The New Energy and Natural Resources Career Cluster Has Been Adopted


The MEWDC partnered with the Michigan Department of Education in 2016 to establish Michigan’s 17th Career Cluster for Energy which created a pathway for career and technical education students to pursue jobs in the often “invisible,” or less visual, Energy Sector. The state’s 17th Career Cluster for Energy has been a game changer for Michigan’s Energy Sector. With curriculum now available for interested high schools and community colleges, currently including 16 secondary and postsecondary preferred education provider partners across the state. This pathway has provided students with the ability to study traditional academics while leveraging skills specific to an Energy industry/career path. We believe there will be a similar impact nationally with the establishment of the Energy and Natural Resources Career Cluster.

Today Advance CTE announced the approval of the modernized National Career Clusters Framework, which includes a new, national Energy and Natural Resources Career Cluster. This is a big deal, a true watershed moment. In fact, this is one of the most significant developments the industry has experienced in our quest to build a skilled and diverse energy workforce as the new cluster will allow students to more readily connect with energy and its career opportunities through the nation’s Career and Technical Education system. 

This type of systemic change in connecting with our future workforce has been made possible by voice, vision, and leadership and is an example of what can be achieved by collaborative action from committed stakeholders. To those of you who wrote letters of support for the cluster, advocated for greater accessibility to energy education within your states, created a cluster within your state, or provided comments to guide work in this space, THANK YOU.

CEWD has prepared the following resources:

We recommend employers take the following steps:

  1. Meet with leaders from your state Department of Education as well as Career & Technical Education offices to ensure they are aware of the modernized National Career Clusters.
  2. Encourage state leaders to adopt energy education as a pathway for students to obtain high-skill, high-wage careers.
  3. Partner with local education and training providers to support embedding energy curriculum in classrooms and introduce them to resources available through CEWD.
  4. Connect local secondary and post-secondary educators and community based organizations to Energy Industry Fundamentals 2.0 curriculum.

CEWD will offer a workshop and an educational session at this year’s Workforce Development Summit that address the “now what” associated with opportunities available to the industry because of the new cluster. We will also offer continued news and information on this new development in the weeks and months ahead. If you have immediate questions or need assistance, please reach out to Kristie Kelley of our team.