I’m still feeling the energy from last week's Assembly Required: UNTAPPED event! We’re so grateful to have gathered a community committed to shaping the future of Louisiana’s workforce with a shared mission: exploring how skills-based hiring and embracing workers skilled through alternative routes (STARs) can fuel economic growth.
STARs—those who build valuable skills through military service, community colleges, and hands-on experience—comprise over 60% of Louisiana’s and 50% of the national workforce. Yet, they often face the "Paper Ceiling" barriers that hold talented individuals back due to a lack of a bachelor's degree.
The event was a call to action to tear down these barriers, with a night that blended an art feature honoring Baton Rouge’s STARs, a powerful conversation on Tearing the Paper Ceiling in Louisiana, and an exclusive screening of the Netflix film UNTAPPED.
Many people came together to make this event possible that I'd like to thank:
To our core team: My better half, Laura Siu Nguyen, MA, for her amazing executive production work, managing logistics and volunteers. Khoi Nguyen, for the late nights designing all our beautiful assets. Meagan West, SHRM-CP, PHR, PHR, for connecting us to essential organizations and serving as an excellent panel moderator. And to my biz partner, Jeremy Beyt, for stepping up on show day and ensuring AV ran smoothly. 🙏
To my friend Josh Kahn: Thank you for joining us in Baton Rouge and sharing your journey directing UNTAPPED. You’ve created something powerful that I know will inspire countless others.
To our incredible panelists, LaShana Lewis, Justin Hutchinson, Susana Schowen, and Dr. Willie Smith, for diving into the hard conversations on creating systemic change for STARs in Louisiana.
To our sponsors, thank you for believing. A special shoutout to Misty Albrecht, MMC, MMC, and b1BANK for believing in our vision as title sponsors. It was an honor to stand alongside you and donate event proceeds to the Baton Rouge Youth Coalition and the Steadfast Foundation.
To Byron Decoteau Jr., Ashley Townsend, Chelsea Dufrene, and Wade Franklin for sharing the good news in Baton Rouge and reminding us of the importance of staying connected to our state’s progress.
To Georgia Gillette and Kelsey Wu: Thank you for building opportunities for our attendees to join the Tear the Paper Ceiling movement after the event.
To Byron Auguste, Carrie Varoquiers, and Jared Chung: Thank you for your video cameos that shared the excitement for what lies ahead for Louisiana and STARs everywhere.
To our team at ThreeSixtyEight, who launched and incubated Assembly over the last six years because we believe it can create real change in our community.
As we continue to Tear the Paper Ceiling, everyone must come together, push forward, and fight for every STAR who deserves a chance.
We’ve made meaningful strides as a country and state, but there’s more work ahead. LFG 🙏
#AssemblyRequired #TearThePaperCeiling
