Cincinnati / Northern Kentucky, Sept. 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cincinnati – More than 1,400 local single mothers will get assistance to achieve economic and education success for their families with the help of new funding and a national Talent Hub designation from Lumina Foundation. A local education, non-profit and workforce development collaborative is partnering to achieve this goal by 2020, which will improve opportunities for both the mothers and their children.
StrivePartnership announced today it will receive $350,000 in grant funding over 42 months to fund the Intergenerational Success Project, a new local collaborative aimed at strengthening the capability of the Cincinnati / Northern Kentucky region to recruit more women into the education and workforce pipeline, provide stronger family supports, and build connections to self-sufficient career pathways. Using a two-generational approach, the collaborative plans to engage single mothers and their children in Cincinnati, Covington, Ky., and Newport, Ky., helping women pursue a post-secondary credential that leads to stable employment, set pathways toward long-term economic stability, and inspire academic achievement by their children.
“The women we will be working with bring talent and aspirations that we are failing to fully utilize in our region’s economy,” said Byron White, executive director of StrivePartnership. “Lumina Foundation’s investment in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky as a Talent Hub will serve as the catalyst for stronger alignment of local organizations already assisting single mothers, and provide an opportunity to break the cycle of poverty for these families.”
Led by StrivePartnership, a cross-sector partnership working to improve education outcomes from cradle to career for every child in the Greater Cincinnati urban core, the Intergenerational Success Project will build upon and align existing post-secondary attainment programs serving local women and their children. Core partner organizations include Brighton Center, Cincinnati State Technical and Community College, Gateway Community and Technical College, and Partners for a Competitive Workforce. The Women’s Fund of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation will provide technical support to the initiative.
White noted that the project will contribute to the efforts of Cincinnati’s Child Poverty Collaborative, on which most of the project partners participate. The Collaborative is addressing conditions that have led to Cincinnati’s ranking as sixth in the nation for childhood poverty, with two out of every three kids in poverty living in a single female-headed household.
“In 2020, four out of every seven women in Greater Cincinnati are predicted to work in occupations with a median wage that is inadequate to support a woman with one child without public assistance,” says Wonda Winkler, executive vice president of Brighton Center. “By helping women reach their individual education and career goals, we can make great strides towards improving poverty rates and reaching community-wide post-secondary attainment goals.”
Key strategies planned by Intergenerational Success Project partners include alignment and growth of:
- Outreach programs to engage single mothers in their communities.
- Family-centered coaching from initial interest through job placement and retention.
- Support networks for women and children.
- Financial assistance programs.
- Network of customizable learning and career pathway opportunities.
- Competency-based post-secondary curriculum focused on transferrable skills.
“At Cincinnati State, we have long seen the potential of the two-generation concept—by providing student-parents with academic support while providing their children with quality preschool,” said Dr. Monica Posey, president of Cincinnati State. “To be able to collaborate with partners regionally on this approach will only increase the collective impact for individual families and the community.”
The collaborative will also focus on increasing regional awareness of the two-generation concept, which focuses on both mothers and their children, the importance of holistic family supports, and the critical impact single mothers can have on local economic development.
“Like our partners, we value working women in our community and know the important role they play in families,” said Dr. Fernando Figueroa, president, Gateway Community & Technical College. “This collaborative effort will provide means for these women to pursue their talents and better their lives.”
Cincinnati / Northern Kentucky is one of 17 communities nationwide designated as Talent Hubs by Lumina Foundation for meeting rigorous standards for creating environments that attract, retain and cultivate talent, particularly among today’s students, many of whom are people of color, the first in their families to go to college and from low-income households. Grant funding will support local efforts to educate more people, allowing community and postsecondary leaders to better meet the specific needs of residents. Lumina will provide these funds in partnership with the Kresge Foundation.
“These communities are the creative and entrepreneurial engines that power our nation,” said Jamie Merisotis, president and CEO of Lumina Foundation. “For our country to meet growing demand for an educated workforce, we must bolster community-based efforts that are tightly focused on increasing the numbers of people in cities across the country with education and training beyond high school.”
Each Talent Hub focuses intensively on one of three populations that is critical to raising the nation’s overall post-high school attainment level to 60 percent of working-age adults by 2025: 18-to-22-year-old students; older adults with college experience who stopped out before finishing their studies; or adults with no formal education beyond high school. Talent Hub cities are committed to eliminating deep disparities in educational outcomes among African-Americans, Hispanics and American Indians, who fare poorly in contrast with white and Asian students.
Dayton, Ohio, Louisville, Ky,. and Columbus, Ind.. also received Talent Hub designations and grant funding, along with: Albuquerque, N.M.; Austin, Texas; Boston; Denver; Fresno, Calif.; Los Angeles; Nashville, Tenn.; New York; Philadelphia; Racine, Wis.; Richmond, Va.; Shasta County, Calif.; and Tulsa, Okla.
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StrivePartnership, an affiliate of KnowledgeWorks, unites leaders from various sectors to support every child, every step of the way, cradle to career in the urban core of Greater Cincinnati. The partnership improves student outcomes through: Engaging and empowering leaders; using actionable data and continuous improvement; aligning resources to what works; pursuing local and institutional policy change; and advocating for equity at all levels of the system. www.strivepartnership.org | www.knowledgeworks.org
Lumina Foundation is an independent, private foundation in Indianapolis that is committed to making opportunities for learning beyond high school available to all. Lumina envisions a system that is easy to navigate, delivers fair results, and meets the nation’s need for talent through a broad range of credentials. The Foundation’s goal is to prepare people for informed citizenship and for success in a global economy. For more information, visit www.luminafoundation.org.
The Kresge Foundation is a $3.5 billion private, national foundation that works to expand opportunities in America’s cities through grantmaking and social investing in arts and culture, education, environment, health, human services, and community development in Detroit. In 2016, the Board of Trustees approved 474 grants totaling $141.5 million, and made 14 social investment commitments totaling $50.8 million. For more information, visit www.kresge.org.
Cincinnati State Technical and Community College offers more than 130 associate degree and certificate programs in business technologies, health and public safety, engineering technologies, humanities and sciences and information technologies. Cincinnati State has one of the most comprehensive co-op programs among two-year colleges in the U.S. Learn more at cincinnatistate.edu.
The mission of Brighton Center, Inc. is to create opportunities for individuals and families to reach self-sufficiency through family support services, education, employment, and leadership. We will achieve this mission by creating an environment that rewards excellence and innovation, encourages mutual respect and maximizes resources. During our last fiscal year, Brighton Center impacted the lives of over 44,049 individuals from infants to senior citizens through 39 programs across all eight counties of Northern Kentucky and beyond.
Gateway Community & Technical College is a public, 2-year, comprehensive institution serving the Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati region through certificate, diploma, associate degree and transfer programs; developmental, adult, and continuing education; workforce and customized training; and support services for the enhancement of student learning and success.
Partners for a Competitive Workforce is a regional public-private collaborative focused on meeting employer demand by growing the skills of the region’s current and future workforce. Managed by United Way of Greater Cincinnati, with major support provided by the National Fund for Workforce Solutions, partners in the collaborative include businesses, workforce investment boards, chambers of commerce, educational institutions, labor, service providers and philanthropic funders.
The Women's Fund of The Greater Cincinnati Foundation leads our community in ensuring the economic self-sufficiency of women in our region. Through leadership, research, and grantmaking, The Women’s Fund works to identify and address the barriers affecting working women and their families. Learn more and get involved at cincinnatiwomensfund.org.
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