A new partnership between the Community Funding Accelerator and Yakima Valley Partners for Education plans to boost education and job opportunities for young people in south central Washington state.
The collaboration is aiming to raise $10 million to expand educational and economic mobility in the Yakima Valley.
"The idea is to look for funding that will help communities to improve education and employment outcomes in their communities," said Camielle Headlam, a project leader with Community Funding Accelerator.
Headlam explained that her organization helps partners nationwide identify, secure and utilize funding aligned with their priorities.
The organization will support Yakima Valley Partners for Education in diversifying and growing its funding base, and sharpening its long-term vision and strategy.
Suzy Diaz, the Yakima Valley Partners for Education’s collective impact director, said the partnership will help expand their mission to bring about change and improvement for people living in the area.
Yakima Valley Partner for Education is made up of a network of partners — like universities, school districts and community organizations — to improve educational outcomes for young people in the Yakima Valley, with special focus on the lower valley. It plans to expand to other areas in the mid and upper valley in the future.
Díaz said there's a focus on increasing youth literacy and access to post-high school education.
There is also an emphasis on economic mobility, which Diaz and Headlam describe as providing resources to help people achieve their goals.
"Mobility is defined by the person receiving the resources. So, it could be that we're moving someone from not speaking English to learning English, and that provides them a mobility that then supports their ability to increase their income," Diaz said.
Diaz said her organization's current work has helped more than 15,000 students achieve economic mobility.
She said getting more funding would help expand those efforts to more families in the Yakima Valley.
