How Great City Leaders Use Data
America is facing a projected shortfall of 6 million workers by 2032. Healthcare, skilled trades, manufacturing, and hospitality will be hit hardest. The question for city leaders isn’t if this will impact your community, but how prepared you are to respond.
Join us for a special live edition of the American Dream Factory Podcast featuring Josh Wright, Executive Vice President of Growth at Lightcast. Lightcast—owned by global investment firm KKR—is a leader in workforce data and tools used by city leaders, governors, and economic developers worldwide.
Josh will share how the smartest cities are using data to:
Identify hidden talent pools in their communities
Align education and training with future industry needs
Build strategies to attract and retain workers in critical sectors
Move beyond reports to real-time, actionable workforce dashboards
This is a must-attend event for:
Economic developers
Mayors and civic leaders
Innovation economy leaders
College presidents & workforce educators
Community organizers & nonprofit leaders
About Josh Wright
Josh Wright leads partnerships, growth, and thought leadership for the public sector team at Lightcast. He previously served as Executive Vice President of the economic and workforce development division, where he guided his team through the merger of Emsi and Burning Glass Technologies in 2021 and the acquisitions of Gazelle. ai and eIMPACT in 2023. Lightcast partners with over 1,000 educational institutions and 600 workforce and economic development organizations.
A former journalist, Josh began his career at Emsi in 2008. He is a graduate of the University of Idaho, holding bachelor’s degrees in journalism and history. His work helps shape how local leaders prepare for the future of work and respond to the structural labor shortage ahead.