By: Emily Fabiano
In July, I had the privilege of attending Jobs for the Future’s Horizon Summit in Washington, DC.
This premier event brought together leaders from philanthropy, government, business, and education to discuss a critical theme: “The Power of Us.”
Our goal? To ensure that 75 million people facing systemic barriers to advancement can work in quality jobs within the next decade.
I’m excited to share some key lessons I learned about successful partnerships between national funders and states, along with my reflections for leaders in our field.
1. Listen First
One of the most important takeaways is to listen first.
We can’t just deliver solutions to unvalidated problems. Instead, we should engage with the people we aim to serve early and often, elevating them to co-leadership levels.
Leaders from Braven, the National Education Equity Lab, and Per Scholas—organizations championing equitable access to high-quality education and career pathways for all students—emphasized the importance of “go slow to go fast” and listening first.
By involving stakeholders from the beginning, we ensure that solutions are tailored to their needs, increasing buy-in and effectiveness. This approach builds trust and collaboration, making initiatives more impactful and sustainable in the long term.
2. Leadership Matters
Buy-in from both leaders and implementers is crucial, and initiatives can fail quickly without their support.
Securing buy-in from the governor’s office and relevant agency leaders provides the necessary authority and resources to implement statewide initiatives.
Additionally, empowering implementers with clear roles and expectations is essential, as they are the ones who execute the vision. Their buy-in ensures that initiatives are prioritized and implemented effectively, with the necessary support from funders and/or national nonprofits.
3. Build Strong State Teams
Creating strong state teams with clear roles and responsibilities is essential.
Planning for inevitable transitions in staff and leadership is often overlooked but critical. Preparing for these transitions will help maintain momentum and continuity, ensuring that projects sustain their impact even when there is significant turnover.
We can also foster ownership and autonomy among project teams by Identifying key people across different agencies and setting clear expectations.
4. Data is Essential
Everyone was talking about data because it’s that important. Without it, we have no benchmarks and no way to confirm that what we’re doing is working.
Data helps identify gaps and trends, enabling better-informed policy decisions. Integrating data across agencies, such as in longitudinal systems, unlocks opportunities to address root problems, rather than the symptoms of those problems. Solving for symptoms is only a temporary fix. To achieve lasting, sustainable change, we must tackle the root causes.
The importance of data was championed by former Secretaries of Education Margaret Spellings and Arne Duncan, who asserted that data is our factual basis for informed decision-making.
5. The Power of Us
The overarching message of the conference was that no single person, organization, or sector can achieve these goals alone.
Partnerships between national funders, states, local organizations, and the people they aim to serve are crucial for creating lasting change in workforce development.
A prime example is The Walton Family Foundation‘s support for the Washington, D.C. Office of Education through Employment Pathways. This initiative will significantly improve DC leaders’ understanding of how education and workforce investments impact economic mobility and education outcomes for young people in the District, enabling more effective and impactful projects moving forward. Together, the two partners have achieved far more than they could have alone.
Collaborations that bridge agencies and sectors such as this leverage diverse resources, expertise, and perspectives, leading to more effective solutions. These partnerships foster trust, accountability, and a collective commitment to our shared goals, ultimately driving more meaningful and systemic change.
These are my top five takeaways. And although these ideas come from some of the most visionary leaders in our field, this is hardly a comprehensive list.
I would love to hear from you. What strikes you most about these takeaways? How might you be applying them in your work today? Is there anything I missed?
Drop me a note on LinkedIn and let’s continue this conversation!
