News

Education Philanthropy Team Welcomes New Hire with Community College System Expertise

Ascendium’s Education Philanthropy is excited to share a new program officer has joined our team! Valerie Crespín-Trujillo will support strategic grantmaking in our Streamline Key Learner Transitions and Support Rural Postsecondary Education and Workforce Training focus areas. Her valuable knowledge and experience with community college systems makes her a great addition to our team, and we look forward to exploring how those experiences can inform our future grantmaking.

Support for Incarcerated Learners through New Coding Course, New Projects that Aim to Link Learner Transition Data and More

• Coding Course Prepares Incarcerated Learners for Careers in Technology
• Ascendium Invests in Projects that Link
  Postsecondary Education and Workforce Data
• Over 500 Apprentices Receive Tools of the Trade
  Scholarships

Coding Course Prepares Incarcerated Learners for Careers in Technology

For the first time, the LaunchCode Foundation graduated a cohort of incarcerated learners from its foundational coding and web development training and employment course last month. Supported by Ascendium, the course provides coding instruction for incarcerated learners nearing release. The goal of the project is to increase workforce training opportunities and improve employment outcomes for incarcerated adults while providing a pathway to further education.

Future Workforce Supported by Ascendium with $1,500 Tools of the Trade Scholarships Going to Over 500 Wisconsin Apprentices

Five hundred eleven construction and industrial trade apprentices have been awarded scholarships through Ascendium’s Tools of the Trade Scholarship program this year. In its ninth year, the scholarship program benefits apprentices with financial need in the Wisconsin Technical College System.

Ascendium Education Group Releases 2021 Education Philanthropy Report: Stronger Together

Ascendium Education Group has released its 2021 Education Philanthropy report, Stronger Together. The report tells the story of Ascendium’s philanthropy during 2021 and what can be achieved through partnership and collaboration.

2021 Education Philanthropy Report: Stronger Together

Ascendium is pleased to announce the availability of our 2021 Education Philanthropy Report, Stronger Together.

New Education Philanthropy Team Members, Guided Pathways Framework Tool Available and More

• Ascendium Strengthens Education Philanthropy Team With New Hires
• AAC&U Publishes Web-Based Tool For Campuses Engaged in Guided Pathways

Ascendium Invests in Projects that Link Postsecondary Education and Workforce Data

The Coleridge Initiative, a grant partner of Ascendium, recently announced 10 teams were selected to participate in their Democratizing our Data Challenge. The challenge was designed to build on successful investments made by government agencies to collaborate, develop and scale tools that inform education and workforce policy. Each team has been working to develop and scale their innovative approaches to understanding employment outcomes for workers and learners from low-income backgrounds. Carrying forward the success and momentum from this first round, applications to participate in the second round of the data challenge are now open.

Ascendium Strengthens Education Philanthropy Team With New Hires

Ascendium’s Education Philanthropy team rang in 2022 with a pair of exciting new hires. Both Scott Davis, a learning and impact officer, and Amy Girardi, a senior program officer in the Remove Structural Barriers to Success focus area, bring decades of expertise in creating and facilitating systemic change.

AAC&U Publishes Web-Based Tool For Campuses Engaged in Guided Pathways

The American Association of Colleges and Universities has developed an online tool to help campuses engaged in the guided pathways model of student success. The Teaching-Learning-Assessment Framework centers student success and equity and recommends measurable steps that faculty, staff and institutional leaders can take to address persisting gaps in student learning outcomes. Ascendium is pleased to support this and other guided pathways initiatives that encourage the adoption of evidence-based institutional and system policies and practices that drive equitable student outcomes.