Building a future where everyone can thrive.

StriveTogether is a national network of community partnerships that bring together neighbors — including youth and families, nonprofits, employers, schools and more — to work toward a future where everyone can thrive.

Our Nationwide Network

Spartanburg Academic Movement

Spartanburg, South Carolina

ROC the Future Alliance

Rochester, New York

A high school boy is sitting on the ground wearing protective goggles and building a structure out of wood.

Appalachian Cradle to Career Partnership

Southeastern Kentucky

The Challenge

Setbacks at key milestones limit opportunity later in life

When learning and career preparation gaps go unaddressed, young people hit roadblocks that narrow their chances for future success.

54%
Americans who read below a sixth-grade level
5.3%
students who don’t earn a high school diploma — 1.2 million each year
45%
working-age adults in the U.S. without a college degree or postsecondary credential
Why It Matters

Success early in life opens up economic opportunity as an adult

A high school-aged boy stands at a table in a workshop, glueing two items together.

Literacy leads to lifelong success

Reading helps individuals and communities thrive. A study by the George and Barbara Bush Foundation found that low adult literacy rates cost our country’s economy more than $2 trillion a year. Bringing all U.S. adults to a sixth-grade reading level would add 10% to our economy annually.

For individuals, the average annual income of adults who reach the minimum literacy proficiency is nearly $63,000. That’s significantly higher than individuals who score below proficiency, who earn an average of less than $48,000.

See the impact of reading

Reducing dropout rates adds billions to economy

Graduating from high school is a key step toward economic opportunity. High school graduates earn, on average, $10,000 more a year than individuals who don’t graduate.

If half of the students who dropped out of the class of 2008 had graduated, they would have earned $4.1 billion more in wages and generated $536 million in state and local taxes for communities across the country in one average year of their working lives.

Find out what a diploma can mean

A 50% increase in completion would add $45B yearly

Education after high school opens opportunities. In 2022, the median earnings of graduates with an associate degree were 18% higher ($49,500) than the earnings of high school graduates without a degree ($41,800). And each level of education increases earning potential — graduates with a bachelor’s degree earned 35% more ($66,600) than those who ended their education with an associate degree.

If 50% more individuals completed an associate degree or additional degree, their success would add $45 billion to the U.S. economy each year.

Learn what postsecondary completion provides

What We Do

Our Proven Approach

We help communities get better outcomes across seven key life milestones to connect young people to good-paying jobs and secure lives.

We are a national network changing the way communities work together so everyone has access to economic opportunity.

Our Approach to Change

Connect Communities

A large group of Cradle to Career Network members smile up at the camera at the 2025 Cradle to Career Network convening. They're in a museum and standing below a large mounted skeleton of a dinosaur

We connect communities to unlock knowledge, experience and support from places all over the country.

Champion Success

A woman stands in front of a room holding a binder open with her hand raised as she speaks.

We help communities learn what works to put more young people on a path to economic opportunity.

Support Local Leaders

Richard Raya, StriveTogether board member, addresses the crowd at the 2025 Cradle to Career Network Convening

We help leaders access the resources and connections they need to build communities where everyone can succeed.

Transforming systems of opportunity nationwide

Our Impact
Two middle school-aged students are using pliers to hold together a device while an adult helps them hold it steady.Three elementary aged children lean over a table together looking at a drawing.Three women sit at a table in an office space having a discussion.

$21.8 billion

public funding influenced through policy wins reported by the Cradle to Career Network since 2023

Two middle school-aged students are using pliers to hold together a device while an adult helps them hold it steady.

494,633

additional key milestones met or on track to be met by young people across the Network since 2022

Three elementary aged children lean over a table together looking at a drawing.

82%

network members improving middle grade math outcomes, a critical step toward opportunity

Three women sit at a table in an office space having a discussion.

60+ communities working together to create economic opportunity

Our Nationwide Network

Stories of Impact

More Stories

Resources & Courses