Byron Auguste

Byron Auguste, Ph.D., is leading a national movement to rewire the U.S. labor market to recognize the skills, value and potential of STARs — workers Skilled Through Alternative Routes rather than a bachelor’s degree. The co-founder of Opportunity@Work, he is working to remove the barriers blocking 50% of U.S. workers from accessing opportunities for upward career mobility while benefitting employers looking for skills-based employees.

Dr. Auguste, whose career spans 20 years with McKinsey advising Fortune 500 companies and serving as an economic policy advisor in the White House and the National Economic Council during the Obama administration, founded Opportunity@Work to change entrenched hiring practices that rely on automated screens, algorithms and stereotypes. Rather, Opportunity@Work envisions a labor market in which an individual’s skills matter more than where those skills were achieved, and a future in which all Americans can work, learn and earn to their full potential .  

Using research, data visualization tools and other resources, Opportunity@Work equips companies to modify their talent acquisition practices to tap the 70 million STARs who lack college degrees but have gained valuable, market-ready skills through military service, community college, training programs, partial college completion and on-the-job experience. 

Opportunity@Work’s Tear the Paper Ceiling campaign, launched in 2022 in partnership with the Ad Council, is sparking national awareness and motivating action by companies, policymakers, talent platforms and decision-makers. Over 90 partners, including major corporate employers, have removed degree requirements and are now adopting skills-first hiring. To date, 30 states have committed to removing degree barriers from their hiring processes.  

Dr. August and Opportunity@Work are also working with corporate, public sector and philanthropic partners to make hiring STARs for higher-wage roles the norm. In the next decade, Opportunity@Work aims to enable upward mobility for 1 million STARs by opening up 10 million good-paying jobs, boosting their earnings by $100 billion. Merging of language from Opportunity@Work mission and vision statements.