The Annie E. Casey Foundation & Third Sector Form a Learning Consortium to Scale Innovations in Workforce and Education/Training

The Annie E. Casey Foundation and Third Sector staff led a two-day convening on how to align data, public funding, policy, and programs to improve outcomes for 18-24 year-old youth & young adults through community colleges’ platforms. 

• 50+ attendees represented state departments of Labor, Education, and Human Services; workforce boards; community and technical colleges; service providers; universities; and state data centers from nine Southern and Southwestern states (AR, KY, MD, MS, NE, NM, RI, TX, & VA).
• Each state formed a "team" of experts to work directly with Third Sector staff before and during the convening to learn about the best practices of implementing an outcomes-oriented approach.
• State teams worked with Third Sector and The Annie E. Casey Foundation to showcase "Lessons from the Field."  Topics included Forming an Outcomes Vision, Funding Career Pathway Programs, Scaling Regional Efforts, and Data Access & Integration.
• Third Sector facilitated hours of customized working sessions during the convening with each state team.  Each team developed an initial action plan to align funding and data to improve integrated services, and access federal and state outcomes-enabled funding streams. 

We learned that state leaders in education, workforce, data, and the community are eager for more opportunities like this. They appreciated the chance to learn from peers and mindfully strategize on how to implement systems change to improve outcomes for youth & young adults. These states will continue to be supported by The Annie E. Casey Foundation's Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO) and Research Evaluation Evidence and Design (REED) units, and their dedicated Third Sector team.