Building Equitable Pathways Resource Library

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Building Equitable Pathways is a community of practice working to create equitable pathways systems so that more Black and Latinx youth and young people experiencing poverty succeed in college and their future careers. Below you will find resources individual organizations in our community have found useful in their work, as well as resources we have created through our collaborative work together.

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Youth Quote Search from Striving to Thriving

Striving to Thriving provides a quote collection of more than 5,700 quotes from young people ages 15-22.

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Illinois 60 by 25 Network Student Advisory Council

The Student Advisory Council gathers and monitors the feedback on students’ experiences from various initiatives implemented by the Network, whichshapes and informs the Network’s policy stance.

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Educate Texas Student Success Council

The Student Success Council provides policy recommendations, educates, and informs policymakers about key policy issues.

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Delaware Department of Education’s Higher Education Office Student Ambassador Program

In this program, students serve as interns for the Delaware Department of Education Office.

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Student Ambassador Case Study

This case study shares the experiences of the Student Ambassadors and the role they’ve played equitable work-based learning opportunities.

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Youth Voice is Not a Box You Check Off by HERE to HERE and Teens Take Charge

This provides a summary of young people who joined forces with professional advocates to save the 2020 Summer Youth Employment Program.

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What Does it Mean to Value Youth Partners as Assets?

This brief highlights the answer to how agencies can share power through youth engagement and provides practices for recruiting and working with advisory boards.

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Young Invincibles

YI amplifies the voices of young adults via the political process to increase economic opportunitythrough political engagement and advocacy.

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Kentucky Student Voice 

Kentucky Student Voice consists of a group of student advocates working to explore how students can be policy co-creators.

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Teens Take Charge 

Teens Take Charge is a platform for New York City high school students created to be a safe space to share their experiences in the school system externally via advocacy and public speaking.

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National Equity Project

The National Project provides coaching and consulting to leaders to help them transform their systems into equitable, resilient, and liberating environments.

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Today’s Students Coalition

Today’s Students Coalition is a platform that works with policy, advocacy, and member organizations that advocate for policy change for students’ needs.

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Family Engagement Toolkit from YouthForce NOLA

This toolkit was designed for schools and school districts to increase family engagement across career pathways programs of study.

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Program of Study mapping from Education Systems Center

The programs of study provide extensive labor market research and credential programs for the state of Illinois.

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MIT Living Wage Calculator

This calculator estimates the cost of living in communities based on typical expenses.

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University of Washington Self Sufficiency Calculator

This tool will determine the income needed for families to meet their basic needs in all 50 states.

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CSCU Dashboard

This dashboard is Connecticut State Colleges and Universities’ bank of research and system evaluation reports.

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Illinois College2Career Dashboard

The Illinois College2Career dashboard is a tool for students and parents to review two-year and four-year institutions.

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Project Evident’s Actionable Evidence Toward Equitable Outcomes 

Project Evident provides a framework for research, evaluation, and technical assistance in education and the social sectors.

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Principles for Advancing Equitable Data Practice

Principles for Advancing Equitable Data Practice is a guide for research and data use and collection, it outlines the principles of data practices.

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Why Am I Always Being Researched?

This guidebook is made for community organizations, researchers, and funders to create a more holistic research approach when working with people of color.

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Measuring Early Career Outcomes in DC from CityWork DC

For the DC area, this report shows the district how it can collect data that will determine the early career outcomes of former public school students.

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College and Career Ready from the United Way of Greater Atlanta

United for Child Well-Being strives to improve the well-being of children and access to basic opportunities.

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United for Child Well-Being from the United Way of Greater Atlanta

United for Child Well-Being is a collective vision to bring the children of Atlanta an equitable path forward across four investment priorities.

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Good Wages from Employ Indy

Good Wages is an initiative supporting Marion County employers to increase their wages to at least $18/hour.

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Illinois Education and Career Success Network

This is an initiative to increase the number of adults with a postsecondary degree or credential by 60% in 2025.

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Delaware Pathways

The Delaware Pathways is a link between students, communities, and employers that provides opportunities for work experience through high-quality education programs.

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Defining Promising Credentials from JFF

This series offers new terminology and approaches to better align dual enrollment courses with local labor market needs.

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MHA Labs’s Working Impact

Working Impact measures how youth human capital is valued as a driver of social and economic progress.

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College and Career Leadership Institute

The institute runs two cohorts of participating high schools through workshops and monthly school-based meetings throughout the year to create a plan for college and career.

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Chicago College and Career Advising Credential from Education Systems Center

This is an interactive cohort training that offers coaching strategies, progressive postsecondary pathway options, and abor market information.

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Illinois Student Assistance Commission from Education Systems Center

The Illinois Student Assistance Commission provides resources for students, families, and educators as they support students in college and career planning as early as eighth grade.

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Key Distinguishers from HERE to HERE

he HERE to HERE key distinguishers is a core set of practices that guide stakeholders in youth talent development to create a high-quality system of academic pathways.

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Language Guide from HERE to HERE 

This provides tools to understand how language impacts the youth in the Bronx and NYC.

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Racial Equity Themes from the Lumina Foundation

Racial Equity Themes is a survey conducted by the Lumina Foundation in 2019, providing insights and data measuring the public's awareness and attitudes about racial equity in the U.S.

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Messages About Racial Equity from the Lumina Foundation

Messages About Racial Equity is a bank of questions that explores the public’s reactions to framing messages about racial equity.

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Equitable Dual Credit Toolkit from Washington STEM

This toolkit provides insights, lessons learned, and findings from a 2020-2021 study of disparities in dual credit participation.

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Racial Equity Prime from HERE to HERE

Racial Equity Prime is an assortment of questions meant to create accountability in decision-making to ensure that race is taken into account in conversations.

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YouthForce NOLA’s Founding Values

YouthForce Nola shares an exemplar of values grounded in the student-first perspective.

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Equity First Initiative from Career Wise CO

Equity First Initiative is a multi-year youth apprenticeship for students while providing employers with a diverse, inclusive workforce and DEI training.

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CSCU Equity Council Charge

The CSCU Equity Council Charge is a collaborative effort to form equitable practices and policies to create an anti-racist culture at colleges and universities.

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The Key for an Inclusive NYC Economy from HERE to HERE

This is a report that details the data on the labor market and educational outcomes of Black and Latinx New Yorkers

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SEED+ Scholarship (Delaware)

Delaware Technical Community College provides a free tuition program for students in Delaware of all ages pursuing an academic degree or a workforce training certificate.

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Inspire Scholarship (Delaware)

Delaware State University’s four-year, full-tuition scholarship available to qualifying Delaware high school graduates who enroll at the university in the fall semester following graduation.

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Elevate Delaware

The Delaware Workforce Development Board provides this program that offers individuals up to $10,000 for approved non-credit certificate programs.

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Illinois Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness Act

This act outlines four aligned strategies for school districts, postsecondary education institutions, employers, and other public and private organizations.

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Massachusetts Department of Higher Education Equity Agenda

This agenda has a statewide strategic plan focused on embedding equity in policies, programs, and initiatives.

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Minnesota’s Educational Attainment Goal 2025 

This goal states by 2025, the percentage of Minnesotans aged 25 to 44 who attain a postsecondary certificate or degree will increase to 70 percent.

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Virginia’s Community College Strategic Plan

Virginia’s Strategic Goal is that Virginia’s Community Colleges will achieve equity in access, learning outcomes, and success for students from every race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic group.

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Illinois Transfer Portal – iTransfer 

The iTransfer portal supports students in planning for a successful transfer of higher education coursework in Illinois.

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GovTrack 

GovTrack allows you to follow the journey of bills going through the United States House and Senate.

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PoliticoPro 

The Legislative Compass is the bill tracking tool from news giant Politico. 

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Education Commission of the States Education Policy Tools 

Education Commission of the States Education Policy Tools, which includes: State Education Policy Tracking, State Education Policy Watchlist, State Legislation Archives, Governors State of the State Addresses.

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State Policy Framework for Building Equitable Pathways

This tool was co-created with input from Building Equitable Pathways Community of Practice members, to support their own and others’ policy work.

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Learnings and Insights About Racial Equity, Policy, and Data: The Building Equitable Pathways Blog Series

This JFF blog series shares provocations, insights, and lessons from the partners in the initiative.

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Building Equitable Pathways Podcast

In this JFF podcast, host Kyle Hartung speaks with leaders from across the country working at the intersection of education, training and workforce development.

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How Intermediaries Can Help Black and Latinx Youth Develop a Strong Occupational Identity: Four Principles of Practice

This JFF resource provides four guiding principles that intermediary staff and leaders can use to support equitable career outcomes for youth.

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Equitable Pathways Hypotheses Spotlights

This JFF resource can guide the development of pathways that equitably support young people in building rewarding and successful futures.

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Intermediary Functions and Features in Pathways Systems

This JFF resource clarifies the roles intermediaries play in college and career pathways systems.

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From Labor Market Information to Pathways Designs: Foundational Information for Intermediaries

This JFF resource i provides guidance about how to distill this information in order to share it with young people and partners.

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Planning Tool for Building Equitable Pathways

This JFF planning tool will allow your organization to plan, partner, and do the work necessary to become a more effective intermediary in your unique context.

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An Intermediary’s Guide to Working with Higher Education Partners

This JFF guide supports intermediaries and their community college partners in forming productive and lasting relationships.

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The MOU: A Tool for Formalizing Partnerships

This easy-to-use JFF guide describes the purpose of an MOU, outlines the process for developing one, and provides sample templates for adaptation.

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Intermediaries’ Role in Policy to Develop and Scale Equitable Pathways

This JFF brief illustrates the power intermediaries have to influence policy, so they can be more effective in supporting their partners and driving positive change in their communities and across their states.

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Intermediary Communications: How to Stand Out While Working Together

This JFF guide provides intermediaries with best practices in communications along with tools and sample messages to help them stand out and unite partners in their work.

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Systems Convening analysis by Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner

A wide-ranging series of interviews with systems conveners on seven dimensions of their work.

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Systems Leadership for Sustainable Development: Strategies for Achieving Systemic Change by Lisa Dreier, David Nabarro and Jane Nelson

The CLEAR Framework for Leading Systems Change describes five key elements of the systems change process.

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Why all Guaranteed Income is Narrative Work by Insight Center

The paper combines examines how gendered and racist narratives shape public policy and beliefs around social programs.

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Why Process Matters for Achieving Equity Goals by Urban Institute

Examples of how local economic development actors focused on equity and inclusion goals are shifting their planning processes.

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Worker-Led Research Yields a New Framework for Assessing Job Quality by JFF

This JFF framework provides a structure assessing employee’s experience of ownership and autonomy at work.

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White Supremacy Culture - Still Here by Temu Okun

Characteristics of white supremacy culture and how they operate.

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Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire

First published in Portuguese in 1968, this is a foundational text in the field of critical pedagogy, attempting to help students question and challenge beliefs and practices that dominate.

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Paying Attention to White Culture and Privilege: A Missing Link to Advancing Racial Equity by Gita Gulati-Partee and Maggie Potapchuk

Challenges to engaging foundations in exploring white privilege, and tools for doing so.

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The Spectrum of Community Engagement to Ownership by Facilitating Power

Tool to assess and redesign community engagement efforts to advance community-driven solutions.

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How to Tell Compelling Stories While Avoiding Exploitation by Abesha Shifera

Questions to ask yourself when sharing stories.

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Decolonizing Wealth by Edgar Villanueva

Book detailing colonial dynamics at play in philanthropy and finance.

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Work-Based Learning System Navigator

This JFF tool will give you a customized map that will show how to best leverage your community to build a strong work-based learning delivery system.

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WE CAN TX Data Dashboard

This tool compiles Texas and national data to demonstrate the story of worker demand across Texas.

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Wage Record Data Brief

Outlines what wage record data is and how intermediaries might use it.

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CREC’s Brief Introduction to Labor Market Information

A guide to examining various data sources and applications to determine what might be most useful to your pathways analysis.

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The Partnership Imperative: Community Colleges, Employers, and America's Chronic Skills Gap

Survey results detailing the state and trajectory of the partnership between community colleges and employers.

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The case for creating a local talent pipeline in the District of Columbia

This call-to-action publication is the first of two in partnership with the Federal City Council and CityWorks DC that explores the creation of a local talent pipeline D.C.

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D.C. high school alumni reflections on their early career outcomes

This survey results publication is the second of two in partnership with the Federal City Council and CityWorks DC that explores the creation of a local talent pipeline in the D.C.

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Event Recording: Measuring early career outcomes in D.C.

This event recording shares the major findings from the Federal City Council and CityWorks DC‘s report on measuring early career outcomes.

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Brookings Institution Smart Growth Strategies Dashboard site

This dashboard allows users to create and evaluate potential economic growth strategies for various U.S metropolitan areas and Economic Development Districts.

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Brookings Institution Mobility Pathways

This tool data on real job-to-job transitions to show how workers can advance through labor markets.

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Opportunity Insights Social Capital Atlas

This tool allows users to explore social capital across communities and how it connects to children's chances of rising out of poverty.

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State Legislative calendars 

This provides information on legislative sessions in each state, district, and territory.

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State Budget Process and timelines 

This provides information on states’ operating budget processes and implementation over time. The data for this report was collected from state budget offices throughout calendar year 2020 and early 2021.

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K-12 Legislation

This searchable database tracks education legislation passed by state legislatures from the 2008 session to present. Issues that are tracked include teachers and principals, school choice, postsecondary education, education finance and funding, religion in schools, high school graduation/dropouts, testing, accountability, afterschool, and STEM.

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Economic mobility Legislation 

This database tracks enacted-only bills from 2020 to the present for topics broadly addressing the economic security and mobility of individuals and families, including tax credits, public benefits programs, asset development and related topics.

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Occupational License Legislation

This database contains legislation from all 50 states covering 34 distinct occupation.

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Postsecondary Legislation

This database provides information on introduced postsecondary bills – you can filter by topics and states.

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Student loans Legislation 

This database provides information on student loan bills since 2015 by category, states, and status of the bill. 

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Workforce development Legislation 

This provides state unemployment legislation from the current legislative session. 

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Previous Years State Budgets

This provides access prior fiscal year summaries on proposed and enacted budgets for each state.

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Mending the Path: The Central Role of Intermediaries in Building Equitable Pathways from Education to Work

Equal Measure synthesizes findings from its learning and evaluation engagement focused on the Building Equitable Pathways initiative.

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The Equitable Pathways Intermediary Framework Staff and Partner Surveys

Equal Measure developed surveys for the staff and partners of pathways intermediaries. The surveys were designed to capture insights about intermediary activities and indicators of systems change.

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Mending the Path by Centering Equity

Equal Measure synthesizes their learnings over the course of our evaluation engagement conducted between 2019 and 2022 with the Building Equitable Pathways initiative.

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Racial Equity Assessment

This assessment helps intermediaries understand their efforts to date related to supporting racial equity practices and strategies.

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Intermediary Functions Assessment

This assessment helps intermediaries understand the roles and functions they play in their area.

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Data Assessment

This assessment helps intermediaries understand their efforts to date related to building a strong data infrastructure.

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Policy and Advocacy Assessment

This assessment helps intermediaries understand their efforts to date related to building a policy and advocacy strategy.

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About Building Equitable Pathways

JFF's Building Equitable Pathways strives to improve our education and workforce systems so that all young people can move seamlessly and successfully from high school to college, career, and beyond.

A deep commitment to equity stands at the heart of Building Equitable Pathways. This work aims to ensure that, at every stage and key transition point in their lives, Black and Latinx youth and young people who are experiencing poverty can access the knowledge, skills development opportunities, support, and relationships necessary to thrive in education and in the workforce.

About JFF

Jobs for the Future (JFF) drives transformation of the American workforce and education systems to achieve equitable economic advancement for all. www.jff.org