Wingspans

03/03/2026

Introducing TAL-E, our AI-powered experience translator!

TAL-E helps adult learners translates their lived experiences to skills, tell their story, and match those skills to new careers

For the past 1.5+ years, we have been developing TAL-E, where ‘Talents from Experiences’ launch possibilities for the future, with Calbright College and the Education Design Lab, and funded by the the Tools Competition.

At its core, it is built to honor everyone’s life experiences and skills.

To help someone with food service experience, uncover their hidden skills, including time management, sanitation, and working well under pressure, and see how these skills transfer to healthcare.

To help a single mother, working and going to school at the same time, understand that this is her superpower and be able to communicate this to friends, educators, and employers.

To help a veteran translate their service into workforce language, surfacing strengths like leadership, adaptability, crisis management, and teamwork, and connect those skills to careers in operations and project management.

Because learners don't start from zero.

They start from experience.

If you’re exploring new ways to support adult learners, we’d love to connect and see if TAL-E could support your work.

We’re deeply grateful to those who supported and shaped this work at Calbright College, Axim Collaborative, and Education Design Lab, especially Binh Thuy Do, Crystal Maldonado, Marisa Bold, Philipp Schmidt, Anna R. Aldric, Stephanie Khurana, Dr. Tara Laughlin, and Meghan Raftery.

Shoutout to our team at Wingspans who brought it to life Alexander Chiclana, Amin Q, Vanessa Sedore, Ellie Enebo, Stephanie Derham and Lindsay Kuhn, Ph.D.

02/04/2026

We are excited to launch a new series: , celebrating the voices that too often go unheard.

Meet technician at Koch Eye and student in the dental hygiene program at , our very first guest.

We started this series because of our deep commitment to community colleges, who we’ve had the privilege to work alongside for the past few years and who, quite frankly, continue to take our breath away.

The educators who show up every day, relentlessly fighting for their students.

The students who carry big dreams and an unwavering desire to make a difference in the world.

06/20/2025

We are so excited to partner with Calbright College to bring TAL-E (Talents from Experiences) to life. TAL-E is designed to uncover skills and career opportunities for California adult learners.

This past year we have collaborated closely with Calbright to co-design this tool, and have been inspired by their commitment to increasing economic mobility and their openness to doing things a little differently.

In case you're not familiar with Calbright, they are a statewide, online, flexible California Community College, and as innovative as they come.

They offer programs that align with real workforce needs for working-age adults, from IT to project management to data analysis. They offer a​ffordable, skills-based programs that provide tangible economic value for both working-age adults and hiring managers.

Thanks to Calbright, TAL-E will make its debut in Summer 2025! Learn more: calbright.edu and https://lnkd.in/etAzfpf8

07/16/2023

We're so proud to be a finalist in the U.S. Department of Education’s Challenge, a $1 million challenge to reimagine tools for . We recently sat down to talk about how we're reshaping our tool to better support adult learners as they launch and advance their .

Read more about it here!
https://www.futurefinderchallenge.com/wingspans-profile/?utm_source=finalist&utm_medium=social-long&utm_campaign=finalist-profiles

Lindsay Kuhn first started Wingspans while pursuing her doctorate in engineering. Working in a Providence, Rhode Island, classroom while on a National Science Foundation (NSF) fellowship, she saw students struggle to connect their learning to the larger world of work. Understanding the power of repr...

05/05/2023

(2/2) Adrienne King, Director of External Manufacturing Operations, knows the importance of the three magic words, "I don't know.”

She says, “The goal is to learn how to utilize my team and not feel like I always have to have the answer.”

To see Adrienne's full story, go here: https://lnkd.in/exTYrFVU

(story by Lela Casey)

05/04/2023

(1/2) Growing up, Adrienne King, Director of External Manufacturing Operations at Merck, had a dream to be the first person in her family to be a corporate salaried employee at Merck.

She said, "It was always a dream of mine to work at Merck. I had a lot of family members who worked at Merck growing up, but all of them worked as hourly union employees. They were janitors, they were administrative workers, operators on the manufacturing floor, and things like that. But I didn't have any family members that were salaried, corporate employees. And so that was always my goal. I told myself, “When I graduate, I'm going to be the first in my family to be a corporate salaried employee at Merck.”
..which is exactly what she did.
To see Adrienne's full story, go here: https://www.wingspans.com/story/adrienne-king

(story by Lela Casey)

04/07/2023

We are thrilled to be one of five finalists in the U.S. Department of Education Future Finder Challenge to reimagine career navigation for

02/21/2023

The University of Rhode Island is ! We can't wait to work with you to model what is possible through storytelling

11/01/2022

Usman Khan, Career Design Counselor at Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education and Psychology, and a lifelong learner has advice for his younger self and for others.

He says, "It’s okay not to be perfect because perfect is an illusion."

To see Usman's full story, go to: https://www.wingspans.com/story/usman-khan

10/17/2022

When Usman Khan, Career Design Counselor at Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education and Psychology, emigrated from Pakistan in 4th grade, post 9/11, he struggled with discrimination and bullying. And it was this experience that ultimately inspired him to go into career counseling.

"Over time, I came to understand that I have a unique background, that I can trust in myself and my abilities, and that I can encourage other students...I also saw that I wanted to help other students from different cultural backgrounds who might have emigrated from different countries."

As a career counselor, Usman emphasizes the importance of exploration.

To see Usman's full story, go to: https://www.wingspans.com/story/usman-khan

10/17/2022

When Usman Khan, Career Design Counselor at Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education and Psychology, emigrated from Pakistan in 4th grade, post 9/11, he struggled with discrimination and bullying. And it was this experience that ultimately led him to career counseling.

"Over time, I came to understand that I have a unique background, that I can trust in myself and my abilities, and that I can encourage other students...I also saw that I wanted to help other students from different cultural backgrounds who might have emigrated from different countries."

As a career counselor, Usman emphasizes the importance of exploration.

To see Usman's full story, go to: https://www.wingspans.com/story/usman-khan

05/10/2022

(2/2) Seek inspiration from the world around you! That's what Addie McFadden, a video game designer for Schell Games, does. She says, "...I'm on a new project and we're coming up with ideas. At every meeting I find myself saying things like, “In this other game, they do it this way, or that way.” I definitely find myself referencing different games and movies and books."

Addie got into video game design by studying Multimedia Programming, Simulation, and Gaming at the Community College of Allegheny County.

To see her full story, go to: https://www.wingspans.com/story/addie-mcfadden