Inclusion and Racial Justice

At AdvanceEDU, we believe that everyone deserves access to higher education and career opportunities that can power upward mobility and close disparities. We believe this access should be afforded to all, regardless of educational background, socioeconomic status, race, gender, sexual orientation, ability or any other identity.

In Colorado and across the country, students from lower-income households, working students, and students of color graduate at lower rates than peers; yet employers in top industries are eager to bring in the highly diverse talent from these groups into their highly-skilled workforce.

We believe the time to change higher ed and the structure of workplaces to create equity is now. Marginal changes to the status quo just won’t do. We need a fundamental reimagining of what higher education and career advancement can be with equity at the forefront. In fact, it’s why we exist.

Here are some of the ways that we orient our work around inclusion and racial justice.

Programming

Access

We work with our university collaborators to keep admissions barriers low (some only require a high school diploma or equivalent) because we believe that anyone can be successful in higher education with the right personalized support in place. AdvanceEDU staff also supports students through navigating the admissions applications and the process of securing enough funding to attend college via federal financial aid, scholarships, and other sources. And students can try out their university of choice with AdvanceEDU’s support free of charge before formally enrolling.

Affordability

We select university collaborators that keep costs low for students. Currently, 90% of our students are attending their university completely debt-free. We also offer The Advancer Fund for students who have barriers to accessing federal aid (undocumented students, for example).

Flexibility

We look for university collaborators with online and competency-based academic formats that can easily accommodate students who work, provide care, or have unpredictable schedules.

Support

While students pursue a degree with one of our university collaborators, AdvanceEDU provides personalized support to each student based on their needs, including 1:1 success coaching, career development assistance, emergency grants, free and reduced-cost mental health support and counseling, and connections to local human services organizations. Success coaches quarterback real-time support that keeps students enrolled and thriving in the moments that matter.

Career opportunities

AdvanceEDU partners with like-minded employers looking to break down barriers to career access and advancement for diverse communities. AdvanceEDU learners have access to gainful career opportunities aligned with their target field. We work with employers to articulate pathways to internal advancement so that students can work with their success coach and mentor to get a running head start in their career.

Organizational Practices

Diversity

We work diligently to ensure that our board governance, leadership team, and staff mirror the beautiful diversity of our students in many ways including race & ethnicity, gender, and lived experience as a first-generation college student. This involves intentionally cultivating diverse candidate pools for these positions and hiring directly from our student body. It also includes developing supported internal career advancement pathways for our employees.

Culture

We believe that we cannot harness the power of our diverse community unless we create a culture where staff and students alike feel comfortable showing up as their true selves and providing their authentic perspectives; and these perspectives actually lead to organizational change. With that in mind we continually work to build a culture of trust and transparency and also monitor the climate through surveys and ongoing dialogue.

Student-led design

AdvanceEDU’s ongoing development is led by our Student Leadership Board. This diverse group of student leaders leads by inherent proximity and experience with the issues facing the students we serve. It sets its own priorities and regularly weighs in on important organizational decisions.

Ongoing action

The work of inclusion and racial justice is never done--it’s an ongoing process. With that in mind, our team regularly sets aside time to reflect and set priorities related to various topics in inclusion and racial justice; we also bring in experts to help guide our work.