Finding Strength in Solidarity: The Collaborative’s Path Forward

Written By Mukta Ghorpadey

Mukta Ghorpadey, Executive Director of the DC Postsecondary Success Collaborative

This is a year that has been scary, uncertain, and unrelenting, as we’ve felt the impacts of an Administration committed to stripping away DEI, civil rights, and federal support for our communities. DC’s autonomy has been under constant attack and we’ve seen ICE and National Guard flood our streets. In a tightening economy, we’ve seen local funding for our city’s crucial programs fall away.

But we’ve also seen educators stand together to protect their students, residents fight back in their neighborhoods, and organizations collaborate to problem-solve together. As someone who calls DC my home, I have clung to these moments as reminders that we will always figure out how to take care of each other, no matter how insurmountable the conditions feel.

And as executive director of the DC Postsecondary Success Collaborative, I know our work today is more important than ever. The Collaborative’s 254 members and their organizations have shown the resiliency needed to meet this moment, and we remain committed to supporting each of you to ensure you have the tools, resources, and community to do what you do.

Reflecting on Our Progress and Looking Ahead

Last program year, the Collaborative engaged over 92 unique professionals through our membership-wide roundtables, small professional learning community knowledge networks, and city-leader engagement sessions. Our 2025 DC Postsecondary Success Summit saw 230 attendees for a day of workshops led by peer experts, a resource fair of postsecondary programs, and two plenaries that included alumni speakers. Of those that attended one of our events, over 77% of you said you would recommend the Collaborative to a colleague. The strong connections we’ve made, the powerful conversations we’ve had, and the community we’ve built this year are so very clear.

At the end of our program year, we engaged folks from across our ecosystem to identify exactly what the needs of our community are and how we may begin to address them through the Collaborative. From that research, we surfaced a number of reoccurring themes, namely the desire for more:

  • Cross-sector and role-alike connection and collaboration

  • Information and resource sharing across the ecosystem, including equity-centered professional learning

  • Collective advocacy and systems-level alignment on the value of multiple postsecondary pathways

  • Youth voice and co-design throughout programming

We have taken the last months, while in conversation with our members and the broader postsecondary success ecosystem, to intentionally build out programming to ensure that we are being responsive to what our community needs. So, keep an eye out for our third annual Summit, knowledge networks, and city-leader engagement sessions that incorporate each of these themes. 

We know that when educators and professionals are empowered with information and community, our young people thrive. This commitment guides our work, and is now more urgent than ever.

Exciting Updates from the Collaborative

None of this would be possible without the support of two incredible funders, The Clark Foundation and The Richard E. & Nancy P. Marriott Foundation! We were honored to recently receive grants from these philanthropic partners, which will help sustain our core programming initiatives and other projects that strengthen the postsecondary and workforce ecosystem for DC’s young people.

We’re especially grateful in a moment when funding for education and workforce initiatives is increasingly limited. This support represents an investment in community-driven learning, collaboration, and systems change - and we couldn’t be more thankful.

As a further support to the Collaborative’s mission, we have assembled an incredible Advisory Committee made up of leaders from across our postsecondary success ecosystem. This Advisory Committee serves as a strategic resource and offers us expert guidance as we navigate the world ahead. Thank you to all our committee members for lending their time and energy to our work!

What’s Ahead: Save the Date for the DC Postsecondary Success Summit

And that brings me to an exciting final update: save the date for the 2026 DC Postsecondary Success Summit on Friday, March 27th at Trinity Washington University! 

Keep your eyes peeled…

  • Call for proposals is launching in early December! 

  • Tickets go on sale in early January. This year, to support the Collaborative with the cost of putting on the Summit, our tickets will be $50 plus a few dollars in fees. Worried about paying? Reach out to me directly!

  • Want to table at our resource fair? Tabling reservations are opening up in January.

  • We’re looking for community partners to sponsor those individuals whose organizations cannot pay the cost of our ticket. Reach out to me if you’d like to help!

As we move through this, I’m grateful for our partners, our direct service providers, and - most importantly - the young people who inspire us daily. The challenges we face are real, but so is the solidarity we have in one another and the momentum we’re building every day. I look forward to continuing in this work alongside you. See you at the Summit soon!

Mukta Ghorpadey