Experiential learning in a potential career during high school can help a student figure out the right postsecondary pathway for them. That’s why NeoCity Academy in Kissimmee, Florida, has a staff member who matches students with industry to aid them with career exploration, says principal Yvette Ponzoa.
Ponzoa joined WorkingNation’s editor-in-chief Ramona Schindelheim for WorkingNation Overheard at College Board Forum 2024 in Austin, Texas.
She explains NeoCity Academy looks for academically advanced students with an interest in one of the school’s three STEM pathways – engineering, AI, and biomedical design.
Ponzoa shared an example of nearby companies that are helping students get hands-on experience in these in-demand fields. “As far as with the engineering firms and the companies that make semiconductors, they go right across the street and they intern after school. They’ve worked in the clean rooms.”
She says the employer has gone as far as creating videos for the students that explain the types of training they would need to get the skills they for a career in the industry.
Another partner is Siemens Energy. “Our students get to go and visit Siemens Energy at their big campus at UCF [University of Central Florida]. Our students are afforded opportunities that really get them ready for life after high school.’
Ponzoa says the curriculum changes as post-graduation interests change. “We are phasing out the cybersecurity pathway. We started AI because it is at the forefront right now.
“Technology is ever-changing. That’s why we transitioned from cybersecurity to AI. It was more relevant. It’s about staying relevant. We have our instructors who work in the field. They help write curriculum for the program. That’s how we stay current.”
She says NeoCity Academy’s 521 students have additional support from a regular school counselor, a college and career counselor, and a student success counselor. “They work hand in hand getting our students ready for applying to those top-tier colleges.”
Ponzoa notes the school – which has been around for seven years – has had a 100% graduation rate with each of its three graduating classes.
Learn more about NeoCity Academy.
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Dana Beth Ardi, PhD, Executive Committee, is a thought leader and expert in the fields of executive search, talent management, organizational design, assessment, leadership and coaching. As an innovator in the human capital movement, Ardi creates enhanced value in companies by matching the most sought after talent with the best opportunities. Ardi coaches boards and investors on the art and science of building high caliber management teams. She provides them with the necessary skills to seek out and attract top-level management, to design the ideal organizational architectures and to deploy people against strategy. Ardi unearths the way a business works and the most effective way for people to work in them.
Ardi is an experienced business executive and senior consultant who leverages business organizational transformation through talent strategies. She uses her knowledge and experience to develop talent strategies to enhance revenue and profit contributions. She has a deep expertise in change management and organizational effectiveness and has designed and built high performance cultures. Ardi has significant experience in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, IPO’s and turnarounds.
Ardi is an expert on the multi-generational workforce. She understands the four intersecting generations of workers coming together in contemporary companies, each with their own mindsets, leadership and communications styles, values and motivations. Ardi is sought after to assist companies manage and thrive by bringing the generations together. Her book, Fall of the Alphas: How Beta Leaders Win Through Connection, Collaboration and Influence, will be published by St. Martin’s Press. The book reflects Ardi’s deep expertise in understanding organizations and our changing society. It focuses on building a winning culture, how companies must grow and evolve, and how talent influences and shapes communities of work. This is what she has coined “Corporate Anthropology.” It is a playbook on how modern companies must meet challenges – culturally, globally, digitally, across genders and generations.
Ardi is currently the Managing Director and Founder of Corporate Anthropology Advisors, LLC, a consulting company that provides human capital advisory and innovative solutions to companies building value through people. Corporate Anthropology works with organizations, their cultures, the way they grow and develop, and the people who are responsible for forming their communities of work.
Prior to her position at Corporate Anthropology Advisors, Ardi served as a Partner/Managing Director at the private equity firms CCMP Capital and JPMorgan Partners. She was a partner at Flatiron Partners, a venture capital firm working with early state companies where she pioneered the human capital role within an investment portfolio.
Ardi holds a BS from the State University of New York at Buffalo as well as a Masters degree and PhD from Boston College. She started her career as professor at the Graduate Center at Fordham University in New York.
