Creating an Adult Education Program for the 40 Million Adults without a High School Diploma

Life is full of challenges. Often, it can take a while to learn how to overcome and succeed in the challenges presented to us. For Dr. Howard Liebman, CEO of Smart Horizons Career Online Education (SHCOE) and Kari Greenfield, VP – Academic Partnerships, accomplishments coincide with a high GSD index – get stuff done. DisruptED hosts Ron Stefanski and Dr. Caesar Mickens invited Dr. Liebman and Greenfield to share how their mindsets help them overcome stifled progress along the education spectrum.

“I think, you know, passion is important because if you’re going to try mindsets and you’re going to change schemas of thinking you really have to be passionate about what you’re trying to do,” stated Dr. Liebman.

Disruption along the traditional education system can be extremely positive. For Dr. Liebman and Greenfield, this meant building a program that helps to re-engage adults back into the educational system to complete their high school diploma.

Dr. Liebman noted, “There’s 40 million adults in the country who don’t have a high school diploma. If we’re going to reengage that we’ve got to take a very tactical and strategic approach to how we’re going to do that moving forward.”

To do this, SHCOE designs their program around mitigating the traditional flight stimula presented in students’ brains, “We want to eliminate that stimula in the brain to activate the flight [response],” Dr. Liebman said, and to do this, “Our students declare a major upon point of enrollment.” In addition to taking just their major over the first four months, SHCOE also provides a relatable academic coach to help students re-engage.

Greenfield noted that many SHCOE students lead busy lives, “Our average age student is mid-30s, 70% are women…63% of our students are parents…these are busy individuals…”

Through SHCOE, students are able to learn occupational skills and obtain their GED to provide a better life for themselves and their families.

More Stories Like This:

The City of Dayton has a New Vision to Make Education Equitable

Making Workforce Training Available to Communities that Need it Most

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

mentorship
WAVIT’s Mentorship Program: Cyndie Nelson on Building Careers Through Guidance
July 19, 2025

The AV industry, like many others in tech, often thrives on innovation—but it’s mentorship that sustains it. Behind every successful professional is often a mentor who provided guidance, shared hard-earned lessons, and opened doors that might have otherwise stayed shut. Programs like WAVIT (Women in AV/IT) bring this spirit of mentorship into focus by intentionally…

Read More
mentorship
Empowering Innovation: Kim Porter’s Role in the WAVIT Mentorship Program
July 19, 2025

In an industry where innovation often hinges on experience, mentorship is the bridge that connects the wisdom of the past with the promise of the future. Engineering, especially in the mechanical domain, is traditionally seen as a discipline of precision, but its culture is just as vital as its calculations. That’s why programs like WAVIT’s…

Read More
mentorship
Passion, Power, and the Mentorship Paradigm Shift in Tech
July 19, 2025

In today’s rapidly evolving tech world, mentorship has emerged as more than a professional development tool—it’s a powerful human connection that fosters resilience, purpose, and authenticity. Particularly for women in engineering and STEM, mentorship isn’t just about career guidance; it’s a lifeline to navigating environments where their voices may still fight to be heard. While…

Read More
AV
Lessons in Leadership: Mitek’s Cyndie Nelson on the Power of Mentoring Women in AV Technology
July 19, 2025

Mentorship has long been considered a cornerstone of professional development, but in the fast-evolving world of AV technology and sales, its value has never been more evident. The unspoken nuances of tradecraft—those bits of wisdom not found in textbooks—are often only accessible through the lived experience of mentors. Particularly for women in traditionally male-dominated industries,…

Read More