Staff Reports | Business & Commerce
The Greater Phoenix Chamber Foundation’s education initiative, ElevateEdAZ, was awarded a grant by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support the initiative’s work of accelerated career technical education pathways in Arizona.
This will support ElevateEdAZ’s expansion of accelerated post-secondary pathways to one additional school district and the launch of a consortium of districts working on pathways across the state of Arizona, Phoenix chamber officials tell the Digital Free Press.
ElevateEdAZ serves 21 schools and impacted over 40,000 students in the 2023-24 school year, and will expand to serve an estimated additional 4,000 students next year.
The expansion to the new district will include two additional Maricopa County high schools. This will enable the Greater Phoenix Chamber to align additional students with quality work-based learning opportunities and clear pathways to employment, enhancing economic mobility for students from underserved backgrounds.
ElevateEdAZ serves as an intermediary between multiple school districts and industry. To support stronger cross-district collaboration, a consortium of ElevateEdAZ school partners will be created to ensure alignment and the sharing of best practices across districts.
“We are grateful for the support in strengthening ElevateEdAZ’s position to provide students with accelerated pathways and in creating a robust capacity-building consortium to support the community,” said Jennifer Mellor, chief innovation officer of the Greater Phoenix Chamber Foundation.
“This work will ultimately advance the Foundation’s mission of convening and catalyzing business, education, and the community to enhance college and career readiness, develop a stronger workforce, and build healthier communities throughout Arizona.”
