The GRAD Partnership Announces Six New Partners

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Lindsay Ahlman
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 15, 2025

The GRAD Partnership Announces Six New Partners
Expansion Strengthens National Effort to Bolster Academic Recovery Five Years after the Pandemic

Baltimore, MD — The GRAD Partnership today announced six new partners, marking the largest expansion of the national initiative since its launch in 2022. Three new organizing partners — CORE Districts, Latinos in Action, and The RISE Network — join nine leading education organizations collectively working to foster implementation of evidence-based student success systems across the United States. The Partnership also welcomes three new Intermediaries — Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque, United Way of Northeast Florida, and Urban Assembly — with deep community ties and the expertise to ensure that student success systems are responsive to local conditions.

Student success systems are a comprehensive, school-wide effort that integrate holistic, real-time data with student, parent, and educator insights to improve strategies that ensure students graduate from high school prepared for lifelong success. These systems are particularly vital as schools navigate the enduring impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the persistent challenge of chronic absenteeism. By combining data with a focus on student belonging and connectedness, the framework ensures schools deliver the right supports to the right students at the right time.

“Student success systems shift us from reacting to challenges to proactively creating conditions that enable all students to thrive,” said Bob Balfanz, Director of the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University, where the GRAD Partnership is housed. “By bringing together organizations with proven approaches and deep community relationships, we can empower schools across the country to foster attendance, engagement, and better outcomes for students.”

Five years after the pandemic, schools are still working to recover from its impact, especially when it comes to high school graduation. According to the GRAD Partnership, 26 states have seen declines in graduation rates since 2020, with chronic absenteeism playing a major role in reversing steady gains achieved over the prior decade. This research underscores the urgent need for student success systems that facilitate data-driven early intervention and foster strong relationships to encourage attendance, strengthen learning, and keep students on track to graduation.

Organizing partners help shape the GRAD Partnership’s strategy and learning agenda in service of those goals. The three new organizing partners join nine leading national education organizations, elevating the Partnership’s collective capacity to innovate, spread evidence-based practices, and reach more students. Each new organizing partner brings experience in driving school improvement, along with established regional and district relationships and specific expertise that will bolster the Partnership’s overall impact.

“The CORE Districts Breakthrough Team Success Community is thrilled to join the GRAD Partnership to advance our shared commitment to ensuring every student stays on the path to high school success,” said Juli Coleman, Chief of Improvement, School Networks with CORE Districts. “By combining our expertise in continuous improvement with the GRAD Partnership’s national momentum, we can deepen our impact and support more schools in creating the conditions for students to thrive.”

“Latinos in Action is grateful, excited, and honored to join the GRAD Partnership community and begin contributing to the work,” said Jose Enriquez, CEO and Founder of Latinos in Action (LIA). “We want to ensure that the design and scaling of student success systems are done in a manner well-aligned with the needs of Latino students, their families, and the communities we work with.”

“The RISE Network is absolutely thrilled to join the GRAD Partnership in promoting student success systems and ensuring all students thrive in and beyond their education,” said Emily Pallin, Executive Director of The RISE Network. “It’s inspiring to see this national movement created in a short period of time, and we look forward to working together across district and state boundaries to learn, grow, and expand our collective impact.”

Intermediaries play a critical role in the GRAD Partnership by working directly with schools, districts, and communities to implement and sustain student success systems. They serve as trusted local partners with strong relationships to catalyze adoption of those systems, and bring the community expertise required to adapt national strategies to local conditions, needs, and contexts. The three new Intermediaries joining the Partnership reflect the diversity of the United States, working with rural towns, mid-size communities, and the largest city in the country.

“The Community Foundation and the GRAD Partnership have a common goal of graduating all students ready for the future,” said Nancy Van Milligen, President & CEO of the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque. “The GRAD Partnership’s evidence-based, data-informed framework perfectly complements our strong commitment to improving existing student support systems in our region’s schools. We could not be more excited to join this powerful partnership that will enhance the knowledge and tools available to our school communities.”

“I am thrilled that United Way of Northeast Florida has been selected to join the GRAD Partnership,” said James Ellout, Vice President, Community Impact, United Way of Northeast Florida. “Through the GRAD Partnership, our Achievers for Life program will be positioned as a local thought leader on student success systems, connected to a powerful network of peer Intermediaries and educational experts. Combined with the GRAD Partnership’s technical assistance, our participation will help usher in a transformative era across the educational landscape in Northeast Florida and beyond, strengthening school communities and fostering unparalleled student achievement.”

“Joining the GRAD Partnership network is an important step in advancing our efforts to prevent the erosion of hard-won graduation gains over the past decades,” said Habib Bangura, Managing Director of Program, The Urban Assembly. “Urban Assembly is uniquely positioned to lead this work because of our deep expertise in systems-level school improvement and our track record of scaling evidence-based practices. This partnership will enhance our work to develop systematic responsiveness and implement personalized supports needed to ensure every student is on a path to postsecondary success.”