AdvanceEDU was started by a community of educators and business leaders who wanted to help dismantle systems of oppression through an innovative approach to higher education. The events of the last week—the tragic loss of George Floyd and the ongoing outcries of our community in anger, pain, fear, and frustration—have shaken our team to the core. We stand in solidarity against racism, injustice, and oppression, and encourage our friends in the Denver community to take action by educating ourselves and each other, donating, listening, speaking up and speaking out.
We recognize that this event was not isolated, nor was it a solitary expression of the systemic racism in our country, which manifests itself in so many ways. In our world of higher education, we see barriers within our education-to-career pipeline that have had a disproportionate impact on our Black students.
For example, bachelor’s degree completion for enrolled Black students is 20% less than average. And, ultimately, the average household income for Black families is 36% lower the average in Denver.
We know that our education-to-career system must change to elevate the next generation of leaders. Sometimes the research is really clear on what needs to change, and we’ve made that research central to the design of our work. Yet as a higher education community we still have so much to learn.
At AdvanceEDU, we commit to listening, learning, and working tirelessly to combat systemic racism in its many forms. We humbly recognize that this will be a journey and that we have a lot to learn—but it is the most important journey we could be on together.
