StriveTogether

📍 June is all about Pathways.

All month, we're sharing what it takes to build the connected, well-designed systems that help young people move from high school into careers — and economic opportunity.

Here's what the data tells us:
78% of Gen Z students say they want to determine their career plans before graduating.
Only 13% feel prepared to do so.

That gap is not a motivation problem. It's a system design problem.

A purposeful pathway is the intentionally designed journey that connects a young person's experiences in high school and beyond — education, training and career preparation that leads to work with family-sustaining wages.

When the journey works, each experience builds on the last:
✔️ High-quality advising keeps students connected to trusted adults at every transition
✔️ Accelerated coursework provides access to college credit and industry credentials
✔️ Career-connected learning bridges the classroom and the real world

Graduation, enrollment and credential completion all matter. But in isolation, they don't add up to a pathway. When those experiences aren't designed together, students — especially those in the most complex circumstances — can fall through the gaps.

The goal: every student is able to say, "I know who I am, I know where I'm going and I know who can help me get there."

📘 Read our Pathways explainer to learn what purposeful pathways are and why they matter for economic mobility. https://hubs.li/Q04k7FPR0

Stay tuned all month for stories, strategies and resources on building pathways that work for every student.

Happening tomorrow!

Join us on June 2 for the premiere of the newest DREAM ON episode — a powerful short film from spotlighting Spartanburg, South Carolina's Northside neighborhood, where a cross-sector coalition helped reduce violent crime by 77%, raised third-grade reading proficiency from 6% to 48%, built hundreds of units of new housing, opened a new community center and launched a state-of-the-art early learning center.

Following the screening, Executive Director Rob Watson will moderate a live Q&A with:
Jennifer Blatz, President & CEO, StriveTogether
Dr. Russell Booker, CEO, Spartanburg Academic Movement
Carol Naughton, CEO, Purpose Built Communities
David Summers, CEO, Northside Development Group

📅 Tuesday, June 2, 2026
🕛 10:00–11:00 a.m. ET
💻 Virtual | Zoom Webinar

This event is free and open to the public — registration is required. Click the link to reserve your spot.

https://hubs.li/Q04jCyn10

Tobius Nance grew up in Northeast Baltimore thinking his experience was the norm — STEM programs nearby, a scholarship to the University of Maryland, opportunities that felt ordinary.

Then he saw what the data showed about the rest of his city and it changed how he understood everything.

Neighborhood by neighborhood, the numbers showed what he hadn't seen from where he stood: neighborhoods where nearly half of all children live below the poverty line. Communities with almost no programming for older youth. A map of opportunity gaps he'd never had to navigate himself.

That shift — from assumption to clarity — is what moved Tobius from the young person the data described to one of the people using it to drive change.

Today, Tobius serves as Youth Co-Chair of the Community Advisory Board at Baltimore's Promise, representing the board at the Board of Directors level. He helped shape the Community Research and Action Committee, a governance body that centers young people in decisions about how data is collected, interpreted and acted on.

Baltimore's Promise built the data ecosystem that gave Tobius the tools to see past his own experience. Now he's using those tools to make sure other young people don't have to.

📖 Read the full spotlight on Tobius to learn more about his story: https://hubs.li/Q04j2KfW0

What happens when a community commits to using data honestly — and acts on what it finds?

In Hamilton County, Tennessee, Chattanooga 2.0 has spent the last decade finding out.

StriveTogether's latest blog shares how they've built data systems that track outcomes from birth to career, surface gaps that averages would otherwise hide and give every partner across the county the same honest picture to work from.

When their data showed that a tutoring model wasn't working, they ended it — and scaled the model that was working to reach 750 students across 14 campuses. When a first-ever childcare seat count revealed a gap of 8,700 seats below estimates, it gave leaders the evidence they needed to act.

🔗 Read the full blog to learn how they utilized their data to make these outcomes happen https://hubs.li/Q04hb4db0

And tomorrow, May 20 at 2 p.m. ET, tune in live to hear directly from the people doing this work. Dr. Sonia Stewart, Rachel Kramer and Jennifer Andrews of Chattanooga 2.0 are joining us for a live Q&A, moderated by MaKenzie Mosby.

👉 Register to get notified when we go live: https://hubs.li/Q04h9XXl0

Big news — we just launched a brand-new website!

We've been working hard behind the scenes to make it easier for neighbors, partners and changemakers like you to connect with the resources, stories and community that power this movement.

Whether you're exploring our Cradle to Career Network, diving deep into the Outcomes Playbooks or looking for your next course on The Training Hub, the new site puts everything within reach.

Everyone deserves every opportunity to succeed — and that starts with making sure the people doing this work have what they need to move it forward.

Explore our new website and dive deeper into the work! 👉 https://hubs.li/Q04gSJ-x0

📊 What does it look like to put data at the center of your work — and actually use it to change outcomes for kids?

Next week, we're going live with the team at Chattanooga 2.0, a StriveTogether Cradle to Career Network member using data to drive measurable change for children and families in Hamilton County, Tennessee.

Join us Wednesday, May 20 at 2 p.m. ET for a live conversation covering:
How Chattanooga 2.0 built an accessible, community-centered approach to data
Using contributing and contextual indicators to understand cradle-to-career progress
How data informs early childhood and literacy strategies on the ground

Featuring:
🎙 Dr. Sonia Stewart, Executive Director, Chattanooga 2.0
🎙 Jennifer Andrews, Director of Early Childhood Strategies, Chattanooga 2.0
🎙 Rachel Kramer, Director of Data Strategy and Impact, Chattanooga 2.0
🎙️ Moderated by Makenzie Mosby, Network Advisor, StriveTogether

If your community is thinking about how to build a stronger data practice, this conversation is for you.

👉 Register now to be notified when we go live: https://hubs.li/Q04ghMnv0