Future of Learning Board

Education and Workforce Leaders Team Up to Design the Future of Learning and Work

August 24, 2021

FLG’s Future of Learning Board convenes chancellors, CLOs, and education and military leaders to design future-ready learning content while supporting Military Spouse and Veteran employment

LAKE MARY, FL. – A team of education and workforce development experts, combined with leaders in Military Spouse and Veteran employment, are preparing America’s workforce for in-demand online learning jobs. Announced today, the group is convened by Freedom Learning Group (FLG), which designs and supports educational programs for Coursera, Google, Wiley, and other leading educators and employers.

A Military Spouse-led company, FLG leverages remote, flexible work and upskilling programs to retain highly skilled individuals in the military community to design learning content for clients across industries. FLG’s design process focuses not only on the latest innovations in instructional design, but also on insights from practitioners in fast-evolving fields such as cybersecurity, healthcare, and finance. 

Elizabeth O’Brien, CEO, commented, “I am honored to welcome such a distinguished group of leaders to our inaugural Future of Learning Board. Our advisors are renowned experts in their fields with a passion for uplifting underserved talent. Their guidance will help us deepen our client partnerships to design the highest quality learning content while creating opportunities for thousands of skilled remote workers.” 

Future of Learning Board of Advisors:

  • Gen (Ret) Robert B Brown, M. Ed., MS. is a proven and innovative leader with distinguished experience at the highest levels of the military. Gen (Ret) Brown has been announced as the next President and CEO of the Association of the U.S. Army. Well known for building trust in organizations, he is an authentic leader and team builder with impeccable integrity and broad experience in the operational, strategic, and educational areas of the military, including a role as the Commanding General of US Army Combined Arms Center Home of Command and General Staff and School of Advanced Military Studies. His Army career took him to over 28 countries where he held diverse assignments, including deployments in support of: Operation Uphold Democracy, Haiti; Operation Joint Forge, Bosnia-Herzegovina and two combat deployments to Operation Iraqi Freedom. In his last assignment, Gen (Ret) Brown was responsible for the largest service component command, the U.S. Army, Pacific. Gen (Ret) Brown retired in October 2019 after over 38 years of dedicated service to the Nation.
  • Lakesha Cole is the Owner of  she PR, Milspo Media. With over 12 years of experience in communications and public relations, Ms. Cole is a highly regarded communications and media expert having been featured by the Today Show, PBS, NBC News, PBS, CBS This Morning, Fox & Friends, Bustle, Black Enterprise, Military Families Magazine, Military Spouse, and Military.com. Ms. Cole founded she PR at the intersection of her advocacy efforts, media expertise, and new life as a retired Marine spouse. In addition, her business portfolio includes advocating for the military community and shedding light on the many challenges that Military families face, most notably Military Spouse employment.
  • Angela Jackson, Ph.D. leads New Profit’s Future of Work Initiative, which seeks to close the career-readiness gap for Americans from low-income backgrounds. Her passion and background lie in answering the question: if multinational companies can deliver their products consistently and with quality at scale, what would it take to deliver social interventions like education and health in a similar manner? She began to tackle this question by founding Global Language Project, a social venture aimed at how we prepare students with skills to succeed in a global economy and workforce. Dr. Jackson’s work and writing has been featured in CNN, Huffington Post, Chicago Tribune, Stanford Social Innovation Review and Harvard Business Review.
  • Ann Thomas Griffin (A.T.) Johnston is the Former Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs.  Ms. Johnston is an experienced senior government official with twenty-five plus years of service at the highest levels in two federal agencies, Congress and the White House. Ms. Johnston was Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for MPFC, which included the MSEP portfolio. She is an inclusive, mission-driven leader who demonstrates a heart for supporting people and organizations in service to others. In addition, she is passionate about growing the next generation of leaders. 
  • John Lowry, MBA is a member of Egon Zehnder’s Industrial Practice, with more than 15 years of experience in the industrial sector. He led the firm’s U.S. Supply Chain and Operations Practice in Chicago until taking a leave of absence to serve as the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans’ Employment. The U.S. Senate confirmed his appointment with unanimous consent. Under Mr. Lowry’s leadership, veteran employment improved significantly relative to the non-veteran cohort.
  • Joe D. May, Ed.D. serves as Chancellor of Dallas College. He brings a strong commitment to improving the Dallas economy and growing regional jobs. Under his leadership, the College is taking responsibility for many of the community’s most challenging issues, including regional workforce needs,  growth of minority-owned businesses, the negative impacts of income disparity, and providing opportunity equality. As a community leader and educator, Dr. May strongly believes in collaborative efforts and has worked closely with public school districts, sponsored charter schools, career academies, early college high schools, and P-TECH high schools.
  • Marcia Nuffer, MBA is a global leadership and talent executive, who brings a deep knowledge of learning and development, a strategic business and people perspective, and direct operating experience.  Ms. Nuffer started her career as a strategy consultant at McKinsey & Company. In 2003, she became McKinsey’s Global Chief Learning Officer.  Today, Ms. Nuffer is the founder of BlueShor; a company focused on accelerating capability building of managers in fast-growth organizations providing individualized, relevant, on-the-job skill-building.