Local nonprofit institute CivicLab has been chosen to lead a national effort to strengthen educational and workforce development systems in rural communities.
Ascendium Education Group, a nonprofit focused on educational and career attainment, has selected CivicLab for this work and is providing a $750,000 grant to the Columbus Learning Center Management Corp. for the initiative.
The grant initiative will allow CivicLab to identify six to eight “rural community collaboratives” to receive funding and technical assistance that support their goals for improvement of education and workforce training systems. Participants will receive technical assistance from CivicLab and the Talent Hubs Technical Assistance Provider Network.
These communities will be chosen through a request for partnership process this fall and receive support from January 2022 through August of 2023. Applications to join the initiative will open this October.
“Through cross-sector collaboration, selected communities will work together to strengthen existing plans that create pathways to prosperity for low-income learners, including adults entering or re-entering workforce training programs,” according to CivicLab officials.
“Too often, rural communities are treated as an afterthought in the design of national initiatives,” said Dakota Pawlicki, director of talent hubs at CivicLab, in a statement. “Our model of assistance places the community first, empowering them to identify their specific needs and then providing them with the right expert to deliver the right support at the right time.”
The initiative’s capacity-building model will connect CivicLab’s expertise in systems design, stakeholder engagement and cross-sector partnerships with an extensive network of experts, practitioners and organizations that are equipped to address “specific areas of need,” CivicLab officials said.
Ascendium program officer Kirstin Yeado commended the local nonprofit institute on its extensive history of working with communities across the country to help develop partnerships that connect post-secondary education and workforce systems.
“We are pleased to support CivicLab’s community-centered approach and their leadership of the National Talent Network,” Yeado said. “This work will support rural communities in building their capacity to ensure more rural learners from low-income backgrounds earn degrees and credentials aligned with the needs of local employers.”
This aligns with Ascendium’s goals, as the nonprofit invests in initiatives intended to increase the number of students from such backgrounds who complete postsecondary degrees, earn certificates and finish workforce training programs.
Additionally, these initiatives put an emphasis on first-generation students, incarcerated adults, rural community members, students of color and veterans.
“Tackling complex social challenges takes all of us,” said Jack Hess, co-founder and executive director of CivicLab in an official statement. “With Ascendium’s leadership in rural postsecondary education and workforce training, and the trust of the communities that will engage in this work, we are confident that we will help thousands of people reach their goals of stability and economic mobility.”
