The Greater Houston Partnership is launching the first pilot phase of a new career navigation tool to help move Houston students and workers toward good-paying, growing careers.
Ready Set Next aims to help people identify career pathways by better connecting individuals, employers, education and community organizations all in one place. Using workforce data, AI will help each user explore personalized career recommendations by understanding their interests, skills, strengths and experiences. Recommendations will include relevant education, training and community resources to equip them for that next step.
“Houston has an unprecedented opportunity to bring our education, nonprofits and employers together around a shared goal: helping more people reach their full career and earning potential,” said Rafa Alvarez, senior vice president of regional workforce development at the Partnership. “If we get this right, Ready Set Next can create opportunity for generations of Houstonians while building the skilled workforce our region needs to grow and prosper.”
Who Will Use Ready Set Next in the First Pilot?
The first live pilot phase will run through November and bring together approximately 1,000 students and adults through 23 education, workforce and community partners across the region. Forty percent of participants will be adults entering the workforce, transitioning careers or experiencing underemployment, while 60 percent will be students in middle and high school.
“This partnership allows us to test innovative tools that help students validate interests, explore careers, and connect with high‑demand opportunities,” said Tanya Hagar, Executive Director of Career and Technical Education at Pasadena ISD. “We’re excited to see how this platform supports our district’s long‑standing commitment to preparing students for success beyond graduation.”
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Why Does Houston Need a Regional Career Navigation Platform?
Houston has strong employers, schools, training programs and community organizations, but navigating those resources as a connected system can be difficult. According to research from Good Reason Houston, nearly 90 percent of Houston students graduate high school, but only one in four completes a postsecondary degree within six years, and just 20 percent reach a living wage by their mid-20s. Employers also report difficulty finding qualified talent.
For Pathful, the Partnership’s technology partner and a national leader in career readiness and development, that challenge aligned with Pathful’s experience to help build a solution on a regional scale.
“For years, we’ve built the tools that help districts connect students to career pathways inside the walls of a school,” said Pathful CEO Ryan Hagedorn. “Ready Set Next takes that same muscle, personalized guidance at scale, real data on what’s working, and points it at a different customer: the workforce boards and chambers of commerce trying to do the same thing for an entire region, adults included. We’re not replacing what they do. We’re giving them the infrastructure to do a lot more of it.”
Future pilot phases will bring employers more directly into Ready Set Next, creating new ways to showcase careers, connect with emerging talent, and gain insights that help strengthen workforce pipelines and inform long-term talent strategy.
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Who Is Helping Build Ready Set Next?
Since 2025, the Partnership and Pathful have convened education, employers and community organizations to help shape Ready Set Next around the needs and challenges they see firsthand.
“At SERJobs, we are committed to embracing innovative solutions that better prepare individuals for meaningful careers while helping employers build a stronger workforce,” said Liliana Rambo, CEO, SERJobs. “We are excited to partner with Ready Set Next as a founding pilot partner because we believe this technology has the potential to enhance workforce readiness, improve participant outcomes, and strengthen connections between skilled talent and employers.”