Strengthening Arizona’s Pathways Systems 

 

A working forum focused on strengthening the pathways that connect young Arizonans to postsecondary education, training, and meaningful careers. 

Register Today

The Center for the Future of Arizona (CFA), in partnership with All4Ed and Britebound, invites you to a working forum with state and regional leaders from K-12 education, postsecondary education, workforce development, business and industry, philanthropy, and policy. Together, we will focus on how Arizona can strengthen education-to-career pathways for young people.

This convening focuses on the part of the education-to-workforce continuum that helps young people explore career possibilities, make informed decisions about what comes next, and move from secondary education into postsecondary education and training and then into meaningful careers. This includes career exploration and navigation, career and technical education, dual enrollment, work-based learning, industry-recognized credentials, and strong connections between education, training, and employment.

Strengthening these pathways is essential to expanding opportunity for young Arizonans and developing the homegrown talent Arizona needs. This work builds on Arizona’s existing education goals and frameworks, including Achieve60AZ, the Arizona Education Progress Meter, and the State 48 Graduate Profile, which together help define the outcomes Arizona wants for students and our state.

Building on work already underway across the state, this forum will bring together leaders to:

• Take stock of the assets, gaps, and opportunities across Arizona’s education-to-career pathways landscape.
• Explore the functions and infrastructure needed to support strong, accessible pathways and how those functions currently operate in Arizona.
• Learn how states with similar contexts have strengthened their pathways systems.
• Consider where stronger coordination is needed across state and regional efforts and where greater clarity around roles could accelerate progress.
• Shape a shared vision and identify priorities and opportunities for action that can strengthen Arizona’s pathways and inform ongoing statewide and regional work.

Arizona has significant momentum to build upon. Across the state, schools, postsecondary institutions, employers, workforce organizations, intermediaries, and community partners are creating opportunities that connect young people to further education, training, and careers.

At the same time, recent work—including Education Forward Arizona’s education-to-workforce white paper series and ArizonaW1NS—has highlighted opportunities for stronger alignment and coordination across Arizona’s education and talent ecosystem. Arizona’s Education Progress Meter also shows both meaningful progress and the work still ahead to reach our shared education and attainment goals.

Strong education-to-career pathways are an important part of that work. They can help more young people successfully navigate the transition beyond high school, earn postsecondary credentials of value, and connect to meaningful careers—while helping Arizona develop the talent needed to sustain economic growth and competitiveness.

Against this backdrop, Arizona was selected to participate in Britebound’s youth career readiness state strategy initiative. Britebound is a national nonprofit changing the way young people learn about careers and navigate to postsecondary education and career success through access to career readiness information, resources, and experiences for all. All4Ed is Britebound’s implementation partner for this initative in Arizona. All4Ed is a national nonprofit that partners with leaders across K-12, higher education, and government to redesign education-to-career systems so that every young person is on a pathway to thriving. Through this initiative, Britebound and All4Ed are supporting state leaders in shaping a shared vision and priorities for strengthening the policies, cross-sector partnerships, and systems that help young people explore, experiment with, and navigate their interests through education-to-career pathways.

The September 23 convening is an opportunity to build on Arizona’s existing momentum by bringing state and regional leaders together to explore what stronger pathways could look like, where greater coordination would add value, and what shared priorities could guide future action and investment.

Who Should Attend  

This forum is designed for regional and statewide leaders who are actively shaping, or are positioned to influence, the pathways that connect young Arizonans from secondary education to postsecondary education, training, and meaningful careers. We’re bringing together people who make decisions, broker partnerships, move resources, and implement pathways across education, workforce, and industry.

Business or industry leaders, including state and regional industry associations and chambers of commerce invested in strengthening Arizona’s talent pipeline.

Philanthropic partners focused on education, pathways, workforce, postsecondary attainment, or youth career readiness.

Intermediary and community-based organizations convening cross-sector partners, providing technical assistance or data infrastructure, or advancing pathways and systems change.

State or local government leaders working on education, workforce, or economic mobility.

K-12 education leaders overseeing CTE, college and career readiness, work-based learning, or career navigation and advising.

Postsecondary education leaders overseeing college access and success, dual enrollment, workforce development, credenitals, or regional pathways initiatives.

Workforce and economic development leaders responsible for industry engagement, work-based learning, apprenticeships, or workforce planning.

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