America Achieves
Project Title
To support the development of the Competitiveness and Opportunity Agenda
Date
Mar. 09, 2023
Duration
6 months
Description
We are at a critical juncture in our nation’s history,facing a unique set of challenges unprecedented in scale and seriousness since the national and global economic, political, and military crises of the 1930’s and 40’s.While we are facing these challenges, however, we also live in a moment of unique and enormous opportunity. To leverage this opportunity, we will need to work across different levels of government, business, educational institutions, philanthropy, and nonprofit organizations toprovide better and more equitable education and skills pathways to as many of our citizens as possible.With support from the Corporation, America Achieves aims to develop a regionally driven nationwide agenda that will catalyze aligned, bipartisan leadership, policies, and strategies for an inclusive economic competitiveness and opportunity effort led by states and regions across the country.
Website
Project Title
For continued support of the Back to Work project
Date
Mar. 04, 2021
Duration
3 months
Description
The COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. has created an economic unemployment and education crisis that could undermine near-term and long-term livelihoods for millions of Americans from all backgrounds. To address these challenges, this project aims to catalyze and guide a 21st Century Works Progress Administration (WPA), Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and a 21st century G.I. bill—to put Americans back to work immediately and ensure they have the experience, skills, and credentials needed for good jobs and careers once the economy and job market rebounds. While this bold idea will require bold presidential, congressional, and gubernatorial leadership in 2021, America Achieves is continuing its work to design a nongovernmental philanthropic project to lay the groundwork for an innovative, workable solution to our country’s immediate crisis.
Website
Project Title
For continued support of the Back to Work project
Date
Jun. 03, 2021
Duration
6 months
Description
The COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. has not only created a public health crisis, but also an economic unemployment and education crisis that threatens to undermine near-term and long-term livelihoods for millions of Americans from all backgrounds. With prior Corporation support, America Achieves launched a national Back to Work project aiming to put Americans back to work immediately and ensuring they have the experience, skills, and credentials needed for good jobs and careers once the economy and job market rebounds. America Achieves will build on that work by developing policy memos and congressional proposals; engaging key stakeholders; influencing the use of funds approved through the American Rescue Plan; and completing a longer-term plan for this work.
Website
Project Title
As a one-time grant for general support
Date
Mar. 05, 2020
Duration
9 months
Description
America Achieves is a nonprofit accelerator, incubating, launching and scaling promising education initiatives and organizations, while contributing to the evidence base around what works and convening a network of informed leaders. Since its founding in 2011, America Achieves has helped to shift more than $2.6 billion in federal funds toward evidence-based solutions; empowered hundreds of outstanding educators to shape state level policy; helped tens of thousands of high-achieving, low-and moderate-income high school students enroll in top colleges with strong graduation rates; and helped incubate, fund, and launch promising interventions ranging from youth apprenticeships to student agency to up-skilling low-income adults for upwardly mobile careers. This grant is for general support as the organization spins off its current round of programs and initiatives and winds down its operations.
Website
Project Title
As an emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic, for a project on a 21st century Works Progress Administration.
Date
Sep. 10, 2020
Duration
6 months
Description
The COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. has created an economic unemployment
and education crisis that could undermine near-term and long-term livelihoods
for millions of Americans from all backgrounds. To address these challenges,
this project aims to catalyze and guide a 21st Century Works Progress
Administration (WPA), Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and a 21st century
G.I. bill—to put Americans back to work immediately and ensure they have the
experience, skills, and credentials needed for good jobs and careers once the
economy and job market rebounds. While this bold idea will require bold
presidential, congressional, and gubernatorial leadership in 2021, America
Achieves proposes a nongovernmental philanthropic project beginning in the
summer of 2020 to lay the groundwork for an innovative, workable solution to our
country’s immediate crisis.
Website
Project Title
For implementation plan design and pre-launch activities for the Regional Skills Pathways project, creating aligned education-to-economic-opportunity pathways between postsecondary education and 21st century jobs in key regions
Date
Mar. 08, 2018
Duration
6 months
Description
In 1973, only one in four jobs required a postsecondary education—a high school degree was a ticket to a middle-class job. Today, it is a ticket to poverty. The economy is in the midst of one of the most significant and rapid shifts in global history, with good jobs increasingly requiring a postsecondary credential and a more comprehensive set of skills and qualities. In order to equip young people from every background with the ability to translate hard work into economic opportunity, our education system needs to keep pace with this change. America Achieves envisions a diverse array of education-to-economic-opportunity pathways in a tightly linked ecosystem of high schools, postsecondary institutions, and employers all focused on the same target: delivering needed skills and landing youth in good jobs and careers. This grant supports the design and development of a comprehensive implementation plan to align education to career pathways in key regions over the next four years.
Website
Project Title
For strategic planning around creating stronger linkages between education and career/economic opportunities
Date
Sep. 07, 2017
Duration
6 months
Description
The economy is in the midst of one of the most significant and rapid shifts in global history, with good jobs increasingly requiring a postsecondary credential and a more comprehensive set of skills and qualities. However, a lack of deep, systemic engagement between K-12 education, postsecondary education, and business/industry has resulted in structural separation of these sectors; as a result, youth have limited awareness of job and career opportunities, aspects of many educational programs are irrelevant, and adults lack retraining options that are industry-aligned, timely and affordable. As much of the country experiences a growing mismatch between their or their children’s education and skills and their ability to secure good jobs, confidence in the American dream is eroding. America Achieves seeks to address these challenges, and is updating its strategy and theory of change to harness the collective power of networks, entrepreneurship and innovative ideas across sectors as the most promising way to improve education and economic opportunities and to protect and strengthen the nation’s democracy. This grant supports the development of an actionable strategic plan for 2018-2020.
Website
Project Title
For the development and implementation of a community of practice as part of America Achieve's GripTape initiative on increasing youth agency
Date
Dec. 08, 2016
Duration
12 months
Description
Current school environments often provides limited opportunities for youth to exercise and practice agency – the ability to make intentional choices about and take an active role in the course of their own learning. Agency is not only directly related to greater engagement, learning and development, but is also key to honing the skills needed for success in today’s knowledge economy: self-direction, problem-solving, goal-setting, self-regulation, and reflection. GripTape, a new initiative of America Achieves’ Accelerator, aims to ensure that youth are the true drivers of their learning and development and are able to seize great opportunities to grow, lead, and serve. With the support of this grant, GripTape plans to launch a Community of Practice to explore fostering youth agency outside of the formal learning environment. They plan to convene five to ten organizations who are working with youth as leaders, to identify pain points and areas for growth and establish a starting framework for the adoption of youth agency in the field.