Editor’s Note: The following is an edited press release written by Scott McKinley, dean and CEO of Northeastern University. NU’s Seattle campus, located in South Lake Union, opened in 2012.

As 2017 begins, I am reflecting on my first year here in Seattle. Having lived all over the world, I feel very fortunate to be in a place where the values of the community map so closely to my own. There is an authenticity to the way people live here that I see across the spectrum of people I have met. The drive to find ways to make a difference in the world can be felt when talking to local industry leaders like Brad Smith at Microsoft or Brad Tilden at Alaska Airlines, the faculty and students at Northeastern, as well as the people I meet walking their many dogs near our South Lake Union campus. (Wow, Seattleites really love dogs!)

I am inspired by people who are motivated by their values and are innovative in the ways they use their strengths and talents to solve real problems. You see that in the way that Bill Gates and Paul Allen designed their immensely impactful foundations, but you also see it in the way most people here are deeply concerned about leaving anyone behind. Seattle has heart and I am grateful to be a part of a place so committed to driving big changes. Solving the homelessness and transportation issues in Seattle are critical and we need to commit seriously to both. Advancing the state’s educational system is fundamental to improving the lives of the people here and the future of our economy. We are in the right community with the right people to create new and more effective ways to educate students from kindergarten through university. We need to do better for both the students, our community, and the companies who need to hire and keep the best talent.

As I wrote about earlier, to solve the tech talent shortage, higher education needs to be innovative and take risks in its approach to solving the challenges of students and employers. Graham Doxey of Knod, Crystal Huang at ProSky, and Northeastern’s own XN and Co-op programs share this vision. There are a couple of examples of some successful and unique programs that I find inspiring. There is a college in Rome, Italy called Elis College, where the entire curriculum is designed to provide a well-rounded, inclusive education that is based on partnerships and regular input from the business community. Their mission is to educate and train young professionals by developing technical ability, human qualities, and a sense of civic duty. The students graduate ready to begin their careers and employers benefit from fully trained talent. In spite of no ivory tower, Elis College is developing in its students life skills and professional skills in close consultation with industry.

My previous employer, Cisco Systems, went at it a different way. They recognized that the Internet of Things (IoT) and its soon to be 50 billion connected devices and $19 trillion global impact was changing everything in computing and advanced manufacturing (along with nearly every other industry). Cisco knew that if they didn’t help foster education in this area, then innovation would hit a wall. In 2015, an immersive, team-based program called SkillZone was born. The program was a great success and most of the graduates immediately received jobs in the rapidly emerging IoT field.

As we begin a new year, we are looking for ground-breaking and truly impactful ways to work with the local business community to solve these large challenges. One of the ways we’ll do that will be through working with Amazon on our LEVEL AWS program. We are committed to the Northwest values we see in action here in Seattle, and are honored to create innovative, inclusive, next-generation education that will keep this inventive community moving forward.