Diversity Archives | Learn & Work Ecosystem Library

Overview In September 2024, Urban Institute published the Upward Mobility Data Dashboard which is an outcome of the Upward Mobility Initiative. The initiative addresses the need for communities throughout the […]

Just Equations

Research: 2024 Top 10 Information Technology Issues – EDUCAUSE

Experience You – Education Design Lab & T3 Innovation Network

Overview Launched in January 2023 by the Education Design Lab (the Lab) and the T3 Innovation Network, the Experience You initiative explores how new technologies can convert massive amounts of […]

Southeastern Regional Talent Ecosystem Pilot – AACRAO, Tennessee, Alabama

Overview In September 2024, the Southeastern Regional Talent Ecosystem Pilot launched with the aim to bridge the talent gap and enhance employment opportunities in the Southeastern U.S. Partners include the […]

Artificial Intelligence in K-12, Higher Education, and the Workplace

Digital Skills for Today’s Workforce Act – Proposed Amendment to Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act

Overview The Digital Skills for Today’s Workforce Act is bipartisan legislation introduced on March 13, 2024, in the U.S. Congress. The Act would amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act […]

Build Better Careers Initiative – CAEL

Overview In July 2024, the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) launched a 3-year workforce development initiative with support from Truist Foundation’s Where it Starts Initiative. CAEL is creating pathways to […]

Cybersecurity Bootcamp – Wake Technical Community College (North Carolina)

Overview On July 1, 2024, Wake Technical Community College (Raleigh, North Carolina) entered into a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation (NSF) to launch a cybersecurity bootcamp. The bootcamp […]

Year Up

YUPRO Placement

Recognition of International Accreditation Organizations – Council for Higher Education Accreditation

Overview In August 2024, the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), a nonprofit institutional membership organization that provides coordination of accreditation, launched the Recognition of International Accreditation Organizations. The purpose […]

Circular Economy

Learner Variability Navigator – Digital Promise

Overview In 2018, Digital Promise created the Learner Variability Navigator. The Navigator is an interactive tool (also referred to as a platform) that provides research-based strategies and resources tailored to key factors […]

Impact Funders Forum (IFF) – Pew Charitable Trusts

Overview The Transforming Evidence Funders Network (TEFN) is a network of more than 80 philanthropies and public funding agencies that convene to catalyze collection action around work at the nexus of […]

Ithaka S+R

Support Student Success through Holistic Credit Mobility Policies, Practices, & Technologies – Ithaka S+R & Complete College America

Overview In July 2024, Ithaka S+R and Complete College America announced a partnership to support student success through student success through holistic credit mobility policies, practices, and technologies. The project’s […]

HBCU Adult Learner Initiative (ALI)

Overview In fall 2021, Lumina Foundation awarded a $2 million grant to the HBCU Adult Learner Initiative (ALI) to identify and eliminate various barriers blocking adult students from the education […]

Work Shift

Overview Work Shift is an independent, nonpartisan news organization, where news judgments and editorial decisions are made independently. Work Shift is a digital hub for news, analysis, and opinion focused […]

Tech Hub in the Quantum Industry – Mountain West, Elevate Quantum

Overview In July 2024, Elevate Quantum announced a Tech Hub Phase 2 Implementation award from the U.S. Department of Commerce. In 2023, the U.S. Department Of Commerce’s Economic Development Agency […]

Credential Engine Initiative on Equity, Jobs Skills, and Pathways

Overview In July 2024, Credential Engine launched a 2-year initiative to expand education and employment information available as linked open data in the Credential Registry. The aim of this effort […]

Gallup Polls, Reports, & Partnerships

Overview Gallup Inc. is an American analytics and advisory company based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1935, the company became known for its public opinion polls conducted worldwide. In the […]

Gallup Inc.

Reach University Apprenticeship-based Degrees

Overview Reach University is a nonprofit university that focuses on K-12 teacher preparation and administrative credentials for school leaders. Credentials are acquired through an apprenticeship model. The mission of […]

Research: State-Level Policy on Dual/Concurrent Enrollment – Education Commission of the States

Overview The Education Commission of the States (ECS) has conducted two research reports on state policies to advance dual (concurrent) enrollment programs. ECS defines a dual/concurrent enrollment program for its […]

Career Connect Washington (CCW)

Overview Career Connect Washington (CCW) is a statewide network of business, labor, education, and community leaders creating work-based and academic programs for young people to explore, learn, and earn money […]

Neurodiverse Learners / Neurodiversity

Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity (FREOPP)

National Council on Aging (NCOA)

National Labor Exchange (NLx) – National Association of State Workforce Agencies

Overview Founded in 2007, the National Labor Exchange (NLx) is an electronic labor-exchange network created via partnership agreement between NASWA and DirectEmployers Association (DirectEmployers). The public-private partnership leverages private nonprofit-owned technology with […]

National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships (NACEP)

Basta

Alliance for Excellent Education (All4Ed)

Forming STARS — Wisconsin

Overview Forming STARS is a professional workforce advancement program offered through the WisCaregiver Careers program, and is an initiative aimed at recruiting individuals to start a career in healthcare with […]

Graduate/Professional Education in the Learn-and-Work Ecosystem

Siegel Family Endowment

Seal of Excelencia Framework – Institution Certification to Serve Latino Students

Overview Excelencia in Education’s mission is to accelerate Latino student success in higher education. In 2021, Excelencia in Education established the Seal of Excelencia, a national certification for higher education institutions that […]

JPMorgan Chase & Co

Education Policy Program — New America

Overview The Education Policy Program is an initiative of New America, a think tank founded in 1999 in the United States. It focuses on a range of public policy issues, […]

Rework America Alliance

The Rework America Alliance is an initiative originally launched by the Markle Foundation, and now managed by Jobs for the Future. The alliance is focused on providing assistance and resources […]

Credentials Futures Coalition (CFC)

Overview In July 2022, four founding members established the Credential Futures Coalition (CFC) — AACRAO, 1EdTech, C-BEN, and UPCEA. The Coalition is composed of non-profit stakeholders working to develop a scalable, resilient, […]

WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies (WCET)

Upwardly Global

Work+ and Work+Collective – Consortium managed by Arizona State University

Overview The Work+ and affiliated program, Work+Collective, is a consortium of 17 two- and four-year institutions across the U.S. that are redesigning student employment. Institutions in the consortium offer a range […]

Justice and Mobility Fund — Blue Meridian Partners

Overview The Justice and Mobility Fund is a collaboration launched in 2019 by Blue Meridian Partners and the Ford Foundation, with support from the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies. […]

Center for Justice & Economic Advancement — Jobs for the Future

Overview An initiative of Jobs for the Future (JFF), the Center for Justice & Economic Advancement partners with employers, education and training providers, corrections agencies, and others to promote education, […]

BuildWithin: Software Platform in Apprenticeships

Overview BuildWithin is a software platform that launched in November 2022 to provide employers with the ability to create, manage, and expand apprenticeship programs in order to accelerate the productivity […]

STEM Transfer Partnership (STP) – State of Washington

Overview The STEM Transfer Partnership (STP) initiative established by Community College Research Initiatives (CCRI) is creating systemic change within STEM degree pathways in the State of Washington through collaboration between […]

The EdUp Experience Podcast Network

Overview The EdUp Experience Podcast Network is an independent podcast network with a goal to facilitate positive educational change and inspire lifelong learning through podcasts, livecasts, and other mediums. There […]

Center for Skills by C-BEN – Competency-Based Education Network

Overview In April 2024, the Competency-Based Education Network (C-BEN) launched the Center for Skills by C-BEN (CFS x C-BEN). Supported by a $1.5 million grant from Walmart, the Center will […]

Partnership between Maryland State Corrections & University System of Maryland

Overview In July 2024, the Maryland State Corrections Department announced a new agreement with the University System of Maryland to establish a framework to bring higher education programs to every […]

Recover Stronger

In 2021, Jobs for the Future JFF launched the Recover Stronger initiative in response to the significant disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. This initiative sees the challenges created by […]

The Power of Systems Initiative – NASH

Overview The National Association of Higher Education Systems (NASH) manages a number of projects within its Power of Systems initiative launched in December 2021, and expanded in spring 2024. NASH […]

National Association of Higher Education Systems (NASH)

Center for a Skills First Future (SFF) – SHRM Foundation

Overview In April 2024, SHRM and the SHRM Foundation announced that its new Skills-First Center of Excellence (SFCOE) will launch in early 2025. The goal of SFCOE is to modernize […]

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI)

Postsecondary Education in Prisons

Bridging the Gap: A State Leader’s Guide to Implementing Summer Bridge Programs (Education Strategy Group)

Overview In March 2024, Education Strategy Group published A State Leader’s Guide to Implementing Summer Bridge Programs with support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The Guide provides insights […]

Business Leaders United for Workforce Partnerships – BLU

Overview Business Leaders United is an initiative of the nonpartisan nonprofit, National Skills Coalition. BLU is a free, private business network that promotes inclusive, high-quality skills training policies that build the skilled workforce […]

CASA Latina: Online Bilingual Program – Davenport University

Overview In March 2024, Davenport University (Grand Rapids, Michigan) launched Casa Latina, an initiative that leads to career-oriented bilingual undergraduate and graduate degrees and professional proficiency in English and Spanish. […]

Partnership to Advance Edtech Ecosystem – 1EdTech & Digital Promise

Overview In March 2024, two global nonprofit organizations — 1EdTech® and Digital Promise — announced a new partnership to support each other’s work to create a greater impact on teaching […]

Career Pathways in the Workforce Intelligence Network (WIN) – Michigan

Overview The Workforce Intelligence Network (WIN) is a partnership of ten community colleges and seven Michigan Works! Agencies in southeast Michigan that fosters collaboration among workforce development, community colleges, four-year […]

Reentry 2030

Overview Reentry 2030 is a nationwide initiative launched in April 2022 to scale reentry success for people transitioning from incarceration to their communities. The initiative calls on leaders across the […]

National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE)

EDUCAUSE

Green Economy

American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U)

American Institutes for Research (AIR)

Workforce Partnership Initiative – Business Higher Education Forum & Business Roundtable

Overview With the assistance of a grant awarded by the JPMorgan Chase Foundation in summer 2022, the Business Higher Education Forum (BHEF) expanded its work on the Workforce Partnership Initiative […]

The Coalition on Adult Basic Education (COABE)

Kresge Foundation

Access in Prison Initiative – JSTOR

Overview The JSTOR digital library enables incarcerated people to access scholarly materials and texts online in more than 1,000 U.S. prisons across all 50 U.S. states. Learners use JSTOR resources […]

State Skills-Based Hiring in the Public Sector – NGA

Overview In January 2024, The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) launched, Skills-Based Hiring In The Public Sector, an initiative supported by a grant from Walmart. The […]

The Great Admissions Redesign – Lumina Foundation

Overview The Great Admissions Redesign is a grant-funded initiative of Lumina Foundation that responds to the evolving landscape of college admissions. In February 2024, Lumina announced the winners of its […]

Success, Redefined: How Nondegree Pathways Empower Youth to Chart Their Own Course to Confidence, Employability, and Financial Freedom – Research Study

Overview As reported in Success, Redefined (October 2023), Jobs for the Future (JFF) and American Student Assistance partnered to study how nondegree pathways empower youth to chart their own course […]

Older Workers in the Workforce

Microcredential Pathways in Behavioral Health – Colorado

Overview In February 2024, the Colorado Community College System (CCCS) launched an initiative to help meet significant demands for qualified workers in the behavioral health field. Participating community colleges will […]

Center for Artificial Intelligence & the Future of Work – Jobs for the Future

Overview In June 2023, Jobs for the Future (JFF) launched the Center for Artificial Intelligence & the Future of Work. The Center is founded in the recognition that AI is […]

Playbook: Providing Access to All Learners (Credential As You Go)

Overview Credential As You Go is an initiative working with many partners toward a nationally recognized transferable incremental credentialing system that increases the number of high-quality, post-high school credentials that […]

Postsecondary Value Framework – Postsecondary Value Commission

Overview Developed by the Postsecondary Value Commission (PVC), the Postsecondary Value Framework (PVF) is designed to help colleges and universities identify and measure their own inequities in access, completion, and […]

Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP)

C-BEN’s Postsecondary Competency-Based Education Program Model Map Framework

Overview Published in 2023, the CBE Program Model Map Framework was developed by the American Institutes for Research (AIR) in partnership with the C-BEN Network. The framework documents and understands […]

State-by State Analysis of High School Work-based Learning Policies – American Student Assistance & Bellwether Education Partners

Overview American Student Assistance (ASA) and Bellwether Education Partners conducted a research initiative in 2021 to understand state approaches to work-based learning in high school. The research culminated in a […]

Pathsmith™ (Durable Skills Advantage Framework) – America Succeeds

Overview Launched Jan. 17, 2024, the Durable Skills Advantage Framework is an employer-generated common lexicon for essential non-technical skills. The Framework is viewed as an important step in addressing education […]

Muzzy Lane

Toolkit: Solving Today’s Students’ Food, Housing, And Basic Needs Insecurities – A Basic Needs Policy Toolkit For Today’s Students To Succeed (Higher Learning Advocates)

Overview In October 2023, Higher Learning Advocates (HLA) issued its 22-page Toolkit to identify critical barriers to student success: Back to Basics: Solving Today’s Students’ Food, Housing, and Basic Needs […]

CCA Accelerator – Complete College America

Overview In August 2023, Complete College America, a national non-profit organization focused on raising postsecondary attainment in the U.S., announced selection of 11 state partners to join the national Complete […]

WIOA Workforce Programs

Overview The federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) was signed into law on July 22, 2014. The Act is designed to help job seekers access employment, education, training, and […]

Connecticut Office of Workforce Strategy (OWS)

Adult Learner Centered and Equity Framework (ALCEF) in a SNAP Network — Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL)

Overview All states maintain federally funded SNAP Employment and Training (E&T) programs that provide assistance to job seekers, including upskilling and reskilling resources (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – SNAP). In […]

Orijin

European Year of Skills

Overview The European Year of Skills was necessitated after employers across the European Union reported difficulty finding workers with the necessary skills. The European Labour Authority in Report on labour […]

Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors

Inaugural Equity Toolkit for Community Colleges – Achieving the Dream

Overview Achieving the Dream developed a toolkit as a comprehensive guide and framework for operationalizing equitable policies and practices at community colleges to help increase student outcomes and eliminate equity […]

Frontier Set

Overview Frontier Set was a national initiative (2015-2021) comprised of colleges, universities, state systems of higher education, and supporting organizations committed to (1) transforming how institutions operate by eliminating race, […]

Credentialing: Policy & Implementation – Colorado

Overview Colorado passed multiple bills in 2022 to support credentialing strategies and assist disadvantaged students. Stackable Credential Pathways (Senate Bill 22-192) calls for improving access to quality credentials of value […]

Digital Skills Principles – Digital Divide

Overview On October 2, 2023, more than 70 corporate partners (including Fortune 500s, Chambers of Commerce, and small businesses), the National Skills Coalition, and Business Leaders United for Workforce Partnerships […]

LER Ecosystem Map (Learning & Employment Records)

Overview Learning and Employment Records (LERs) are digital records of learning and experience that are linked to and may be controlled by learners and earners. LERS are proposed to include […]

Clayton Christensen Institute

The Workforce Futures Initiative

Overview The Workforce Futures Initiative is a research collaboration between the American Enterprise Institute, the Brookings Institution, and the Project on Workforce at Harvard Kennedy School’s Malcolm Wiener Center for […]

Digital Equity

Workforce Development, Training & Education Support Via Federal-Aid Highway Program Formula Funds in States

Overview States are encouraged in Guidance for Use of Federal-aid State Core Program Funds for Training, Education, and Workforce Development to consider using highway funding resources to create workforce opportunities, […]

Research: National Study of Workplace Equity – Boston College of Social Work & the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)

Overview A research team from the Boston College of Social Work and the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM) conducted the National Study of Workforce Equity. Findings were reported in […]

Shift Work Forward (formally National Fund for Workforce Solutions)

Workforce Equity Dashboard & Advancing Workforce Equity Guide – National Fund for Workforce Solutions

Overview The Workforce Equity Dashboard is part of a toolkit developed by the National Fund for Workforce Solutions to equip workforce leaders, disruptors, and changemakers with actionable data and resources […]

Improving Economic Mobility for Adult Learners Initiative – Achieving the Dream & Jobs for the Future

Overview Achieving the Dream (ATD) and Jobs for the Future (JFF) are leading the Improving Economic Mobility for Adult Learners Initiative which launched in June 2023 and runs through December […]

Instructure

CTE Without Borders Policy Playbook (Career & Technical Education) – Advance CTE

Overview ‘Each learner can access CTE without borders’ is one of the five principles of Advance CTE’s Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education. The […]

IDB Digital Credential Framework (Inter-American Development Bank)

Overview The IDB Digital Credential Framework (the Framework) is the key reference tool and roadmap to recognize knowledge-building and continuous learning with digital credentials. Issued in May 2023 by the […]

HCM Strategists (HCM)

Short-Term-Credential Typology (HCM Strategists)

Overview HCM Strategists (HCM), with support from Lumina Foundation, conducted a comprehensive examination of short-term credential pathways across the U.S. HCM analyzed all 50 states to create a catalog of […]

Catalyze Registry

Overview On November 2, 2022, President Biden announced commitments made by more than 350 organizations in 50 states and territories as part of the Infrastructure Talent Pipeline Challenge (nationwide call […]

America Achieves

Skillpoint Alliance

Diversity for Social Impact

Education Quality Outcomes Standards Board (EQOS)

Data Collaborative for a Skills-based Economy (Data Collab) — Education Design Lab

Overview The Data Collaborative for a Skills-based Economy (Data Collab) is a data hub that connects and aggregates data across a range of data sources to uncover how new education-to-work […]

Getting Smart

NewPathways Campaign (K-12) – Getting Smart

Overview The NewPathways campaign, led by Getting Smart, is a roadmap for American schools, where every learner, regardless of zip code, is on a pathway to productive citizenship, high wage […]

Skilled Through Alternative Routes (STARs) – Opportunity@Work

Overview STARs is a national initiative created and managed by the nonprofit organization, Opportunity@Work. The organization’s mission is to rewire the U.S. labor market so that all individuals “skilled through alternative […]

Accelerate ED

Overview Accelerate ED focuses on building stronger, smoother, and accelerated pathways between K-12 education, postsecondary education, and careers. The initiative is coordinated by the Education Strategy Group (ESG) and supported […]

Equity in Digital Learning Student Survey – Every Learner Everywhere

Overview The Equity in Digital Learning Student Survey is a survey instrument developed by Digital Promise in partnership with Every Learner Everywhere that gives colleges and universities a way to use student […]

Britebound (formally American Student Assistance- ASA)

Aspire Ability

Navajo Nation Talent Marketplace

Overview In April 2023, the Navajo Nation launched the Talent Marketplace initiative. It is a first-time central repository of in-person and remote jobs available on the reservation. The marketplace is […]

Quality Assurance

In traditional higher education institutions, quality has been viewed broadly, involving all institutional functions and activities to include teaching and academic programs, research and scholarship, staffing, students, building, facilities, equipment, […]

Competency-Based Education Network (C-BEN)

DVP-PRAXIS LTD

Center for the Study of Community Colleges

John M. Belk Endowment

Harvard Project on Workforce

National Early Care & Education Workforce Center (ECE Workforce Center)

Territorium

Research on Work-Based Learning – Studying Coursetaking & Post-Degree Earnings Among Completers

Overview Rachel Yang Zhou’s research study, “Understanding Experiential Learning Through Work-Based College Coursetaking: Evidence From Transcript Data Using a Text Mining Technique” (February 2023, CCRC Working Paper No. 131) offers […]

Year to Career Through Micro-Pathways – Colorado Community College System

Overview The Arapahoe Community College Consortium (Colorado) launched Year to Career Through Micro-Pathways (Year to Career) in February 2033. The initiative is funded by a U.S. Department of Labor grant […]

UnidosUS

State Business Executives (SBE)

Center for Postsecondary Readiness and Success (CPRS) – American University

Center for Equity and Postsecondary Attainment (CEPA), San Diego State University

Education Trust

National Pathways Initiative

Overview The National Pathways Initiative is a national coalition of leaders from education, business, government and the Civil Rights Community with a goal to champion high-quality pathways to help students […]

Launch: Equitable & Accelerated Pathways for All – Education Strategy Group

Overview The Launch: Equitable and Accelerated Pathways for All initiative was announced in February 2023 by the Education Strategy Group. The national initiative is developing college and career pathways that […]

Community College Research Center (CCRC)

Multiple Pathways Initiative – Business Roundtable

Overview The Multiple Pathways Initiative (MPI) launched in December 2020 by the Business Roundtable to provide resources to help employers reform hiring and advancement practices to emphasize the value of […]

College in High School Alliance (CHSA)

Groningen Declaration Network (GDN)

Workforce Matters

The Hope Center for Student Basic Needs (Temple University)

EAB (formerly Education Advisory Board)

Adult Learning & Literacy Network (ALL IN)

Overview The Adult Literacy and Learning Impact Network (ALL IN) is a collective impact initiative that was formed in 2022 to address America’s adult literacy and learning issues: About 43 […]

The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS)

Community College Baccalaureate Association (CCBA)

Today’s Students Council – formerly Higher Learning Advocates

Council of Graduate Schools (CGS)

WestEd

Education Strategy Group (ESG)

ACT

ECMC Foundation

Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education

American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC)

Education Commission of the States (ECS)

Excelencia in Education

HBCUv

Overview HBCUv is a multi-year initiative that is building a virtual e-learning ecosystem for Black colleges and universities. With institutional partners and tech innovators, HBCUv’s pilot launched Fall 2023 with nine […]

Frontier Set

Complete College America

OneTen

Overview The OneTen Network aims to close the opportunity gap for Black talent in America. The Network is composed of a coalition of leaders working together to cultivate economic opportunities […]

League for Innovation in the Community College

Joint Center for Political & Economic Studies

Apprenticeships for America (AFA)

U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA)

Workforce Training Partnerships, Good Jobs Challenge, US Department of Commerce

Overview In August 2022, the U.S. Department of Commerce awarded grant awards to 32 industry-led workforce training partnerships across the U.S. as part of the $500 million Good Jobs Challenge […]

SOLID (Solutions for Information Design), LLC

Employment & Training Administration, USDOL

Urban Institute

Corporation for a Skilled Workforce (CSW)

Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL)

Third Way

Centralized DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) Education Research Platform

Overview In November 2021, the National Student Clearinghouse launched a new research-focused diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) online initiative. With support from the Cognizant Foundation, the initiative works to build a long-term, collaborative environment […]

Glossary Tags: Diversity