SkillsUSA Executive Director Chelle Travis Urges Senate Panel to Bolster Workforce Pathways

SkillsUSA Media Contact:
Clare Briner, cbriner@skillsusa.org

WASHINGTON, D.C., December 9, 2025 – SkillsUSA’s Executive Director Chelle Travis testified today before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions, Subcommittee on Education & the American Family.

Appearing at a hearing titled “Building Pathways: Advancing Workforce Development in the 21st Century,” Travis underscored the urgent need to invest in Career and Technical Education (CTE) and career and technical student organizations (CTSOs) like SkillsUSA to close the national skills gap, which she called both an economic and national security issue.

In her testimony, Travis emphasized that SkillsUSA serves as a critical bridge connecting education and employment by promoting early career exploration, age-appropriate work-based learning, and stackable credentials.

“It is rare to find many things today that students, educators and Fortune 500 companies all agree on,” she said. “SkillsUSA is that rare thing. CTSOs like SkillsUSA deliver exactly what all three need — students who are ready to work, businesses that can compete and communities that have stable pathways to rewarding careers.” 

Travis stressed that the current shortage of skilled talent undermines America’s ability to build infrastructure, secure digital systems and maintain supply chains. 

“Given that only 17 percent of the 12 million CTE students nationwide currently participate in a CTSO, scaling access to these opportunities represents one of the highest-impact and most cost-effective interventions available to strengthen workforce development outcomes,” she said.

To address these challenges, SkillsUSA has launched its Drive to 65 strategic plan, which sets a bold goal of growing membership to one million students by its 65th anniversary in 2030, transforming its national skills competitions, and expanding programming to ensure every member experiences tangible workforce connections.

Travis offered the subcommittee four key policy recommendations to accelerate workforce development:

1. Strengthen Perkins V Investment: Urge Congress to significantly increase funding for the Perkins V formula grant program, the sole federal investment in CTE, to better integrate and expand access to CTSOs.
2. Expand Youth Work-Based Learning: Support dedicated funding and policies that recognize the full spectrum of work-based learning, from career awareness in middle school to industry-validated skills competitions and apprenticeships in high school and beyond.
3. Reauthorize the National Apprenticeship Act: Modernize the Act to formalize a predictable and sustained federal investment in youth and pre-apprenticeship programs, creating clear pathways from secondary CTE to registered apprenticeships.
4. Grow the Pipeline of Skilled CTE Instructors: Implement policies like salary incentives, earned debt relief, and streamlined transition-to-teaching programs to bring experienced tradespeople and industry professionals into the classroom.

Travis was joined at the hearing by Victoria Ingram, National College/Postsecondary Parliamentarian and Chair of the Joint Executive Council, and her father, Matt Ingram, who has taught Collision Repair for 20 years and has served as a SkillsUSA advisor for the same length of time. They represented the more than 440,000 SkillsUSA members across the country who would benefit from greater federal investment in CTE and CTSOs. Travis concluded her testimony by reinforcing the SkillsUSA’s impact: “The evidence is abundantly clear — our program and approach work for students and employers … At SkillsUSA, the future is in good hands because it’s in skilled hands.”

About SkillsUSA

SkillsUSA is the #1 workforce development organization for students, empowering them to become skilled professionals, career-ready leaders and responsible community members. SkillsUSA represents more than 413,000 career and technical education students and teachers in middle schools, high schools and college/postsecondary institutions nationwide. Those members represent 130 in-demand occupational areas, from 3-D animation to welding. A vital solution to the skills gap, SkillsUSA has served over 15 million members since its founding in 1965. Learn more at skillsusa.org and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, X and LinkedIn.