132. Bonni (Grant) Theriault, Supporting 130K Adult Learners into Employment

Show Notes:

Bonni Theriault initially went to business school and worked as a business analyst at McKinsey for a few years, where she worked with consumer products for companies and marketing. After working at Pepperidge Farm for a couple of years, she decided to build her own company and joined forces with a woman who was the head of advertising at Campbell Soup, and together they launched a brand strategy company where they worked for companies like Cadbury Schweppes, Johnson and Johnson, and Stryker.

From Marketing to Coaching to Global Emergency Care

After 13 years at the company, Bonni found herself tired of constantly pitching to employers and sought coaching roles. She had previously worked closely with the McKinsey assessment team, coaching candidates and helping them improve their interview skills. And so, with the experience under her belt, she returned to McKinsey as a professional development manager. When her oldest son turned 14, she took two years off to spend more time with her children and also volunteered with Global Emergency Care, an organization that trains emergency medicine nurses in Uganda. She worked with Global Emergency Care's marketing and fundraising for two years on a volunteer basis.

The Role of Chief Partnerships Officer at Generation

When Bonni decided to return to work, she wanted to stay in the social sector but was offered a position at McKinsey. She worked there until an opportunity at Generation was presented. Generation is an independent non-profit that works with unemployed individuals. Bonni has now worked there for seven years. Bonni explains that her responsibility as chief partnerships officer includes global fundraising and employer partnerships for Generation, a company operating in 17 countries worldwide. They train across 40 different professions, based on labor dynamics in each country. They conduct extensive research before starting a training program to identify job vacancies and bring learners from historically underrepresented groups, and they focus on employment in five different industries: tech, green jobs, customer service and sales, skilled trades, and healthcare. They also teach behavioral skills and the importance of having a growth mindset. 

The Impact of AI in Job Forecasting and Training

AI has been a topic of interest for Generation, as it impacts the skills needed to train learners in specific roles. Bonni explains that they have analyzed various roles, including entry-level roles, which may go away entirely or be significantly impacted by AI, and roles that might have a different set of skills. Jobs such as solar panel installation or healthcare, are likely to be more resilient over time in the face of AI. They are also considering more jobs in the data center technician category, where tech roles are more hands-on and dealing with equipment than providing coding or IT support.

How Generation Is Using AI

The organization is using AI to deliver training to learners and alumni, ensuring they have the necessary skills for their jobs. They have created AI modules for learners and alumni to help them upskill and remain relevant in their work. AI is also used to help develop the curriculum, with chat bots helping learners answer first-line questions and focusing on more complex material. This helps streamline the curriculum creation process, as it often involves research and talking to subject matter experts. Operational efficiencies are also being used to improve efficiency and effectiveness.

Working as a Professional Development Manager 

The conversation turns back to Bonni’s as a professional development manager at McKinsey. She mentions that a lot of time was spent negotiating with partners and consultants to find the right balance between professional growth and client needs. She built relationships of trust between consultants and partners to influence decisions in a way that was best for everyone involved. She also focused on performance evaluation, helping people understand their strengths and areas for improvement, and helping them find ways to build skills through studies, formalized training, coaching, or mentorship. 

Marketing Goldfish and Chocolate

Bonni shares her experience working on marketing Goldfish, a product that was initially marketed as a snack for adults drinking beer in bars but later was marketed to moms as an appealing snack for children. She also discusses her experience working with Cadbury, a chocolate brand that had over 150 chocolate brands worldwide. She worked on a brand architecture project to help consolidate these brands and increase their advertising dollars. She was sent boxes of chocolate bars from around the world to analyze packaging and brand identity and helped create seven mega brands for Cadbury, which led to a significant increase in their chocolate market share.

Influential Harvard Courses and Professors

Bonni mentions a course taught by Professor Dominguez where he focused on critical thinking. He presented different perspectives on events, presenting different sides as the truth. This skill has been passed down through her life and has become essential in today's world. Bonni wishes more classes would take this approach, as it helps students analyze and think critically about various situations and perspectives. Bonni’s experiences with Professor Dominguez's course and her critical thinking skills have shaped her life and career.

Timestamps:

02:29: Transition to Coaching and McKinsey 

05:41: Role at Generation and Impact on Workforce 

09:43: Impact of AI on Training and Roles 

15:02: Learners vs. Students and Personal Time Management 

20:55: Professional Development at McKinsey 

22:59: Goldfish Marketing Strategy and Cadbury Brand Architecture 

28:29: Travel Experiences and Language Skills 

32:06: Influence of Harvard Courses and Critical Thinking 

Links:  

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bonni-theriault-710b79/ 

Website:  www.generation.org

Featured Non-profit:

The featured non-profit of this week’s episode of The 92 Report is recommended by Juliana Koo who reports:

“Hi. I'm Juliana Koo, class of 1992. The featured nonprofit of this episode of The 92 report is Kaya Press. Kaya is a publisher of Asian diasporic literature, and I was the managing editor for nearly a decade in the 1990s and now serve on the board. You can learn more about Kaya's work at WWW dot k, a, y, adotcom, and now here's Will Bachman with this week's episode.”

To learn more about their work, visit: www.kaya.com.