Jobs requiring some postsecondary education are expected to grow faster than average between 2006 and 2016, yet too many workers lack the skills and credentials essential for these twenty-first century jobs. For workers, employers, and the Midwest as a whole, addressing this mismatch is becoming an economic imperative. The Joyce Foundation launched the Shifting Gears initiative in 2006 to help five Midwest states address this problem. These states - Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin - are re-engineering adult education, workforce development and postsecondary education policies to support economic growth and expand job opportunities for low-skilled workers in the Midwest. For more information visit www.shifting-gears.org.