Menu
Alabama Career Pathways
A plan was needed to guide all future investment in CTE centers and a clear identity to explain the opportunity to legislators, educators, employers and, most importantly, students and their families.
The initiative now gives students, families and employers one front door to a CTE network serving more than 167,000 students and backed by $250 million in state investment.
Alabama’s economic growth is outpacing its talent pipeline. The 2024 Working for Alabama legislative package created a new, career-focused high school diploma called Alabama Career Pathways. The Alabama Growth Alliance sponsored the workforce initiative, led by House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter in close collaboration with the Alabama State Department of Education and the Alabama Department of Workforce, which creates pathways to credentials and access to jobs immediately after high school for graduates who do not immediately plan to attend a two- or four-year college or university. The coalition needed a plan to guide all future investment in CTE centers and a clear identity to explain the opportunity to legislators, educators, employers and, most importantly, students and their families.
Working with partner Direct Communications, Markstein led development of the program’s strategic plan by collaborating with coalition leaders, employers statewide and stakeholders to define its operating model, create its funding and accountability framework, managed a phased rollout and provide a communications toolkit for every audience. We built a strategic messaging platform, created the Alabama Career Pathways brand, and designed and built alabamacareerpathways.com. The site walks students through five steps from finding a center to launching a career, offers a directory of more than 60 CTE centers, answers families’ questions and features stories from employers in the skilled trades. We also wrote the launch press release and supported the public launch.
Alabama Career Pathways launched July 2026, in Rainsville, where state leaders unveiled the brand, website and statewide strategic plan alongside plans for a $40 million DeKalb County career tech center. The launch earned coverage from Yellowhammer News, Alabama Political Reporter, Alabama Daily News, 256 Today and WHNT. The initiative now gives students, families and employers one front door to a CTE network serving more than 167,000 students and backed by $250 million in state investment, and the brand has carried forward to new milestones like September’s ribbon cutting and groundbreaking in Troy.