Renzo Soto

Deputy Director, Education and Workforce Policy

renzo.soto@texas2036.org

Renzo covers K-12 and AI policy, with a focus on college and career readiness and the responsible and effective use of technology in education, as well as school finance and assessment and accountability. He joined Texas 2036 in August 2021 as a Policy Advisor and returned as Deputy Director in January 2026.

Posts

Tri-Agency Finalizes Workforce Development Goals As Record Employment Levels Continue

June 6, 2022

Texas is in its sixth straight month of setting record employment levels with the Texas Workforce Commission recently announcing the addition of 62,800 nonfarm jobs in April 2022. To sustain this job growth, our state must have talented workers to fill those jobs. Through House Bill 3767 (87-R), the Texas Education and Workforce Alignment Act,…

Making Progress on Texas’ Education-to-Workforce Pipeline

May 24, 2022

The following is adapted from testimony submitted by Texas 2036 Policy Advisor Renzo Soto to the House International Relations & Economic Development Committee on May 19, 2022. While Texas continues its economic recovery from the pandemic’s recession and adjusts to the evolving modern labor market, the importance of organizing the state’s education and workforce systems...

Community College Finance and Workforce Development

January 25, 2022

The Texas Commission on Community College Finance (TXCCCF) met last week to learn and discuss the topic of workforce and how it relates to Texas community colleges. Dr. Anthony Carnevale, Director & Research Professor at The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, captured the tone of the meeting in a single quip: “Education...

Workforce Experts and Business Leaders Agree: Community Colleges are Key

November 19, 2021

Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) Chairman Bryan Daniel testified this week before the Texas Commission on Community College Finance on the benefits of providing Texans with options for short-term credentials. Daniel pointed to several innovative ways Community Colleges can play a key role in assisting over 1 million, hard-working Texans develop the middle skills — defined...

A New Approach to Postsecondary Credentials

October 11, 2021

In a recent piece for the Houston Chronicle, Chris Tomlinson raises important points about how the labor climate today is vastly different than how it was before 2020. 46% of employers can’t fill vital jobs today, and since 2011, Texas saw job growth primarily in mid-low- and low-wage jobs, while mid-high- and high-wage jobs were...