FutureMakers Coalition at Collaboratory has been selected by CivicLab to participate in a three-year incubator to rethink and revitalize their communities by strengthening rural higher education and employment systems. FutureMakers Coalition joins other communities participating in this cohort from states across the country, including Arkansas, California, Indiana, Montana, North Carolina, Ohio, and South Carolina.
Supported by Ascendium Education Group and ECMC Foundation, FutureMakers Coalition will receive training, technical assistance, and direct financial support for system-level strategies that create stronger education-to-employment pathways aligned to future economies.
After a national call for proposals, FutureMakers Coalition was selected through a rigorous review process and demonstrated a readiness to focus on rural redevelopment in order to strengthen the communities they call home for the future.
“FutureMakers Coalition has a successful history of building relationships and working to create lasting change in the communities they serve,” said Amber Fischvogt, director at CivicLab. “We are excited to work with FutureMakers as they continue to focus on strengthening rural higher education and employment opportunities.”
The initiative launched in July 2024 with a team from FutureMakers Coalition attending a three-day institute focused on stakeholder engagement and system building tools. A total of six institutes will be provided over the three-year period.
FutureMakers Coalition
will also receive new data sets and methodologies to support a novel approach to economic development. CivicLab will provide its spatial diversity census books and new methods of qualitative data collection and analysis to each community, supplementing their existing use of labor market data.
“Communities have historically relied solely on labor market projections when making economic and talent development decisions,” explained Dakota Pawlicki, director of Talent Hubs at CivicLab. “By bringing new data sets rooted in place and people, we are equipping rural communities with a comprehensive and home-grown approach to community vitality.”
Each partnership will co-create a workplan that builds upon their existing efforts and implement strategies towards their unique goals. These plans go beyond organizational strategic plans and focus entirely on what a community can achieve only by working together.
“Rural communities like Glades and Hendry counties have unique assets and opportunities that warrant an intentional approach to collaboration,” said Tessa LeSage, chief impact officer, Collaboratory.
“Together, we are committed to becoming experts in efforts to improve outcomes across all of Southwest Florida.”
FutureMakers Coalition aims to transform Southwest Florida’s workforce by increasing the proportion of skilled working age adults with college degrees, workforce certificates, industry certifications and other high-quality credentials to 55 percent. It is the premier regional initiative in Southwest Florida, leading a network of more than 260 individuals and 180 cross-sector partner organizations. FutureMakers Coalition is regarded as one of Florida and the nation’s most advanced collective impact networks.
Collaboratory provides backbone support for FutureMakers Coalition.
FutureMakers Coalition
joins a cohort including:
Berkeley Chamber Rural Initiative – Berkeley County, S.C.
Convening Organization: Berkeley Chamber Educational Outreach
Focus: Berkeley, Charleston, & Dorchester Counties
Community Education Coalition – Bartholomew County, Ind.
Convening Organization: Columbus Learning Center Management Corporation
Focus: 8-county region in south central Indiana
Expect More Tehama – Tehama County, Calif.
Convening Organization: Expect More Tehama
Focus: Tehama County
IMPACT Independence
– Independence County, Ark.
Convening Organization: IMPACT Independence
Focus: Independence County
John Jay WorkReady Institute – Jay County, Ind.
Convening Organization: John Jay Center for Learning
Focus: Jay County
Our Future in UNiSON – Anston & Union Counties, N.C.
Convening Organization: Wingate University
Focus: Anston & Union Counties
Southeast Ohio Career System Builders – Southeast Ohio, Ohio
Convening Organization: Building Bridges to Careers, Inc.
Focus: 25-county region in southeast Ohio
Tuscarawas Valley Industry Sector Partnership –Tuscarawas County, Ohio
Convening Organization: Tuscarawas County Economic Development Corporation
Focus: Tuscarawas County
Western Montana Care Workforce Collaborative – Western & Central Montana, Mont.
Convening Organization: University of Montana
Focus: Western & Central Montana
FutureMakers Coalition is a regional collective impact initiative that has been designated a Talent Hub by Lumina Foundation in partnership with The Kresge Foundation to support local efforts to increase educational attainment. Formed in 2015 around existing regional collaborations, the Coalition is committed to creating a cradle-to-career pathway to ensure success for traditional students and adult learners. FutureMakers Coalition was one of Lumina Foundation’s 75 national Community Partners in Attainment and is a member of the National Talent Network. Collaboratory provides backbone/administrative support to FutureMakers Coalition.
FutureMakers Coalition encourages businesses to join and invest in sustaining this community-changing initiative by visiting https://www.futuremakerscoalition.com or emailing Tessa LeSage at tlesage@collaboratory.org.
ABOUT COLLABORATORY
Collaboratory is a regional community foundation with an evolved mission committed to coordinating the solving of Southwest Florida’s major social problems by 2040. Not alone, but with everyone—the entire community working together across all five counties: Lee, Hendry, Glades, Charlotte and Collier.
Collaboratory provides community leadership, raises and coordinates funding, and disburses funds to organizations that are helping solve the problems our donors and the community have identified as priorities. Collaboratory also provides capacity building with training and resources for regional partners. Given the complexities of the social challenges in our region, Collaboratory ensures we are all working together and that every generous donor achieves the biggest impact with their funds. By using and sharing data to track progress, we ensure that donor dollars are best invested to move the needle on improving social issues.
Connection and collaboration are at the heart of our mission. Since 1976, we have made over $120 million in grants to individuals and organizations across the region to enhance the quality of life for current and future generations. It is upon that legacy of a commitment to community we will collectively achieve our 2040 goal. To learn more and get involved, call 239-274-5900 or visit www.collaboratory.org.
About Ascendium Education Group: Ascendium Education Group is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to helping people reach the education and career goals that matter to them. Ascendium invests in initiatives designed to increase the number of students from low-income backgrounds who complete postsecondary degrees, certificates and workforce training programs, with an emphasis on first-generation students, incarcerated adults, rural community members, students of color and veterans. Ascendium’s work identifies, validates and expands best practices to promote large-scale change at the institutional, system and state levels, with the intention of elevating opportunity for all. For more information, visit https://www.ascendiumphilanthropy.org
About CivicLab:
CivicLab, (a program of the Community Education Coalition) is a nonprofit institute dedicated to advancing the practice of civic collaboration and leading complex social systems. CivicLab’s approach is to: 1) learn what makes community collaboration work at its best, 2) document the discoveries, and 3) teach and share the practices broadly. The purpose of the work is to help communities increase their collective capacity—which is their ability to get things done, together. Since its inception, CivicLab has partnered with over 300 communities and organizations across the U.S. and trained more than 14,000 leaders of foundations, educational institutions, government, corporations, and community development organizations.
CivicLab is the home of Talent Hubs and the National Talent Network. The Talent Hub designation signifies that a local or regional cross-sector partnership has met rigorous standards for creating environments that attract, retain, and cultivate talent, particularly among today’s students
, many of whom are people of color, the first in their families to go to college, and from low-income households. The designation serves both as an aspirational target for other cities to aim for and a platform from which cities designated as Talent Hubs can build. The National Talent Network is a group of nearly 100 cross-sector partnerships working collaboratively to connect learning to economic opportunity in the places they call home.
About ECMC Foundation: ECMC Foundation is a national foundation whose North Star goal is to eliminate equity gaps in postsecondary completion by 2040 so that underserved learners have greater opportunity for social and economic mobility. The Foundation’s mission is to improve higher education for career success among underserved populations through evidence-based innovation. ECMC Foundation makes strategic grants and program-related investments to support both nonprofit and for-profit ventures, guided by a strategic framework which aims to advance systemic change by removing barriers to postsecondary completion; building the capacity of organizations, institutions, and systems; and transforming the postsecondary ecosystem. Learn more about ECMC Foundation by visiting www.ecmcfoundation.org and our parent company, ECMC Group, by visiting www.ecmcgroup.org
CivicLab Media Contact:
Dakota Pawlicki
CivicLab
815-245-3222
dpawlicki@civiclab.org
For more information, visit https://www.rurallearningsystems.org
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