What we are working on:

Over the years, our funding has helped launch and inform public policy and funding—from community college in correctional facilities to the state’s Critical Occupations framework. We’re now focused on three priority workforce development strategies:

• Teacher workforce development and diversification. Teaching is the occupation associated with the greatest demand in Vermont’s Most Promising Jobs framework. We’ve made a multi-year commitment to prioritize this issue and are investing in several innovative ideas.
• Community college as an engine of mobility – Our decision to partner with the Vermont State Colleges generally and the Community College of Vermont (CCV) specifically is highly strategic. Community college is an economic mobility engine and that’s especially true in Vermont, where associate degree graduates are the most likely in the country to achieve a positive ROI. CCV serves the majority of Vermont college students—and low-income college students, and high school students accessing college courses—statewide. 
  We are asking the question: if Vermonters care about career-connected public postsecondary education as a driver of economic mobility... how do we ensure that funding commensurately and adequately supports the institutions that serve the greatest number of Vermonters who are furthest from opportunity? 
• “The Big Blur” between high school and college – With high school graduation rates and college continuation rates dropping, we encourage Vermont to embrace “the big blur:” reimagining the last two years of high school and the first two years of college in order to increase success for all. In Vermont, we celebrate all flexible pathways that spark hope on students’ journeys to and through high school graduation and we’re encouraged to see significant strides in equitable enrollment and success. 

Accelerated pathways like the Free Degree Promise that builds on the state’s Early College program is making college the easy choice for young people furthest from opportunity. This year’s 11th graders are the last class eligible for our Free Degree Promise. As our five-year commitment ends, we are asking the state to take up this low-cost, high-impact program and keep the hope for a bright future alive for Vermont youth.

Our emerging areas of grantmaking interest include service-to-career pathways and professional coordination and learning for Vermont’s work-based learning coordinators. To learn more about these and other funding opportunities, visit our Grants page.

How we approach this work:

We take a relational approach rooted in reliable data. Supporting youth success and career pathways requires a deep, current understanding of their needs and aspirations. That’s why we invest in research, update Vermont’s Most Promising Jobs list every two years, conduct empathy interviews, survey young people on how they want adults to engage with them, and hire program participants as interns.

Here’s what young people are telling us about how they want adults to show up in those conversations: 

1. Share Your Opinions and Experiences. We want your advice—what worked, what didn’t, what surprised you. Be honest, even if it's hard to hear. Share stories. Just don’t pressure us or pretend there’s one “right” answer.

2. Be Real About Money. Money matters. Be honest about salaries, the cost of education, debt, budgeting, promotions, and how to manage money well. We want to be prepared to live independently and succeed financially.

3. Give Us More Hands-On Exposure to Careers. Let us try things. Internships, job shadows, guest speakers, clubs, and real-life experiences make jobs feel real and help us figure out what we like. Give us more access and visibility.

4. Help Us Discover and Follow Our Own Interests. Instead of pushing us to follow a family path or stick to a certain type of job, ask what we're curious about. Support our exploration of what we love and where we might thrive.

5. Talk Honestly About Trade-Offs and Quality of Life. Show us how to weigh salary vs. lifestyle. Don’t just say “follow your dreams”—be realistic. Help us understand work-life balance, stress levels, and what different career paths really mean.

6. Talk With Us, Not At Us. Tone matters: we want respect, empathy, and patience, especially if we’re unsure.

7. Focus on the Practical Side of Career Paths. Tell us how to actually get jobs—during or after college, how to search, apply, network. Give us info on what’s out there and how to get there from here.