Blog

Every month, America Forward highlights examples of the vital work being done by our Coalition members to support students, families, educators, workers, elected leaders, advocates, and communities across the country. If your organization has resources, an announcement, or a story you would like to see included, please send it to america_forward@newprofit.org.

uAspire

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid – FAFSA – has experienced a delayed and turbulent roll out of their updated systems over the past several months, but as the application program gets back on track, uAspire has the resources to support students applying for aid. uAspire is a nonprofit that works to increase the economic mobility of underrepresented students across the country by supporting financial access to higher education and postsecondary pathways. You can access critical tools, such as a college-cost calculator, a financial aid checklist available in 8 languages, how-to guides, and more on their Resources page today!

New Teacher Center

New Teacher Center works to support and empower educators, so that everyone in school communities can thrive. The data shows that teacher turnover especially burdens systemically underserved schools, but there are effective strategies schools and districts can use to support educators and reduce turnover. To learn more, you can check out Teacher Turnover is an Equity Issue and NTC’s resource guide, with data and examples about addressing teacher turnover.

Generation Citizen

Generation Citizen is dedicated to increasing students’ civic knowledge, skills, and motivation – to support democracy and improve education across the country. They recently released their 2023 Annual Report and – in the past year – they’ve engaged more than 31,900 students, trained and supported over 460 teachers, and fostered critical  conversations and experiences that will strengthen our democracy. You can learn about their work and their plans for what’s next by reading the report, and check out their resources on education and civic readiness.

Project Evident 

Project Evident works to help community leaders gather and humanize key evidence in their fields, and they have released a new book detailing the ways we can build actionable evidence while centering practitioners, advancing equity, uplifting community voices, rebuilding and reimagining systems, and always moving forward. Next Generation Evidence: Strategies for More Equitable Social Impact is a guide to engaging practitioners and centering equity in data to make it stronger. You can download the book for free to learn more today.

Institute for Child Success

January 23 was national Maternal Health Awareness Day, which is annually dedicated to raising awareness of and working to improve the issues surrounding healthcare access and quality for mothers. The Institute for Child Success works year round to improve the lives of young children and families through community engagement, wrap-around support, and working to advance equity. In honor of Maternal Health Awareness Day, they highlighted their Family Experiences of Health and Health Care Resource, which discusses the barriers to access that families face, as well as information that is critical to understanding the priorities and challenges of families moving through our healthcare system.