Who We Are

Our Mission and Approach

We help strengthen the link between education and opportunity.

 

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Strada Education Foundation supports programs, policies, and organizations that strengthen connections between postsecondary education and opportunity in the U.S., with a focus on helping people who face the greatest challenges. We advance this mission through research, grantmaking, social impact investments, public policy solutions, and Strada-supported nonprofit organizations, including CAEL, Education at Work, InsideTrack, and Roadtrip Nation.

In short, we help strengthen the link between education and opportunity.

Our North Star, adopted unanimously by our Board of Trustees in 2022, is to collaborate with learners, educators, employers, and policymakers across the U.S. to bring to life a postsecondary education and training ecosystem that provides equitable pathways to opportunity.

We embrace the multiple important purposes of postsecondary education, including strengthening communication and critical thinking skills, preparing individuals for responsible citizenship, expanding intellectual interests, and helping people to navigate an increasingly diverse and global society.

We recognize that preparation for meaningful work is just one of the multiple purposes of higher education, yet it is also one of the most important reasons individuals cite for pursuing some form of education after high school. Without the opportunity for meaningful work and economic security, other benefits of education are unlikely to be fully realized.

Headquartered in Indianapolis since our predecessor organization, USA Funds, was first established in 1960 to expand access to higher education in the U.S., Strada has focused on strengthening the link between education and opportunity (i.e., success beyond completion of a degree or other postsecondary credential) for the last decade.

Several principles guide our work. We prioritize efforts that benefit individuals pursuing postsecondary education or training in the U.S. We place a primary focus on helping people who have faced the greatest challenges accessing postsecondary education and/or economic opportunity (e.g., low-income individuals, people of color, first-generation students). We focus most of our efforts on ecosystem-scale changes that can benefit large numbers of individuals, with a secondary focus on direct impact efforts. We are sector agnostic, working with both traditional higher education institutions and quality alternative providers. Finally, we work to cultivate public policy solutions with the potential for bipartisan support.

As we look toward the future, we will continue to collaborate with students, educators, employers, policymakers, and other partners to help create more equitable pathways to prosperity in the U.S.

 

Who We Are

At Strada, we work with our partners — students, policymakers, educators, and employers across the U.S. — to ensure learning after high school provides equitable pathways to opportunity.

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Our Partners

We build relationships with educational institutions, workforce development organizations, employers, innovative startups, membership associations, and other funders.

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Our Leaders

Our team includes experts in higher education, philanthropy, research, workforce development, economic development, public policy, and impact investing. We work together to strengthen the link between education and opportunity.

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