It’s evident that youth work-based learning and career exploration opportunities can be incredibly beneficial to a young person by giving them the space to get hands-on experience and to discover what they’re passionate about. In fact, according to a 2023 Britebound™ survey of former high school interns, 87% said that their internship helped them understand the type of career they want, and over half said that their experience helped them improve their skills.
Unfortunately, many students lack the resources to engage in these experiences, especially those that don’t live in an urban center. How can we ensure that students from rural areas have access to career-connected learning opportunities when they may be far away from cities? That’s why Britebound is proud to support grantees like the National Rural Education Association, Empower Schools, and the Magnolia Project.
Keep reading to discover how these organizations are working to close this opportunity gap and bring career-connected learning to these students.
Providing Access to Career-Connected Learning in Rural Communities
Many rural students may struggle to find career exploration opportunities, and oftentimes when they do, they are in-person and in a more urbanized area. This means that learners may face a barrier when it comes to accessing reliable transportation, and the time it takes to travel to these experiences can be excessive.
The Magnolia Project is working to bring career exploration and skill-building opportunities to middle and high schoolers across Northern California during the school day. Their two programs, the Career Exploration Pathway and the Apprenticeship Pathway, connect students to local businesses to gain personalized hands-on experiences and build crucial durable skills alongside trusted industry mentors.
“Magnolia Project is incredibly grateful for our philanthropic support from Britebound. This transformative three-year funding will allow us to expand our semester-long, hands-on Career Exploration pathways to rural communities throughout the Marin and Sonoma Coasts. We’re excited to continue developing innovative, practical ways for rural schools, and their dedicated teachers and administrators, to integrate hands-on Career Exploration into the school day, including through on-campus activities, tapping into local talent, and regional Consortium programs, that bring schools and students together, to experience the joy of Career Exploration in a community based, sustainable way.” — Gianna Biaggi, Executive Director, Magnolia Project
With their grant from Britebound, the Magnolia Project will fund and scale their semester-long career exploration program (which includes immersive job shadowing and mentorship opportunities) for rural and low-income middle school students in Sonoma County, CA.
Bringing Rural Youth CCL to the Forefront
Direct service is not the only way to bring awareness and positive change to rural career-connected learning programs. In fact, working not just to expand these programs but to help schools, educators, and workforce partners get on board with youth career exploration can be done through thought leadership and sharing information on the benefits of these programs.
The Arizona Student Opportunity Collaborative (ASOC), a fiscally sponsored initiative of the National Rural Education Association, is working to scale access to career-connected learning to rural student populations by leveraging local partnerships and technology to provide these opportunities to rural and reservation-based learners, many of whom attend schools without a school counselor, regular career exploration, or formal post-graduation programming.
“Thanks to Britebound’s organizational support and financial generosity, our project is on its way to extend proven instructional and curricular access to rural kids across 10 states. There’s a load of work left to be done, but Britebound is a critical player in ensuring that every rural student has access to the courses they need to graduate, to matriculate successfully to university and career, and to maximize their personal potential.” — Glen Lineberry, Executive Director, American Student Opportunity Collaborative
With their funding from Britebound, ASOC will expand services and thought leadership into 10 states: Mississippi, Arizona, Alabama, West Virginia, Missouri, Kentucky, Louisiana, South Carolina, Oklahoma, and North Carolina.
Empower Schools is an organization that works with state agencies, policymakers, and school districts to create school systems aligned with local communities. Through their commitment to empowering communities through innovation schools, creating and scaling beneficial opportunities in rural areas, and working to create policies and practices to improve these experiences for learners, students are set up to succeed in college, the workforce, and beyond.
“We are grateful for Britebound’s support of our college-and-career pathways work which is centered on supporting students furthest from opportunity, especially those in rural communities. This grant award will advance both our state-specific work in Indiana focused on accelerating regional talent solutions that benefit students and employers, as well as our national efforts toward establishing thriving rural collaboratives that provide expansive opportunities in students’ careers and lives.” — Alyssa Morton, CEO and Partner, Empower Schools
With their grant from Britebound, Empower Schools will work to create college and career pathways for middle and high schoolers in Indiana by advancing their Rural Collaborative, in which rural school districts, higher education, and workforce partners team up to create systems change at the state and local level, identify regional labor market needs, and share valuable research.
Britebound is proud to support these organizations and their commitment to uplifting young people and working to bring more career-connected learning opportunities to rural America.
