In eastern Kentucky, Morgan Riffe saw what it meant for a community to show up for its own. Teachers, mentors and local programs gave her tools to succeed and reminded her that her dreams mattered. Now, as a first-year medical resident, Morgan is preparing to give back by serving the community that helped her grow.
Her journey shows how the Appalachian Cradle to Career Partnership (AppC2C) helps students imagine success and achieve it. AppC2C works across systems to make sure young people like Morgan are surrounded by the right supports at the right time, from early learning through postsecondary and into careers.
Building a Pathway of Support
AppC2C is working to improve outcomes for young people across Appalachian Kentucky. As part of the national StriveTogether Cradle to Career Network, the partnership brings together schools, nonprofits, businesses, public agencies and community leaders to support youth from early childhood through college and career. By aligning efforts around a shared vision, AppC2C is helping ensure every student in the region has the opportunity to thrive.
Rooted in local voice and cross-sector collaboration, AppC2C aligns resources and expands access to remove barriers and drive lasting change. By focusing on long-term systems transformation, the partnership is creating the conditions where young people and communities can thrive.
One of those young people is Morgan Riffe. Her first introduction to college and career pathways came through GEAR UP, Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness Undergraduate Programs, a program embedded in local schools and supported by AppC2C’s regional infrastructure. GEAR UP Kentucky is a statewide initiative that helps students from middle school through their first year of college prepare for and succeed in postsecondary education. Carrie Ballinger, superintendent of Rockcastle County Schools, underscores the importance of the program: “GEAR UP offers opportunities for kids, and that’s what it’s all about. The exposure that GEAR UP has offered — the amazing field trips, the college visits and just the opportunities to see life beyond our county.” Through college tours, leadership opportunities and relationships with trusted adults, Morgan began to see a future in medicine that once felt out of reach. 
Programs like GEAR UP do more than introduce students to opportunities. They affirm their potential. Morgan remembers hearing again and again that she could reach her goals. “They told us that we could do whatever we want to do, enough to the point that it really sunk in and helped us believe it,” she said. That kind of belief, paired with strategic support, is exactly where AppC2C plays a crucial role. AppC2C strengthens and expands GEAR UP’s impact by aligning regional systems to support students beyond high school and into successful postsecondary completion. While GEAR UP ensures that students are academically and socially prepared for college, AppC2C provides the infrastructure to ensure colleges are equally ready to support first-year students — especially those who are first-generation or from underserved communities. They collaborate to ensure students are supported at every transition point, from high school to college, and in instances like Morgan’s, into meaningful careers rooted in their home communities.
When Morgan entered college, she brought with her dual-credit courses that saved time and money, another example of AppC2C’s approach to aligning high school experiences with long-term outcomes. Still, challenges emerged. A required summer course threatened her scholarship when she couldn’t afford the tuition. GEAR UP stepped in and covered the cost. That intervention helped her stay on track and continue pursuing her pre-med path.
Support didn’t stop at the financial level. Morgan had access to GEAR UP advisors on her college campus, part of AppC2C’s strategy to stay with students beyond high school. In moments of stress or uncertainty, she had a familiar face to turn to, someone who offered guidance and encouragement.
These moments highlight how AppC2C addresses the often-invisible gaps many rural students face. The work goes beyond opening doors to college and focuses on building systems of support that surround students with the resources, relationships and belief they need to succeed in school and beyond. 
Early Support to Local Impact
Morgan’s decision to study medicine was about the people in her community. “I want to open a small clinic in eastern Kentucky where I treat the same people I sit next to at church or see at high school football games,” she explained. She wanted to return with skills and serve in a way that reflected her deep ties to the region.
That desire has driven her through every phase of her education. “Growing up, a thing I heard often is that Knott County, which is the county I’m from, or eastern Kentucky in general, needed a doctor from the mountains that could represent the people in the mountains,” she said. “So, I led that as a driving force to one day become that and come back and help better the health of the people in this community.”
AppC2C is built for this kind of outcome. It supports young people who are ready to lead from within. Morgan’s story is one of many showing how locally led, place-based partnerships can prepare students to succeed and to return as changemakers. She benefited from this model at every stage, from early exposure to health care pathways to flexible support when obstacles appeared. Her journey shows what happens when students don’t have to navigate postsecondary transitions alone.
Changing Systems for the Long Haul
AppC2C has earned the Systems Transformation designation along the StriveTogether Theory of ActionTM. This designation signals a shift from improving individual programs to transforming how entire systems collaborate to support better outcomes. Local leaders have built the trust, alignment and shared purpose needed to shift policies, budgets and mindsets in service of young people.
That kind of systems-level change is made possible through AppC2C’s backbone role in the region. The partnership leads P–16 convenings and provides professional development focused on student retention and persistence — work that ensures systems stay aligned to keep students on track. At the same time, GEAR UP continues to deliver hands-on support through advising, mentoring, and key college transition services like personalized messaging, FAFSA completion and summer bridge programs.
Together, these efforts create a seamless handoff from high school to college: GEAR UP prepares students for what’s ahead and AppC2C ensures that colleges are ready to meet them with the right supports.
Morgan’s experience reflects this systems-level work in action. Her path was shaped by coordinated investments and the alignment AppC2C helps create across schools, communities and institutions. Her story is a powerful example of what becomes possible when communities commit to supporting young people over time.
Now, Morgan is preparing to return home not only as a doctor but as someone dedicated to her region’s health and future. Students like Morgan exist in every community. What they need are systems that believe in them and stay with them as they move toward their goals. AppC2C is showing what that kind of commitment can make possible.
