The-Acumen_April2024

Bringing business to the table to ensure Colorado students reach their full potential

workforce, and empower a generation of learners to shape their futures. Together with business leaders and policymakers, Colorado Succeeds is working to rewrite the narrative, unleashing the full potential of Colorado’s students, and creating a brighter future for all learners. ABOUT COLORADO SUCCEEDS Colorado Succeeds was founded in 2006 by three politically diverse business leaders who saw a need for the business voice in education. Colorado Succeeds considers itself the radical middle, and believes the middle is where substantial work can be done on behalf of Colorado’s learners. The organization represents the statewide business voice, through members’ businesses and business leaders who look past election cycles and work across the aisle to focus on long- term outcomes for learners. Members apply their business expertise, influence, and capital to improve Colorado’s education and training programs – working together with educators, policy leaders, and community partners to create change, invest in what’s working, and scale success.

Coalition of business leaders focuses on improving schools, changing educational outcomes for all students, and shaping the future of Colorado’s workforce.

By RACHEL VAN BROCKLIN

Colorado faces a challenging paradox: we have one of the most well-educated workforces in the country, thanks to an influx of imported talent, yet we struggle to cultivate educational systems that help our own children thrive. In fact, according to the most recent Talent Pipeline Report, more than 90 percent of jobs that pay a family-sustaining wage in Colorado require some sort of postsecondary training. And yet, less than 30 percent of Colorado high school graduates earn a certificate, associate’s or bachelor’s degree within six years of graduation. A statewide nonprofit, Colorado Succeeds, is on a mission to crack this paradox, improve K12 and postsecondary outcomes, strengthen our

35 The Acumen

Powered by