Our Mission & Solutions
“The median household income for white residents, at $149,734, is over three times higher than the median income of Black residents, which is $49,652. White households have higher median incomes than all other races in the District, but the disparity between white and Black households is the most disproportionate.”
DC Racial Equity Profile for Economic Outcomes, Council Office of Racial Equity
“The best available information indicates that the majority of D.C.’s alumni do not complete a postsecondary degree, and that those who stay in the city as young adults earn about half the income of their peers who moved to the city.”
Measuring Early Career Outcomes in DC, DC Policy Center
Young people in our city experience a unique set of barriers in finding the right postsecondary path to a family-sustaining career. DC continues to grapple with a stark divide in educational attainment and income between lifelong residents and those who relocate here, with Black residents making three times less than white residents. We believe that part of the reason why these barriers often persist is because the professionals and advisors working with youth and residents lack the tools, resources, and data necessary to effectively advise their learners on the multiple postsecondary pathway options and jobs available in DC.
The Collaborative, founded in 2024, seeks to answer these challenges by bringing together a diverse coalition of postsecondary success leaders across our city. Through collaboration and a shared commitment to improving early career outcomes, we are working to close the divide in educational attainment and income, ensuring that all young people and residents in DC have the chance to achieve their postsecondary dreams and sustain their families.
Desire for More Collaboration & Community
DC educators and service providers are disconnected from other professionals in the postsecondary landscape. We need consistent conversation across the ecosystem, especially between learner-facing practitioners, program and school leaders, and city decision-makers.
Our Current Challenges
Gaps in High- Quality Learning & Skills Training
Postsecondary success professionals want high quality professional development and community-building opportunities for a rapidly changing world. They need the tools to be empowered to advise learners across multiple career and college pathway options - and in responsive ways for those who need the most support.
A Needed Shift in Our Advising Paradigm
The single postsecondary pathway mentality has dominated advising for years, but it is not serving young people. Youth and residents need equitable access to a diversity of high-quality pathways. These include associate’s and bachelor’s degrees, apprenticeships, workforce training, and more.
Roundtables & City Updates
Join us every other month for a membership-wide roundtable featuring guest speakers, professional development, and networking. We also host leaders for sessions focused on sharing citywide initiatives & updates.
So, how is the Collaborative addressing these challenges facing our postsecondary success ecosystem?
Our Solutions
Knowledge Networks
Knowledge Networks, our professional learning communities, meet every other month, focusing on topic-specific problems of practice and community building.
Monthly Newsletter
We send out a newsletter with resources, events, and information from our DC postsecondary ecosystem. Do you have an opportunity to include in our next newsletter? Submit your opportunity here!
Annual Summit
Our annual DC Postsecondary Success Summit brings together all in the city that work on postsecondary success. Check out past Summits, agendas, and highlights here.