New Funding Opportunity

with Bridges to Brighter Futures

Tuesday, January 18, 2022

Key Takeaways

  • Bridges to Brighter Futures is partnering with CareerPathways to connect with career training programs in Chicagoland as part of their Building Student Supports strategy.
  • Programs with complete, thorough, active entries (including an organizational Funding Contact) will be considered for invitation by Bridges.
  • All updates to program entries should be complete by February 18, 2022, to be considered. All invitations will be sent by March 14, 2022.
  • Any funders who are interested in leveraging Chicagoland CareerPathways to connect with high-quality programs in the region should reach out to Becca Senatore, Directory Manager, at [email protected].

About Bridges to Brighter Futures

Bridges to Brighter Futures is an education funding initiative, created and managed through a collaboration between Kinship Foundation and the Chicago Community Trust. Bridges aims to create equitable, affordable access to good jobs and continued career development through improvements in the Chicago postsecondary education system. Recognizing historic barriers and system inequities, Bridges focuses its work on the needs of Black, Latinx, and low-income Chicagoans who have earned a high school diploma or GED.

Problem

The primary problem that Bridges aims to address is the lack of equitable affordable access to postsecondary education that leads to good jobs for Black, Latinx, and low-income Chicagoans. Some affordable options for postsecondary education include certifications, two-year degrees, and two year-degrees on the way to four-year degrees.

To address the identified problem, Bridges’ target impact includes removing barriers that members of the target population often face as they aim to attain good jobs. Some of these barriers are related to individual education, skills, and experiences. Some of these barriers are related to organizations’ capacity to adequately provide equitable access for students and program participants to needed resources to develop relevant education, skills, and experiences.

Strategy

Bridges centers its efforts on three strategy areas: Advancing Institutional Equity, Building Student Supports, and Encouraging Cross-Sector Collaboration. The Advancing Institutional Equity strategy supports shifts in institutions that lead to increased persistence and completion for students in Bridges-funded programming.

The Building Student Supports strategy funds grant recipients who serve Black, Latinx, and low-income Chicagoans learning along career pathways by contributing to improved academic, financial, and social/emotional outcomes. Presently, grantees funded under this strategy area include local organizations and local branches of national organizations in the middle skills and workforce development spaces, as well as organizations that support students who plan to transfer to four-year institutions.

The Encouraging Cross-Sector Collaboration strategy supports grantees who engage in practices driving improved transparency between the education and workforce sectors. Presently, grantees funded under this strategy area include organizations convening stakeholders in the space and organizations codifying learnings from such organizations (e.g., via research).

About this funding opportunity

Bridges will be using our Funder Portal tool to discover and reach out to programs in the Chicagoland CareerPathways directory as part of their Building Student Supports strategy. Those program entries that are complete, accurate, and thorough will be seen by the Bridges team and may be invited to apply for this upcoming Bridges funding opportunity.

You may remember a similar opportunity that we shared with you last year. Having learned from that experience, the Bridges team is excited to apply those learnings and make some great connections.

In order for a program entry to be viewable by the Bridges team, the program entry must be labeled as “active” in our system. (Click here for more information about what it means for a program entry to be “active.”) If your program entry is active, the next step is to hone your entry by adding greater detail (especially those components listed in the section “Improving your odds of invitation” below). Please note that while the Bridges team will be conducting a holistic review of each entry, alumni supports and wage thresholds will be considered a strong component of your entry.

All updates to your program entry should be complete by February 18, 2022 to ensure that the Bridges team sees the most recent version of your information.

Is your organization currently not registered in the Chicagoland CareerPathways directory? Click here to fill out an application. You’ll hear back from our Data Maintenance team shortly.

Once Bridges has considered eligible programs, they will make contact with the Funding Contact associated with your organization, viewable and editable in the top portion of your Provider Portal homepage. (If you don’t yet have a Funding Contact listed, now is the time to add it!)

If the Funding Contact at your organization hasn’t heard back by Monday, March 14, 2022, your organization has not been invited to this funding opportunity. (But you will continue to be in the running for future opportunities, thanks to the funders who partner with us.)

Improving your odds of invitation

Being considered doesn’t necessarily mean that you will be invited to participate in this funding opportunity. In order to increase your odds of being invited by the Bridges team, the following aspects of your program entry (accessed via the Provider Portal) should be thoroughly complete:

  1. Prioritized Populations, including brief descriptions of how populations are prioritized through recruitment and/or service delivery;
  2. Credentials that can be earned through this program;
  3. Job Titles accessible to individuals who complete this program;
  4. Eligibility Requirements, being sure to highlight any criminal record restrictions, citizenship requirements, age requirements, and prior education (including high school education, GED, or equivalent);
  5. Participant Supports, including brief descriptions of the extent, quality, and form of the supports provided;
  6. Quality Indicators, including any relevant details. If relevant to your program, we encourage you to include the following indicators:
    • Average Number of Program Participants Per Year
    • Average Salary of Program Completers
    • Program Completion Rate
    • Job Placement Rate
    • Job Retention Rate
    • Earnings Increase
    • Established Partnership(s) with Employers

Again, be sure that your organization has a Funding Contact identified so that Bridges can contact your organization if they are interested in inviting your organization to participate.

I’m a funder. How do I partner with CareerPathways?

CareerPathways is always open to opportunities to connect interested funders with programs they are excited about. Click here to learn about the resources we offer our funder partners. If you have questions or would like to partner with us, reach out to Becca Senatore, Directory Manager, at [email protected]. We look forward to connecting with you!

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