Preparing young people for the future requires more than helping them understand what careers are out there. In fact, according to a 2024 Britebound and Open Campus report, many youth are only exposed to the more traditional jobs depicted in media and are not aware of the myriad of different career paths they can pursue and how they can get there. This highlights the need for young people to have access to opportunities to explore their interests, connect what they’re learning to the world of work, access trusted guidance, and discover pathways to meaningful careers.


That work can happen in many ways: building better data systems so schools and employers can see which skills are actually in demand, helping educators guide students toward their next step, encouraging employers to hire based on what someone can do rather than just the degree on their resume, and giving more young people the chance to learn in ways that connect directly to real careers.


We’re excited to welcome our latest cohort of Britebound grantees. Together, these organizations are working on different pieces of the same challenge: helping young people explore their options, understand themselves, and move toward a “brite” future.


“We’re proud to support organizations that are turning bold ideas into practical solutions for young people,” said Julie Lammers, President and CEO of Britebound. “Each grantee brings deep expertise and a clear vision for change, and we’re excited to learn from their work and to help advance approaches that strengthen youth career readiness in communities across the country.”


Keep reading to learn more about our newest Impact Partners’ incredible work.


All4Ed

All4Ed works to advance policies and practices that help students graduate from high school prepared for postsecondary education and success.


All4Ed will work with us on a national narrative change campaign to build support for work-based learning – such as apprenticeships, internships, and youth employment programs – across education, workforce, and employer systems. The campaign will explore what prevents young people from accessing high-quality work-based learning and what it will take to expand those opportunities.


The goal is to help shift the conversation around work-based learning from an opportunity that is available to some students to an essential part of career preparation that schools, employers, families, policymakers, and communities can all help make possible.


"We are excited to partner with Britebound on this work, which feels especially urgent because the world young people are preparing to enter is changing rapidly, and youth career readiness systems aren’t always keeping pace,” said Charlotte Cahill, Senior Advisor at All4Ed. “High-quality work-based learning gives young people the opportunity to explore the world of work, connect with mentors, build professional networks and social capital, and make more informed choices about their future.”


The Hechinger Report

The Hechinger Report is an independent nonprofit newsroom focused on education. Through investigative and solutions-oriented journalism, the organization helps the public better understand the challenges facing students and educators and the approaches that can help address them.


With support from Britebound, The Hechinger Report will produce journalism exploring the intersection of artificial intelligence, education, and workforce pathways. Its reporting will help policymakers, educators, and families navigate a rapidly changing education-to-career landscape while bringing greater attention to the range of pathways available to young people beyond the traditional four-year degree.


“At a time when higher education is under fire and graduates are fearful of an uncertain job market, what happens in U.S. high schools and how and if they prepare young adults for life after graduation is more crucial than ever,” said Liz Willen, Editor-in-Chief at The Hechinger Report. “Our reporting will shed light on the urgency surrounding career preparation and the multiple innovations and pathways that are increasingly becoming part of a national conversation.”


Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Foundation

The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Foundation is the largest education-focused foundation in New Mexico, dedicated solely to improving learning opportunities through grantmaking, policy advocacy, and direct service programs. With an active presence in statewide advocacy, the LANL Foundation promotes policies and investments that strengthen public education, particularly for rural and tribal communities.


Britebound’s support will go toward a shared fund for youth grantmaking, one that brings together dollars from several funders, coordinated through the Northern New Mexico Pathways to Opportunity Strategy Table, which is working toward a goal of $13.5 million over a three-year pilot to expand work-based learning, CTE, and Career Pathway opportunities for underrepresented youth and young adults in Northern New Mexico, including Native American youth across 18 tribal nations and youth ages 16-24 who have faced systemic barriers.


Alvin Warren, Vice President of Policy & Impact, LANL Foundation, said, “Through the Northern New Mexico Youth Fund, Britebound is strengthening a truly youth-led initiative and leveraging over $3.2 million from 20 other philanthropic partners to enable 28 regional organizations to provide young people with access to high-quality career connected learning experiences, including work-based learning. We're excited to work with Britebound to grow the Northern New Mexico Regional Youth Advisory Council as a model for shifting real decision-making power to young people.”


Massachusetts Alliance for Early College (MA4EC)

The Massachusetts Alliance for Early College (MA4EC) works to break down barriers to college and career success by supporting the growth of high-quality Early College programs across Massachusetts all at no cost to the student or their family.


Through the Early College program, high schoolers take college classes strategically-sequenced alongside career pathways during the course of their regular school day. These courses simultaneously count towards high school and college completion. This allows students to graduate from high school with significant college credits, reducing the cost and overall time it would take for them to complete their degree while equipping them with the confidence, habits, and skills needed to be successful in college, the workplace, and beyond.


With support from Britebound, MA4EC aims to scale Early College across the state while strengthening connections between these programs, and workforce needs. Through a three-phase strategy focused on design, implementation, and institutionalization, the initiative will bring policymakers, educators, employers, and other partners together to build a more connected statewide system.


The goal is to expand access while maintaining quality and ensuring that Early College programs give students meaningful opportunities to prepare for both college and careers. The initiative will also develop a data-driven roadmap for future growth, with a particular focus on expanding opportunity for students and communities that have historically had less access to these pathways.


“High-impact Early College is career-connected Early College, aligned with the state's workforce and economic priorities. We are mobilizing the field to make that vision a reality," said Chessye Moseley, Executive Director of MA4EC.


Montana Chamber Foundation

The Montana Chamber Foundation (MCF) prepares Montana K-12 students for their future careers by connecting education, entrepreneurship, and workforce development through real programs that bring the business and education communities together. Through its participation in educational projects and research, MCF also works to promote and strengthen economic development opportunities across the state.


With our support, MCF will build Workforce Insight Montana (WIM), a statewide data and technology platform designed to connect fragmented education and workforce systems. The tool will provide students, educators, and employers with real-time, localized information about career pathways, with a particular focus on rural and Indigenous communities.


By bringing education and workforce information together in one place, WIM will help young people better understand the opportunities available to them and make more informed decisions about their futures.


"Montana is incredibly excited about this partnership with Britebound. The support gives us the opportunity to build something lasting: a single, trusted career-navigation system that helps young people see what is possible, and to understand the practical steps to get there,” said Crystal Armstrong, Director, Widening Pathways to Work. “Previously, career information, education and training options, credentials, and labor-market data have existed in separate places. That is challenging in a large, rural state like Montana where a student’s access to career guidance can depend too heavily on geography, local capacity, or whether they happen to know the right person. With Britebound’s support, we can connect those pieces into a more accessible, youth-centered experience for students, families, educators, and employers across the state.”


OneGoal

OneGoal partners with schools and districts to make college and career planning an integral part of the high school experience. The organization works with educators, counselors, and school systems to help students discover their interests, explore their options, and build plans for life after high school.


With our grant, OneGoal will expand professional development for high school counselors and educators across Massachusetts, including in Boston, Salem, Taunton, and Springfield. The organization will standardize training resources, pilot and evaluate a flexible professional development model, and use what it learns to strengthen advising practices nationally. By investing in the educators and counselors who already support students every day, OneGoal aims to help more young people access high-quality, career-connected guidance—regardless of where they live.


"We're excited to kick off counselor and educator advising trainings in Massachusetts and nationally with Britebound's support,” said Melissa Connely, CEO of OneGoal. This work in Massachusetts can serve as a model for the rest of the country. OneGoal is ensuring more students receive the guidance they deserve by training more educators, counselors, and district leaders. With Britebound's support, we're able to offer training across multiple districts in the state.”


Society of HR Management (SHRM) Foundation

The Society of HR Management (SHRM) Foundation works to expand workplace opportunity for historically overlooked talent, including people with disabilities, people with criminal records, older workers, and opportunity youth, by helping employers adopt skills-first approaches to hiring and navigate emerging workforce challenges.


Britebound is supporting the launch of the SHRM Foundation’s NextGen Workforce Readiness Initiative, a two-year pilot designed to strengthen connections between employers, schools, and young people in two states. By bringing employers more directly into career preparation, the initiative aims to create stronger pathways from education to employment while helping employers rethink how they identify and develop talent. The initiative will engage 30 employers, embed career exploration and pathway planning in schools, and pilot employer-led solutions to barriers such as transportation and childcare.


"We are excited to partner with Britebound to better understand what will inspire and re-engage young people in a rapidly changing world of work, and how we can collectively create meaningful pathways to opportunity that they can see, believe in, and pursue. We have an opportunity not only to strengthen early-career pipelines, but also to rebuild trust with young people who may no longer see a clear path forward. Ultimately, this partnership is about listening to young people, changing the systems around them, and ensuring the next generation can see a future in the workforce that is worth believing in,” said Isaac Agbeshie-Noye, SHRM’s Director, Widening Pathways to Work.


Work Based Learning Alliance (WBLA)

The Work-Based Learning Alliance (WBLA) provides high schoolers across the nation with access to industry-connected, work-based learning experiences that will give them the skills to succeed beyond the classroom. WBLA focuses on meeting learners where they are, delivering mobile-first virtual experiences that eliminate barriers to access for many students from underserved backgrounds.


With support from Britebound, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Education, the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, and the Massachusetts AI Hub, WBLA delivered 400 paid, remote, project-based AI internships to high schoolers across the state during the summer of 2026. This program served as a launchpad for broader expansion of similar work-based learning experiences across Massachusetts. Their work will continue to focus on AI, emerging technologies, and preparing young people for the workplace of tomorrow.


"What excites us the most is the opportunity to demonstrate what becomes possible when the state and philanthropy invest together in young people’s futures. This partnership brings together funding from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and Britebound, alongside WBLA’s delivery experience and the engagement of schools and industry partners, to expand access to impactful, paid work-based learning,” said Prue Clifford, Executive Director of WBLA. “That shared investment is particularly powerful because it provides a foundation for a more sustainable statewide approach, with government and philanthropy working toward a common ambition: every Massachusetts high school student having access to a high-quality work-based learning experience before graduation.”


Building a Future Where All Young People Can Thrive


Preparing young people for the future requires action from the people and institutions around them: caregivers, schools, employers, mentors, and communities. It means giving students opportunities to explore careers, ensuring they have trusted guidance as they make decisions, connecting education to the world of work, and creating systems that make those opportunities more accessible.


Our newest grantee partners are approaching that work from different angles, from data and journalism to advising, employer engagement, work-based learning, and early college programs. Together, they are helping build a future where more young people can see what’s possible, understand how to get there, and have the support and opportunities they need along the way.


We’re looking forward to collaborating with these impressive organizations, learning together as we create the systems, conditions, and coalitions that support today’s students on their path to economic mobility and a meaningful future.