Our New Strategic Framework
In his introduction to this report, ECMC Foundation President Peter J. Taylor reflected on the impact that has gotten us to this point—an exciting moment of transition for the Foundation as we expand the scope of our work as a philanthropic partner to the postsecondary education field. We have also spotlighted the impact from last year that illustrates how our path forward is paved with learnings from our College Success and Career Readiness portfolios as well as our Education Innovation Ventures investments.
In November, we announced a new strategic framework that focuses our grantmaking and investing on three overlapping and interrelated priorities, which reflect the interconnected nature of postsecondary education and career success:
- Removing barriers to postsecondary completion. We bolster programs that directly support learner success by meeting the unique needs, goals and aspirations of today’s diverse learner populations.
- Building the capacity of organizations, systems and institutions. We strengthen the capacity of higher education institutions, systems, and other support and service organizations to improve outcomes for today’s learners and evolve to meet the changing needs of learners.
- Transforming the postsecondary ecosystem. We support large-scale, cross-sector collaborations and innovations that have the potential to transform the postsecondary ecosystem in service of more equitable outcomes for the learners of today and tomorrow.
This new framework allows us to stay true to our mission to improve higher education for career success among underserved populations through evidence-based innovation. Under this framework, we will also have more flexibility in deploying a spectrum of funding tools, including strategic grantmaking and program-related investments, and deepening our commitment to learning and evaluation.