College Promise Announced Managing Partner of New $2.5 Million Grant Initiative, Concludes Second Annual Careers Institute

Special Guest U.S. Secretary of Education Dr. Miguel Cardona Spoke about the Future of Free College Movement

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Nov 17, 2021, 08:36 ET

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- College Promise, in partnership with several national philanthropies, concludes the College Promise Careers Institute, a 2-day summit held November 16th and 17th. The annual summit convenes hundreds of our nation's leading practitioners, educators, employers, and thought leaders to address the future of the free college movement and strategies to build the workforce of today and tomorrow. Special guest U.S. Secretary of Education Dr. Miguel Cardona provided remarks about the importance of the College Promise movement, improving outcomes for learners belonging to historically marginalized populations, and investing in America's talent pipeline by ensuring access to affordable certificates and degrees.

"The COVID-19 has accelerated major industry transitions and job restructuring across the country, requiring workers to adopt a lifelong student mindset to remain competitive. The College Promise Careers Institute provides the opportunity for our country's changemakers to unite as we come together to seize this opportunity and invest in making educational and career pathways more affordable and accessible for learners of all ages and walks of life," said Dr. Martha Kanter, CEO of College Promise.

The 2021 Careers Institute included live and pre-recorded panels and interactive sessions about a variety of topics, including college pathways, accelerated learning programs, on-the-job training models, career exploration, and job placement innovations. Speakers represented organizations innovating to make the workforce and talent pipeline more just and equitable, such as The Kresge Foundation, the Lumina Foundation, Handshake, Stanford University, West Point, Generation Hope, California Community Colleges, and dozens more. The event featured multiple student speakers, including a student voices panel hosted by #BecauseWeWill, a national interactive social media campaign designed to give learners an opportunity to share personal stories and build a sense of community, support, and belonging with other learners across the country.

"The success of our nation's future workforce – the talent pipeline to our nation's prosperity – depends on the millions of students pursuing certificates and degrees in America's community colleges, universities, and career-technical schools," said Rosye Cloud, Senior Leader of College Promise. "We are honored to have convened a diverse array of leaders – including student champions – to help Americans reach their full potential."

At this year's Careers Institute, College Promise was also named Managing Partner of The Kresge Foundation's CoPro2.0 initiative. In this role, College Promise will work with The Kresge Foundation to implement the multi-year investment program, which will provide $2.5 million in grants to 11 organizations working to support the next generation of equitable and sustainable College Promise programs.

"College Promise is honored to work with The Kresge Foundation as the Managing Partner of the CoPro2.0 initiative," said Dr. Kanter. "Promise programs help move America toward a more affordable college ecosystem, and these grants from The Kresge Foundation provide historic investment in advancing equity, improving postsecondary outcomes for historically marginalized populations, and increasing community college capacity to provide high-quality postsecondary education and improve the well-being of students and local communities."

The College Promise Careers Institute is made possible by sponsors dedicated to supporting learners and workers of all ages and circumstances across the nation. This year's platinum sponsors were: the Lumina Foundation, Ascendium Education Group, Carnegie Corporation of New York, and The Kresge Foundation.

All event recordings will be made available at collegepromise.org

Media Contact
Albert Fujii
[email protected]
(202) 569-3000

About College Promise
College Promise is a national, non-partisan, non-profit initiative that builds broad public support for funding the first two or more years of postsecondary education for hard-working students, and ensuring those students have access to quality educational opportunities and supports. For more information, visit: collegepromise.org

SOURCE College Promise