United Way Of The Blue Mountains

As the backbone organization for elevate, a collective impact initiative, we collaborated with a wide range of partners to improve educational outcomes across columbia and walla walla counties in. This year, elevate partners dedicated 720 hours to advancing the initiative's mission562 hours focused on professional development, community of practice, and knowledge building, and 92 hours on community engagement. With 45 partner organizationsincluding k12 schools, higher education institutions, businesses, and community-based organizationselevate played a pivotal role in improving educational alignment and access, especially in the walla walla region.recognizing the importance of early childhood education, we introduced the early learning facilities development & expansion toolkit, a resource created by the elevate early learning facilities work group in partnership with regional stakeholders. This toolkit addresses critical barriers to childcare expansion by supporting providers with planning, facility development, and capital access. Building on studies conducted in 2021 and 2022 that identified a shortage of licensed childcare slots and facility limitations, we collaborated with esd 123 in 2024 to implement a comprehensive expansion plan. These efforts included provider-facility matching and workforce development to ensure more families have access to high-quality, affordable childcare.

To enhance student engagement, we piloted a steam (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) program, which resulted in the dayton school district adopting the initiative for middle school students beginning in the upcoming school year. In our ongoing efforts to support postsecondary success, we made significant progress toward our goal of ensuring that by 2030, at least 70% of adults ages 2544 in walla walla and columbia counties will hold a postsecondary credential. We embedded three college and career readiness advisors into local schools to assist students in navigating pathways to higher education and careers. These advisors work in close collaboration with school districts and are guided by community voice and local priorities.