At last month’s Charting Our Future conference, hundreds of community leaders and advocates gathered to reflect, connect, and reimagine a path forward. One message echoed across every panel and conversation: The Power of Us isn’t just a theme, it’s a framework for systems change.
In a time when the needs of young people are growing more complex, alignment across education, career pathways, and community supports has never been more urgent. And yet, amidst all the noise, taking time to pause, reflect, and realign remains one of the most effective strategies for meaningful progress.
What Comes Next: Strategic Tables
Building on the momentum from COF, the Foundation for Tacoma Students is launching intentional spaces this fall designed to connect leaders, align systems, and drive community-led solutions forward.
These cross-sector working groups will serve as spaces for shared learning, coordination, and solution-building focused on key leverage points that emerged during the conference and in ongoing community dialogue.
Each table will focus on a key area of impact:
- Affordability
Addressing financial barriers to postsecondary access through expanded access to aid, simplified processes, and targeted outreach. - Student Navigation Supports
Building coordinated systems to ensure every student has a team helping them navigate the path from high school to postsecondary success.
- Pathway Alignment
Bridging education and workforce systems to ensure students transition smoothly into meaningful, good-earning careers.
These strategic tables are not new programs. They are intentional spaces for deeper alignment. By working together across sectors, we can reduce duplication, increase coherence, and better support students at every stage of their journey.
Stay Connected
While formal invitations and logistics are still in development, this is just the beginning. Updates on participation opportunities and next steps will be shared soon.
In the meantime, we invite partners, providers, and community leaders to begin thinking about how their work might connect to these focus areas and how we might move further, together.
