Employment is the critical milestone in StriveTogether’s cradle-to-career continuum and one of the most important. It reflects whether young people can turn years of education and hard work into stable, meaningful careers that support long-term economic mobility. For communities across the country, closing the gap between education and good jobs requires more than individual effort. It takes coordinated place-based, work where schools, employers and community organizations in the same region come together around shared goals to get better results for the people who live there.
Rocky Mountain Partnership Cradle to Career™ (RMP) is doing exactly that. RMP is a place-based partnership in Colorado’s north metro region, serving Adams County, Arvada, Aurora and Broomfield. Its mission is to unite the community to support children and young people up to age 35 in achieving critical milestones from cradle to career. Its vision is that every child and young person, no matter their background or circumstances, is thriving and contributing to a vibrant, inclusive economy.
RMP brings together decision-makers, community leaders and youth most directly impacted by the challenges that get in the way of cradle-to-career success. As part of the StriveTogether Cradle to Career Network, its local efforts are connected to a broader movement working to put more young people nationwide on a path to economic mobility by 2030.
More than 105,000 young people in the north metro region are not meeting critical cradle-to-career milestones. Efforts to help them are often fragmented and disconnected, leading to wasted resources and missed opportunities. There are persistent workforce shortages in key industries, from health care, child care and transportation make it even harder for people to get ahead.
To address this, RMP launched the Resiliency Project, its strategic plan for helping 71,000 more young people reach key cradle-to-career milestones by 2030, with building generational wealth as the ultimate goal.
Why employment at a good wage matters
A quality job shapes more than finances. Employment is linked to physical health, mental health and social well-being. It also contributes to a sense of belonging and connection to community. People with stable jobs are more likely to live in healthier neighborhoods, access health care and provide stable environments for their children.
But not all jobs provide that foundation. Research shows that only about 40% of workers in the United States have a quality job — one with fair pay, stability and room to grow. Across states in the StriveTogether Cradle to Career Network, only 59.3% of families earn at or above the self-sufficiency standard. Many households do not earn enough to cover basic living costs.
The stakes extend beyond individuals. Consumer spending makes up about 70% of the U.S. economy. Each worker adds about $150,000 to the economy each year. When people can’t access good jobs, community spending drops, tax revenue falls and the need for public support grows.
In Colorado’s north metro region, RMP is working directly on this challenge. Regional employment among young people ages 25–34 has grown, from 81.6% in 2021 to 83.5% in 2024. But too many still face a disconnected system. Despite efforts to increase collaboration, education, workforce training and employment systems remain misaligned.
Barriers like transportation, unaffordable child care and training programs that don’t lead to stable jobs continue to get in the way. According to the Colorado Talent Pipeline Report, about 90% of well-paying jobs require a credential beyond high school. Only 39% of adults in the north metro region have one. That gap costs the region an estimated $1.2 billion in lost economic productivity every year.
How RMP is doing the work
In 2025, educators, employers, community organizations and public agencies across the RMP network helped 5,048 more young people reach key cradle-to-career milestones. The need continues to remain significant. There are more than 28,000 job openings in the region. And 15,000 individuals each year are not getting the credentials and skills needed to fill them.
RMP has set a regional goal to support 24,444 more young people in obtaining employment at a family-sustaining wage by 2030, including 1,990 more during the 2025–2026 school year. Partners track progress quarterly through the Cradle to Career Data Scorecard. The scorecard breaks data down by race, income and other factors so partners can see who is benefiting and where gaps remain.
The work is built on strategies that reinforce each other. Seventeen Target Champions have aligned to the employment milestone. Together, they have committed to supporting 1,461 more young people in reaching employment at a good wage during the 2025–2026 school year. Three High Impact Projects are also underway. One is working to ensure young people have access to career guidance across their ecosystems through navigation and out-of-school time supports. Another is expanding access to purposeful career pathways. A third is expanding paid, hands-on learning so that work experience is no longer a barrier to entry.
One example of this coordination is the C3 Promise. It is a partnership between the City of Commerce City and the Community College of Aurora, along with others that has been facilitated by RMP. The program is funded through Commerce City’s Advancing Commerce City Together program, which invests $7.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act dollars to support residents and businesses.
C3 Promise gives Commerce City residents free access to short-term credential programs in high-demand fields including IT, construction, logistics, health care, manufacturing and English as a Second Language (ESL). Any resident accepted into an eligible program is automatically enrolled. No additional application or cost is required. As of 2026, 82 learners have enrolled in credential programs. Another 34 are participating in a new GED-to-career pathway, in partnership with Metro State University. Dedicated support helps participants persist through completion and into employment.
Beyond employment to generational wealth
Employment at a good wage is a key milestone, but for RMP, it is not the end game. The goal is to help young people find jobs and ensure they can build lasting financial stability for themselves and their families, and support future generations to start off on a better cradle to career footing.
RMP has added generational wealth as the eighth milestone in their cradle-to-career continuum, tracking indicators like homeownership, savings, debt in collections, retirement savings and compounding assets. It is what allows families to stay stable, weather hard times and pass opportunity on to the next generation. RMP is currently working with Gary Community Ventures to solidify its approach to measuring generational wealth and setting a measurable goal for the network in 2026.
This focus is a significant step forward. It signals that RMP’s vision extends beyond helping young people land jobs and toward building a region where young people accumulate wealth, achieve lasting upward mobility, break cycles of poverty for good, and contribute to a thriving Colorado economy.
