals with insights from industry leaders, exploring strategies, challenges, and solutions to build the Workforce of the Future. Join us to foster collaboration and drive meaningful change.

iBuild America Podcast is a business podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 73 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts iBuild America Podcast, a business show with 73 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  iBuild America Podcast

  How to Build a Workforce Pipeline Companies Actually Pay For

  Aug 13, 202623 min

  She turned a $7,500 training program into a $60,000–$100,000+ career, and she's not stopping there. Dr. Belinthia Berry has spent 19 years bridging the gap between the classroom and the job site, and on this episode of the iBuild America Podcast, she pulls back the curtain on how St. Petersburg College is quietly building one of the most powerful workforce pipelines in the country. From lineworker training with Duke Energy to a soldering program backed by Jabil, Honeywell, and Lockheed Martin, Dr. Berry explains how "career blueprints" and built-in off-ramps make sure no student gets left behind — even if their first path isn't the right one. We talk AI in the classroom, VR headsets in healthcare training, why manufacturing is quietly Florida's hottest industry, and the one piece of advice — "the fortune's in the follow-up" — that's helped her build million-dollar employer partnerships. Whether you're 19 and wondering what's next, or 40 and thinking about what's next for your kids, this conversation will change how you think about the future of work.

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  iBuild America Podcast

  How AI is Helping Workers Write Their Way into New Careers

  Aug 6, 202623 min

  Two million. That's how many immigrants in the U.S. have a college degree — and are unemployed or underemployed anyway. Not because they lack talent. Because they lack the English skills to prove it. Dr. Katie Brown found that gap almost by accident. Thirty years ago, she signed up to volunteer teaching English to Mexican migrant workers and quickly realized she had no idea what she was doing — and neither did the system around her. Later, while teaching ESL at a community college, she sat across from a dentist from Mauritania who'd been told he needed six semesters of English before he could even think about practicing medicine here. That moment stuck with her. It became EnGen — an organization that helps multilingual workers get the specific English skills they need to move into real careers, not just memorize the alphabet. In this episode, Katie and Lorraine talk about what "English upskilling" actually means, why treating language access as an investment (not an expense) can save employers real money, how AI is quietly transforming how people learn to write a cover letter or ask their boss for time off, and why multilingualism should be seen as a superpower instead of a barrier. It's a conversation about talent hiding in plain sight — and what happens when we finally stop overlooking it. Whether you're an employer, a job seeker, a young professional building your first career, or someone who just believes people deserve a shot at using the skills they already have — this episode will change how you see the workforce around you. New episode of the iBuild America Podcast— building workforce success, one story at a time.

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  iBuild America Podcast

  An Olympian's Playbook for Raising a Workforce-Ready Generation

  Jul 30, 202626 min

  Before Dr. Steve Brown was "Coach Brown," he was a kid in Washington, D.C. who dreamed of the Olympics but wasn't good enough — yet — to earn a track scholarship. So he walked onto the team instead. He played football on scholarship, went pro for a hot minute with the Chicago Bears and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and then came home to a truth a lot of us avoid: the dream doesn't always show up the way you pictured it. What he did with that truth is the whole episode. Steve went on to become a two-time All-American, an Olympian, and eventually Dr. Coach Brown — founder of the Steve Brown Academy, where he uses his trademarked "Complete Your Square" curriculum to help student-athletes build more than a highlight reel. In this conversation, he and Lorraine get real about failure as data, the pressure young people carry in the social-media-and-NIL era, why "you can do anything you want — to a point" is actually good advice, and how a single teacher who saw something in him changed the entire trajectory of his life. If you've ever felt like you were behind, off-track, or not enough — this one's for you. And if you're raising, coaching, or mentoring someone who feels that way, it's for you too. New episode of the iBuild America Podcast — building workforce success, one story at a time.

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  iBuild America Podcast

  100% Placement: How One HBI Pilot Program Gave Homeless Veterans a Second Shot

  Jul 23, 202630 min

  Mario Gonzalez didn't apply for his job at the Home Builders Institute. He isn't entirely sure how his resume even got there. After 21 years in the Army and a plan for civilian life that "didn't really go to plan," Mario found himself working an entry-level job at a tire plant, wondering what was next — until a leaflet fell out of his military transition paperwork. On it, in his own handwriting, were five things he wanted in his next job. Every one of them matched what HBI was offering. He calls it a sign. We call it the beginning of a story worth hearing. Today, Mario is the Vice President of Workforce and Employment Training at HBI, where he leads programs serving justice-involved adults and youth, transitioning military members, and other underserved populations across the country. In this episode, host Lorraine Lane talks with Mario about HBI's recent recognition from the U.S. House of Representatives after a pilot program placed 100% of its formerly homeless veteran graduates into jobs before they even walked the stage. They dig into the skilled labor shortage ("all of them," Mario says, when asked which trade needs workers most), why only a small fraction of construction workers ever go through an apprenticeship, and what it will really take to convince the next generation — and their parents — that a trade can be just as powerful a path as college. Mario also opens up about the instructors behind the scenes: the people who take a former framer or electrician and turn them into a mentor for young people who, in many cases, have never had someone pour into them before. And we talk about AI — not as a threat to the trades, but as an unexpected on-ramp for career pivoters looking for work that actually means something. This is a conversation about second chances, patience in an instant-gratification world, and the quiet power of someone believing in you before you believe in yourself. Subscribe, share, and join us for more insights on building a powerful American workforce.

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  iBuild America Podcast

  Trades, Apprenticeships & AI: The Future of Work

  Jul 16, 202622 min

  Michael D. Smith started his career at 12 years old, running the coat room at his local Boys & Girls Club for two dollars an hour. Today, he's the President and CEO of Eckerd Connects — a nearly 60-year-old organization serving communities across 20 states and operating 12 Job Corps campuses nationwide. In this episode, host Lorraine Lane sits down with Michael to talk about the journey from an underserved community in Western Massachusetts to the White House, the Obama Foundation, and now the helm of one of the country's most respected workforce development organizations. Michael opens up about the mentors who changed his life, why he believes "talent is distributed evenly, but opportunity is not," and how Eckerd Connects is reimagining what it means to walk alongside young people — not just with support, but with skills, credentials, and a real path to a family-sustaining wage. We dig into the future of trades and apprenticeships in the age of AI, why collaboration beats competition in workforce ecosystems, and how communities can hold onto the talent they raise. Plus, don't miss the rapid-fire round — tea over coffee, gospel music, and the summer job he'll never forget. This is a conversation about grit, mentorship, and what's possible when someone simply believes in you before you believe in yourself. Subscribe, share, and join us for more insights on building a powerful American workforce.

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