Building and sustaining high-quality career pathways
About the Pathways Impact Fund
StriveTogether, in partnership with the Walton Family Foundation and the Gates Foundation, has launched the Pathways Impact Fund. The fund will work to increase the number of students successfully identifying and seizing opportunities that lead to good jobs and economic mobility. John Garcia III, formerly of the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Department of Education, joins StriveTogether to lead the fund.
The Pathways Impact Fund will mobilize funding for regional intermediary organizations that connect education and workforce systems, making sure that educators and schools have the resources and knowledge to build and sustain high-quality pathways. The goal is to streamline investment activity for both funders and grantees, unlocking public and private dollars at all levels.
In addition to funding, the Pathways Impact Fund will help organizations and leaders align and act on experiences for students to access and stay on promising pathways. The fund will identify bright spots and connect researchers and support to those successes. These connections will increase learning in the field to evolve and scale existing programs and create new programs backed by evidence.
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Frequently Asked Questions
StriveTogether’s work is centered around helping youth meet seven key milestones from cradle to career, ensuring they have the opportunities needed to reach their goals. The work of the Pathways Impact Fund is anchored in the final four milestones. Insights and frameworks developed through the Pathways Impact Fund will inform and strengthen efforts across StriveTogether’s Cradle to Career Network and beyond, helping communities scale high-quality pathways that improve postsecondary outcomes and accelerate economic mobility for young people.
The Pathways Impact Fund is designed to increase investment in regional intermediary organizations that connect education and workforce systems. The fund will streamline funding and support the development of high-quality pathways models and coordination across sectors. The fund also serves as a central platform for aligning efforts across the field.
The Pathways Impact Fund is structured around three primary goals:
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- Building a durable, well-governed fund with strong investor engagement
- Scaling direct student impact through grants to regional and state intermediaries
- Serving as a national learning and alignment hub
In addition to engaging at least 50 organizations in a shared pathways vision, the fund will serve as a Pathways Network that elevates field-wide practice and knowledge through actionable tools and frameworks.
