Teaching Excellence 2015 Awardee Keith Valdez and his Kindergarten class Working to make all roads lead to college: The Ed Fund and their partners are guiding students down the path toward college success Going to college is a dream for all students; for some it is one they know they will achieve once all the steps are completed, while for others it is a dream that seems so unattainable and will never be within reach that they don’t try. “The key goal is to increase the number of kids from our district who graduate high school and go onto college and succeed there,” said Joel Mackey, executive director of the Ed Fund, an intermediary organization focused on developing collaborative groups that provide resources and support to aid students with college readiness, access and completion. They say many hands makes for lighter work; is exactly the thinking behind the Ed Fund and their collaborative By Jeannie Howard network of partner community organizations working together to make the college dream reachable for local youth. “Working primarily through our partner organizations and helping them to strengthen what they’re doing, we are able to broaden the level of programs and activities available,” said Mackey. “We can be more effective in reaching those students that may not see themselves as going onto college and the students who see themselves as capable of succeeding but don’t quite know how to get there.” One of the first elements the Ed Fund began zooming in on after making the switch from being an independent organization to being a liaison to a larger network of
Contra Costa Marketplace - April 2016
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