HERE to HERE, a nonprofit that services youth in the Bronx, recently announced $600,000 in grant awards through their Braided Pathways Fund. The fund recognizes high-quality, existing programs as highlighted by the Key Distinguishers of Integrated Work-Based Learning (Key Distinguishers).
With support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation, HERE to HERE awarded the grants to 15 New York City public high schools, CUNY institutions and community based organization (CBO) partners that are committed to braiding work-based learning into students’ academic experiences.
The Key Distinguishers provide guidance and examples of how to achieve the goals of the New York City Center for Youth Employment’s CareerReadyNYC framework. Created in collaboration with more than 100 practitioners across educational and employer settings, the Key Distinguishers have the potential to transform the way New York City’s youth talent development system functions by providing guiding principles and practices for high-quality, work-based learning that is integrated into academics.
“At the City University of New York, we know that the success of our students, our city, and our local businesses are intertwined — even more so as New York rebuilds its economy from the pandemic,” said CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez. “That’s why CUNY provides our students with the real world skills and networks they will need to succeed in the workforce. HERE to HERE’s Braided Pathways Fund elevates the great work happening across our campuses. We see the Key Distinguishers as an important resource to guide integrated work-based learning at CUNY, across New York City, and beyond.”
The Braided Pathways Fund was created to promote best practices by work-based learning practitioners, prioritize student career success, demonstrate and elevate exemplars of the braided pathways model, and mobilize others to coalesce around set criteria to guide effective engagement in work-based learning. The list of grantees include:
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Emerging Leaders Program for their work with a portfolio of Bronx high schools
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Brooklyn South High School Superintendency
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NYC Makerspace, in partnership with City College of New York and Duro UAS
This slate of awardees highlights and uplifts practices in different education settings and across NYC with the potential to impact nearly 60,000 young people at 21 educational institutions and provide models for all NYC schools and students. Eleven of the 15 grants went to high schools or CBOs with a dedicated high school partnership, while four grants went to CUNY programs or CBOs directly partnering with a CUNY program. Six grants were to highlight exemplary practice, and nine were to support the design of a new model to integrate work and academics.
