Podcast
Leading the Future of Work: Chip Linehan on Building Opportunity Through Education
- In this episode, Chip Linehan discusses the importance of preparing the next generation for a future that's changing faster than ever before.
About the episode
How can we prepare the next generation for a future that’s changing faster than ever before?
On this episode of Doing Good by Doing Better, host Margaret Rogers sits down with Chip Linehan, co-founder and co-CEO of Building 21, to unpack why preparing the next generation for the future of work requires moving past rigid academic checkboxes to focus on student agency and durable skills. Chip shares a masterclass in purpose-driven leadership, recounting how his team completely pivoted their technical training program, Launchpad, following the market release of ChatGPT. He highlights why successful innovation demands human centric leadership—shifting mindsets from what could go wrong when technology disrupts standard jobs to actively searching for what could go right. Margaret and Chip cover:
- Building Opportunity Through Innovation: How AI can help educators spend less time on administrative work and more time building meaningful relationships with students.
- The Power of Durable Skills: Why true career readiness depends on non-academic competencies like cross-functional communication, dependability, and “wayfinding” rather than temporary technical checklists.
- Evolving the Leadership Mindset: How shifting your executive style from a high-velocity “bull in a china shop” operator to an empowering team coach creates an organizational culture capable of navigating rapid external change.
This conversation offers a refreshing perspective on the future of work—one where disruptive technology forces us to double down on human potential and build a more equitable framework for tomorrow’s workforce. It’s a vital reminder that navigating change isn’t just about adopting new tools; it’s about anchoring your entire business strategy in human capability every step of the way.
Episode links
About the guest
Chip Linehan has spent more than two decades building entrepreneurial organizations across the for-profit and nonprofit worlds. He is Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Building 21, a national education nonprofit, and founder of Launchpad, its learn-and-earn workforce program preparing underrepresented students for careers in tech. Before Building 21, he spent twenty years at NEA, where he co-headed the firm’s global healthcare investing practice and helped launch companies now generating billions in revenue.
About the host
Margaret Rogers, the Host of the Doing Good by Doing Better Podcast, serves as the CEO of Pariveda Solutions, a strategy and technology services firm with a mission to help people develop, catalyze, and discover their potential. She found her way into consulting right out of school, back when dial-up, blinking text, and wallpaper backgrounds defined the web. As User Experience began to emerge, she transitioned from technologist to roles where she was able to explore human-centered design. Margaret is fascinated by the uniqueness of human dynamics in business and is deeply invested in advising leaders on how to design organizations that nurture a strong culture and operational excellence. Her love of learning also extends well beyond the workplace, most recently into the curious behaviors of sourdough starters and backyard hens, who, much like people, have a surprising amount to teach about rhythms, relationships, and the environments they need to thrive.
About the Doing Good by Doing Better podcast
Hosted by Margaret Rogers, CEO of Pariveda, the Doing Good by Doing Better podcast highlights founders, executives, and innovators who share hard lessons, bold ideas, and real strategies for purpose-driven growth.
Every conversation offers practical insights you can use to solve forward. In each episode you’ll meet leaders who prove that being impact-driven and achieving meaningful success are not mutually exclusive.
Follow Doing Good by Doing Better on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and join us every other week as we keep learning how to do good by doing better.
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