Abstract: Despite growing workforce skills gaps, current processes to connect talent with opportunities are inefficient. Too many students fail to see the relevance of their studies to future work and life roles. They don’t know how to identify local employers who may need their unique talents. Thus, they lack motivation to optimize learning opportunities public education and local training providers offer. The fastest growing youth cohorts tend to be the poorest-served. At the same time, most adults are not in jobs that engage them emotionally. Far too many are unemployed, underemployed, or marginalized. Employers have no efficient mechanism to identify future talent in their own community. They lament that school systems are not delivering graduates with the employability and self-management skills, character and attitude they need. So they cast their nets across the country and around the globe. Using classified ads, the Internet and headhunters, they seek to find and re-locate the talent they need. The expensive and time-consuming process of sifting responses may result in few good prospects. With students dropping out of school in the employer’s community, and adults yearning for meaningful opportunities at home, employers bring in outsiders. Many who come will move on to other employers, in other communities, before long. Immigrants often face credential recognition challenges, and may not qualify for jobs for which they have training and experience. All in all, the process of matching talents to opportunities is hit-and-miss, and there are vast economic and human consequences. This paper suggests alternatives that increase ROI for governments and employers by billions of dollars annually, and increase prosperity for individuals, families, communities and the nation.