Leadership Community

Black Hawk Region Pathways

Serving Rock Island, Mercer, and Henry Counties, the Black Hawk Region Pathways works to expand community-wide systems that assist all students in career exploration & post-secondary options and champions businesses/agencies needs to benefit regional economic development.

Lead Intermediary Organization

The Moline Foundation

Region Contact Information

Susan Zelnio, Program Director
Workforce Development
szelnio@molinefoundation.org

Areas of Expertise

  • Dual Credit
  • Career Exploration
  • Apprenticeships
  • Regional Collaboration and Commitment

Prioritized Focus Areas

  • Health Sciences
  • Manufacturing, Engineering, Technology & Trades
  • IT
  • Finance and Business Services

Key Successes

  • Started a pilot of a regional Intermediary Center with three school districts: Moline Coal Valley, United Township, and Rock Island-Milan.
  • Began work on Educator and Manufacturing Pathways.
  • Quad City Youth Apprentice Consortium has created regional paths for Welding, CNC Machining, IT Software Engineering, IT EST, Bank Teller, CNA, and a pre-apprenticeship Electrician, and is working on additional offerings.
  • The Quad City Career and Technical Consortium switched the region from Career Cruising to Xello, a college and career readiness software, for expanded capabilities for students and educators.

2-Year Goals

  • Establish a pilot Intermediary Center at Black Hawk College that will offer work-based learning opportunities.
  • Convene a taskforce to identify equity in access to credentials that lead to high-wage, high-need employment and greater economic mobility.
  • Create a process for working with employers who provide work-based learning opportunities.
  • Coordinate interested school districts in the three-county area to develop a customized Postsecondary and Career Expectation (PaCE) framework for grades 8–12.

Community Updates: