In Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education (CTE Without Limits), Advance CTE and the 40-plus organizations who signed on to the vision, call for “a career preparation ecosystem that offers each learner access to and the means to succeed in any high-quality CTE program or experience that leads to success in their career of choice.” In the Call to Action, we go on to say “We recognize that this work cannot happen overnight but will require a shared commitment and shared ownership among our leaders and practitioners at the national, state and local levels and across education, workforce development, industry and philanthropy. Only together — through persistence, resilience, bravery, boldness and commitment — can we realize the possibility and aspiration of a new career preparation ecosystem that provides each learner with limitless opportunity.”

It is within this spirit that makes Advance CTE’s participation in the new initiative – Launch: Equitable & Accelerated Pathways for All – so exciting and critical. While Advance CTE is extremely proud of the work we do to support our members and the broader CTE field, we know if we want to change the trajectory of every learner in the nation, we cannot do this work alone.

Launch is a truly unique initiative in that it involves five national partners (Education Strategy Group, ExcelinEd, JFF and New America), six national funders (The Annie E. Casey Foundation Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Joyce Foundation and Walton Family Foundation), and cross-sector teams from across 11 states (Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas and Washington).

The partners, funders and state and local teams came together around a shared commitment to quality, equity and innovation – and ready to roll up our sleeves and do the hard work of confronting systemic barriers, particularly those faced by historically marginalized populations, activate the policy and practice levers that will drive scale and sustainability, and generate next-generation solutions to keep our field moving at the pace that our learners and industry demand. Between the Impact and Innovation Cohorts, at the end of the two-years, we will have incredibly strong proof points at the state and local level and new ways of designing pathways systems than we couldn’t have imagined today.

We are grateful and ecstatic to be on this journey with the partners, funders and state and local teams to build the career preparation ecosystem that is truly cohesive, flexible and responsive.

Kate Kreamer, Deputy Executive Director