Education & Workforce Development

AFFOA aims to build innovative and collaborative Education and Workforce Development programs that will inspire, prepare, and grow the future advanced textile workforce pipeline in the United States

EWD

AFFOA’s EWD Mission

Textile manufacturing in the United States has slowly declined over the past several decades. Further, the textile industry as we know it today will not remain the same; it will evolve into a more technical and interdisciplinary field, requiring a distinct group of highly skilled workers to support it. AFFOA’s mission is to inspire, prepare and grow a skilled workforce that aligns with the future needs and landscape of the textile industry.

idea

Inspire

Inspire future generations to pursue a career in the advanced fibers & fabrics industry.

prepare

Prepare

Prepare stakeholders for the emerging technological advances and automation that will impact the advanced fiber & fabrics industry.

plant

Grow

Grow the domestic talent pipeline by increasing the number of relevant education and training programs and aligning assets with industry needs.

What the future workforce will look like

  • The future workforce will require cross-cutting, interdisciplinary thinking, and a bold, problem-solving mindset in addition to both technical and soft skills. 
  • It will be made up of machine operators, technicians, product designers, engineers, scientists, textile specialists and any other career that touches advanced fibers and fabrics supply chain.
EWD

AFFOA’s EWD Approach


Our broader mission to catalyze manufacturing innovation and technology in the fiber and fabrics space is only feasible with a qualified workforce to support it. To put this in motion, AFFOA will: 

  1.  Connect Industry Stakeholders: Facilitate stakeholder connections to identify, share and cooperatively pursue industry workplace and workforce best practices
  2. Build Industry Awareness: Develop and deploy materials and programming to increase industry awareness, promote opportunities, and inspire the future workforce.
  3.  Support the Future Workforce: Design career pathways of the future and align them with educational opportunities and industry recognized credentials.
  4. Promote Entrepreneurship: Create entrepreneurship opportunities by identifying and supporting industry innovators
EWD

Case Studies



EWD

The Future Textile Workforce: Advanced Functional Fabrics Curriculum and Training Development

AFFOA has built a partnership with the Greater Lawrence Technical School (GLTS) and MIT – Edgerton Center to develop a technical high school curriculum in Advanced Functional Fabrics

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EWD

Advancing Interdisciplinary Education at the Undergraduate Level: The Advanced Fibers & Fabrics Workshop (MITANDFIT)

AFFOA, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) have created a 2- week interdisciplinary workshop where students from MIT & FIT come together to work on a real world prototyping challenge.

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EWD

Advanced Fabric Entrepreneurship Program

In partnership with MIT’s Venture Mentoring Service (MIT-VMS), AFFOA launched its first  entrepreneurship program for advanced fibers and fabrics. 

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Join Us

Help Shape the Workforce of the Future!

AFFOA welcomes collaboration around innovative ideas and approaches to education and workforce development in the textile industry, including submitting applications for joint funding opportunities. Please contact us if you are interested in connecting about EWD collaboration opportunities.

Contact Us