Strada collaborates with students, policymakers, educators, and employers across the U.S. to strengthen the link between education and opportunity.
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We prioritize policies, practices, and programs that help ensure postsecondary education provides equitable pathways to opportunity.
We advance our mission through research, grantmaking, social impact investments, public policy solutions, Strada-supported nonprofit organizations, and strategic initiatives.
Strada Education Network
Melissa Leavitt is Director of Research for the Strada Institute for the Future of Work, where she researches and communicates new developments in education and career pathways for adult learners.
Through past positions in education, advocacy and philanthropy, Leavitt has used research-based storytelling to make new insights and findings both accessible and actionable to a wide variety of stakeholders. Prior to joining Strada, Leavitt was the marketing content strategist for Strada affiliate InsideTrack, a provider of student success solutions, where she analyzed and reported on student support in higher education. She has also led research communications for a national nonprofit and was a lecturer in writing and rhetoric at Stanford University.
Leavitt earned her Ph.D. from Stanford University and her M.F.A. from The University of Montana.
Partnerships between community colleges and employers have the opportunity to address local and regional economic needs through a range of tools, including supporting student success through resources and services, integrating work-based learning, and building career pathways.
Amid all of this disruption, the number of U.S. workers leaving or changing their jobs sharply increased. Known variously as the Great Resignation, Reshuffle, or Realignment, the trend has been cast in the cultural imagination as a collective desire on the part of the American workforce for more rewarding or meaningful work.
Two centuries after the first historically Black colleges and universities were founded, the 101 accredited HBCUs in operation today continue to deliver on their legacy of expanding educational opportunity for Black students that leads to successful and fulfilling lives.
In the wake of historic pandemic-related enrollment declines, postsecondary institutions have responded by developing and expanding innovative approaches to engaging learners.
Steep declines in undergraduate enrollment during 2020 and 2021 threaten to widen existing equity gaps in college completion and career opportunities.
The high school classes of 2020 and 2021 have endured massive disruption to their education.
Workers can’t rely on promises alone to advance. They need clearer paths from training to career opportunities.
Earning a degree should help you advance in the work you love — not get in the way of it. Learner-centered programs fit learning into the rest of life.
Life’s curveballs can make our plans go awry. Better options can help us finish what we started.
Committing to education, alongside all of life’s other commitments, takes coordination, determination, and dedication. Financial support and a flexible work schedule can make it all come together.
All the planning in the world can’t guarantee success. Learners need opportunity and support to put their plans into action.
What if, instead of adding work on top of education, the work you did advanced your education? Integrated earning and learning makes the most of learners’ time and talent.
Why understanding local labor markets will be critical to our economic recovery
Many employers and jobseekers overlook the most valued skills; here's how to make sure they're noticed
Pete Wheelen, CEO of InsideTrack and Executive Chairman of Roadtrip Nation, shares his insight on the three most essential steps colleges and universities can take to build trust with their external partners.
Whether the students you work with are currently in college, recent graduates or looking to change or advance in their existing careers, InsideTrack has created a downloadable career support eBook to help them plan, find and thrive in their chosen field.
In addition to creating more meaningful interactions that enhance student success, coaching also generates new insights into the student experience, driving ongoing improvement across the University.
With support from InsideTrack, Old Dominion University built an effective and sustainable coaching program from the ground up. The result is a transformed approach to student success that’s lifted the entire university, one ODU Monarch at a time.
We elected to enter into a public-private partnership with InsideTrack because we felt that the organization shared our values and focus on supporting prospective students in making informed application decisions and preparing for a strong start.
Over time, we’ve found that not just individual staff, but entire teams, typically fit into one of five profiles. While each profile is based on solid strengths, each also contains particular risks that can stand in the way of student — and program — success.
Based on our synthesis of findings from 40 institutions, 10 issues have emerged as some of the most common student support challenges institutions face.
A steady pipeline of well-trained graduates flowing into critical industries was essential to the economic health of the state. Yet too many students were dropping out of their degree programs, leaving their own economic futures — and these industries — at risk.
Strong Start, a technology-enabled program that leverages InsideTrack’s uCoach® Platform, lifted Penn State to the next level of enhanced student support: coaching for more students that provided more guidance and utilized more communication channels from the time of acceptance through their first two terms.
Read the experiences of ten students whose growth and transformation was guided by the support of their dedicated InsideTrack Coaches. This insightful eBook features a motivating collection of can’t-miss coaching moments.
The results speak for themselves as we continue to work toward closing the achievement gap and enabling all of our students to reach even greater heights.