Along with workforce development and strengthening the safety net, education is one of The Community Foundation’s three strategic investment priorities. Our investments in these three areas work together towards one overarching goal: To achieve economic security for all residents of the greater Washington region.
Disconnected youth represent an enormous potential for our region’s economy. If these young people do not reconnect with school and earn a high school diploma, their earning potential substantially decreases. A high school dropout will earn $40,000 per year at age 59, where an individual at age 24 will earn the same with a bachelor’s degree. To maximize the potential for the prosperity of region’s economy, investing in these young people is a social imperative.
Our education investments are focused on producing tools to pinpoint problems and opportunities to reconnect disconnected youth, scaling effective practices and programs and alignment among important actors across and in the same sectors, which in turn ultimately ensures that our region provides youth multiple pathways to adult success.