Our Commitment to Equity
At ESG, we believe in the power of education to lift both individuals and communities to greater opportunity, economic mobility, and prosperity. We are doubling down on our commitment to drive quality education and training opportunities to those who have been traditionally underserved.
Impacting Equity Through Our Work
The issue areas at the core of ESG’s mission have a direct impact on educational and economic opportunity. We focus our activities, technical assistance, and thought leadership on addressing these major challenges facing underserved students and communities.
1. Attainment: Recognizing that postsecondary credentials are increasingly essential for success in today’s economy, most states have set ambitious higher education attainment goals. These goals cannot be met—nor will a state’s economy be successful in the long term— without intentional efforts to close longstanding gaps in postsecondary attainment. We work with state and institutional leaders to develop and implement strategies that increase rates of attainment and close these gaps.
2. Access to Quality Pathways: While possessing a postsecondary degree or credential is crucial for long-term economic mobility, it’s even more important to possess a credential that holds value in the labor market. Too often, people of color, women, and those from low-income backgrounds are disproportionately placed in pathways that lead to low-value credentials, leaving them saddled with debt and diminished employment opportunities. We support systems and states in their efforts to build more robust pathways that enable students to earn in-demand credentials and successfully transition into the workforce.
3. Transition points: The road to economic mobility begins long before college graduation. Currently, too many students of color and from low socioeconomic backgrounds are left behind at key transition points in their K-12 education. At more than 7,000 high schools across the U.S., these individuals have less than a 50 percent chance of enrolling in higher education directly after high school graduation. Our work is focused on developing and scaling strategies to support students through key transition points from middle and high school to and through postsecondary education, including those from underserved communities.
4. Data transparency: Educators, policymakers, and other leaders need good data to inform effective decisionmaking and to direct energy and resources where they’re needed most. Without timely, accurate, disaggregated data, we cannot hope to understand the gaps we face — let alone close them. We support states, districts, and partners in developing data capacity and implementing best data practices in their efforts to understand the areas of greatest need and better support underserved students.
5. Diverse leadership: Closing equity gaps requires sustained leadership and input from diverse communities. Representative voices—particularly in leadership roles—matter for progress. We are committed to building the capacity of education and workforce leaders and lifting up new leaders that bring diverse perspectives to the field.