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The Wisconsin Partnership one of 16 winning initiatives that will tackle systems changes needed to help children and families living in poverty move up the economic ladder
KENOSHA, WI — The Wisconsin Partnership, which includes Building Our Future, Milwaukee Succeeds, Higher Expectations for Racine County, and Achieve Brown County has received nearly $350,000 from StriveTogether, a national nonprofit working to bring communities together around data to make decisions and improve results for kids. The Wisconsin Partnership will use its grant award to test, learn, and spread strategies focused on advancing policy change within Wisconsin. The grant award is part of StriveTogether’s Cradle to Career Community Challenge, which seeks to create local change to enable economic mobility. The program’s goal is to strengthen and align the many systems, such as education, employment, health and housing that shape opportunity for children and families in America. “This project will allow Building Our Future to elevate our work in state and local activities in order to generate meaningful student outcomes at scale,” said Tatjana Bicanin, executive director of Building Our Future. “We have leadership from all sectors of Kenosha County that understand the need for alignment,” said Jean Moran, former CEO of LMI Packaging and executive sponsor. “We all know there is much more work to do. The best news of all is that we are ready, willing, and able to do what is needed.” The Wisconsin Partnership will focus on addressing mobilization of systems-level barriers that prevent families from accessing high-quality early care and education through community engagement. Through the Community Challenge, more than $20 million over the next three years will fund projects across the country that aim to shift public policy and engage the systems needed to help students progress from kindergarten to postsecondary completion and finding a job. The Wisconsin Partnership is receiving its grant through the Community Challenge’s Strategic Initiatives Fund, which supports projects working to advance policy change for children by engaging policy leaders, leading grassroots advocacy and coordinating efforts within state and local coalitions. As part of the Strategic Initiatives Fund, the Wisconsin Partnership has one of seven policy-focused projects being awarded grants of up to $350,000 per year for three years. Communities in the StriveTogether Cradle to Career Network were eligible to apply for the Community Challenge. “Education is key to a strong economy, and every child should have the opportunity to achieve his or her fullest potential, but existing systems don’t always support the success of students, particularly students of color and those from low-income families,” StriveTogether President and CEO Jennifer Blatz said. “Using the common language of data, we can create better, more equitable systems to improve outcomes for major milestones in every child’s life. Our Cradle to Career Community Challenge will enhance and expand the real, lasting results underway across our 70 communities.” About Building Our Future Building Our Future is Kenosha County’s first cradle to career collective impact effort focused on education and workforce development with leadership representing schools, businesses, government, civic organizations, and nonprofits, committed to improving student outcomes. As a community we focus on three shared goals: Every child enters school ready to learn, Every student succeeds in school, and Every student succeeds in a career. About StriveTogether StriveTogether leads a national movement of 70 communities to get better results in every child’s life. We coach and connect partners across the country to close gaps by using local data, especially for children of color and low-income children. Communities using our proven approach have seen measurable gains in kindergarten readiness, academic achievement and postsecondary success. The StriveTogether Cradle to Career Network reaches 10.4 million students, involves 10,800 organizations and has partners in 30 states and Washington, D.C. |
