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Newsletter March 21, 2024

Sectoral Training Insights, Promotions for Key Ascendium Team Members, and More

  • What We Have Learned — and Still Need to Learn — About Sectoral Training Programs
  • Ascendium’s Education Philanthropy Announces Strategic Promotions to Elevate Impact
Newsletter Article March 13, 2024

What We Have Learned — and Still Need to Learn — About Sectoral Training Programs

Sectoral training programs can be effective in addressing the needs of both employers and learners. However, there are still big questions about what aspects of these programs work best, and for whom. Over the coming months, Ascendium will draw on insights from a recent convening of leading researchers, our current investments, and the field to explore future investments focused on advancing evidence on the conditions and mechanisms needed to deliver and scale high-quality sectoral training programs.

Newsletter Article February 26, 2024

Ascendium's Education Philanthropy Announces Strategic Promotions to Elevate Impact

Ascendium is pleased to announce the promotions of three internal team members. In their new roles, Deputy Director of Learning and Impact Jessa Valentine, Senior Program Officer of Strategic Engagement Amy Kuether, and Program Officer Ashley Parker will propel new and ongoing initiatives. These organizational changes signal Ascendium’s commitment to the evolving needs of learners from low-income backgrounds.

Newsletter Article February 14, 2024

Michigan Community College Association Lays the Groundwork for State-Level Policy Changes

The Michigan Community College Association (MCCA) is a leading advocate for postsecondary education and workforce development in Michigan, collaborating with the right people to implement and scale effective programs as well as informing state-level representatives of what student success could look like for thousands of learners in the state. The efforts of organizations like MCCA help lay the groundwork for program and policy changes that result in improvements to postsecondary education and workforce training systems.

Newsletter Article January 30, 2024

Building Data-Driven Pathways to Good Jobs Through Community Partnerships

How can postsecondary education and workforce training institutions help ensure that talent pipelines for good jobs are effective, equitable, and data-driven? Two new grants that focus on community partnerships to support developing pathways informed by labor market data may help answer this question.

Newsletter January 18, 2024

Postsecondary Education and Workforce Training Trends, Ascendium Welcomes Three Members, and More

  • Postsecondary Education and Workforce Training Trends We’re Watching in 2024
  • Ascendium Welcomes Three Members to Education Philanthropy Team
  • Grants to Community-Based Organizations Aim to Strengthen Workforce-Aligned Training Pathways for Rural Learners
Ascendium in the News January 11, 2024

Stackable Credentials: Making College Work for More Students

Stackable credentials are a way for learners to build their education and careers in steps, but evidence for these programs is scarce. RAND researchers pulled data from two states to learn if the programs deliver, under what circumstances, and for whom.

Newsletter Article December 22, 2023

Postsecondary Education and Workforce Training Trends We’re Watching in 2024

Part of being a reflective funder is listening to our grant partners and tracking the evolving needs of learners from year to year. With 2024 underway, we’re seeing notable trends across postsecondary education, including statewide efforts to align postsecondary education and the workforce and continued concerns about the return on investment of college necessitating more flexible models of delivery. Remaining aware of these trends allows us to tailor our grantmaking for meaningful impact.

Newsletter Article December 08, 2023

Answering Questions About Learners and Employment Starts with Good Data

Despite investments in postsecondary education and workforce training by state and federal government, and from the learners themselves, we don’t today have adequate data to answer simple questions about the return on those investments in terms of employment outcomes. The Coleridge Initiative’s efforts to link postsecondary education and workforce training data, boost state data analysis capacity, and ultimately address knowledge gaps, can inform evidence-based policies and practices that lead to upward mobility and successful outcomes for learners.

Ascendium in the News December 07, 2023

A Boost for Skills Experiments

Ascendium is among several funders supporting an initiative that elevates the use of learning and employment records (LERs) to make more equitable skills-based hiring decisions. Kept by learners and workers, LERs are digital records that communicate to employers the skills an individual has to qualify for a job.

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