Lead Partners

We believe in the value of philanthropy to connect people and resources and to help broker bold and hopeful ideas that promote equity and opportunity.

Doing that well means that we are always working collaboratively. Other funders agree: of 32 education issues, education funders from across the country listed career pathways access and attainment as the most ripe for collaboration. We invest grant funds and staff time in support of networks and collaborations that reflect our mission and vision.

Our Partners

The Vermont Community Foundation

Our organizational home, the Community Foundation inspires giving and brings people and resources together to make a difference in Vermont. A family of hundreds of funds and foundations, it provides the advice, investment vehicles, and back-office expertise that make it easy for the people who care about Vermont to find and fund the causes they love. The heart of the Community Foundation’s work is closing the opportunity gap—the divide that leaves too many Vermonters struggling to get ahead, no matter how hard they work. They envision Vermont at its best—where everyone has the opportunity to build a bright, secure future.

Community College of Vermont

Our cornerstone grantee partner, the Community College of Vermont serves the greatest number of Vermonters—and low-income Vermonters—of any college in the state via 12 locations and extensive learning options. We believe community colleges are engines of economic mobility.

Vermont Department of Labor

Our lead partner for the Most Promising Jobs campaign to highlight Vermont’s high-pay, high-demand jobs and the education and training pathways that lead to them.

Advance Vermont 

Advance Vermont is a statewide partnership of leaders from business, education, government, nonprofits and philanthropy with a unified goal to increase educational attainment in Vermont for the benefit of our residents, communities and economy. Its mission is to advance the civic and economic vitality of Vermont by growing the number of Vermonters with postsecondary credentials, increasing equity in educational attainment, and strengthening connections among education, training, and employment.