Advancing a vision of systemic change and measurable impact for economic mobility
We envision a learn-and-work system intentionally designed with and for New Majority Learners — one that connects learning to real opportunity.
OUR IMPACT
College, system and K-12 district partners
Community college partners
Workforce-aligned pathways
States where we’ve done work with colleges
We don’t just design programs — we design for system-level impact
We change systems by centering New Majority Learners in a collaborative process that results in a ripple effect of transformation across multiple levels, from individual programs and colleges, to regions and state systems.
We measure progress through four elements of change that signal system transformation:
Strengthen cross-sector partnerships to better align education, workforce, and employer needs — creating clearer, more supported pathways for learners
Shift policies and practices to remove barriers and support more flexible, skills-based, learner-centered pathways.
Strengthen the capacity of institutions and partners to design with learners, using data and human-centered approaches to continuously improve.
Change mindsets about learners, skills, and success — challenging outdated assumptions and redefining how systems create opportunity.
HOW CHANGE HAPPENS
System change builds across levels — always centered on the learner:
- Pathways: Learners access clear, employer-validated skills and opportunities
- Institutions: Colleges and partners redesign programs around learner needs and workforce realities
- Regions: Cross-sector partners align to connect learners to local opportunity
- States: Policy, funding, and data systems reinforce and scale what works
Together, this progression — from pathway to institution to region to state — drives lasting, system-wide change.
WHAT’S OUR ROLE?
As an intermediary, we partner with colleges, employers, and public sector leaders to align the learn + work ecosystem to needs of New Majority Learners.
A redesigned system requires coordinated action:
- Learners help shape and navigate pathways that lead to real opportunity
- Educators deliver learning aligned to skills and careers
- Employers co-design and hire for skills
- Regional partners align systems to local workforce needs
- State leaders set vision, policy, and accountability
Together, we can build a system where economic mobility is not left to chance — but designed.
DESIGNING FOR ECONOMIC MOBILITY
We measure success by long-term outcomes — not just enrollment or completion.
Learners gain clarity, confidence, and access to family-sustaining careers.
Workers build resilience through visible, portable skills.
Communities benefit from stronger, more equitable local economies.
This is how system change translates into real human impact.
We’ve doubled down on human-centered design, [expanding] that model throughout our entire institution. And that helps us ask the question: What do our learners need right now? And then get that answer from our learners and not just what we think they need. It also gives us great insights [about] how to retool our programs to meet those needs of our students.
Dr. Janet Spriggs
President of Forsyth Technical Community College (North Carolina), pictured second from left
ANNUAL IMPACT REPORTS
2025
Designing the Future of Learn + Work: Education Design Lab’s 2025 Impact Report
IMPACT BY DESIGN REPORTS
JUNE 2025
Multiplier Effect of Impact Investing
The Multiplier Effect of Impact Investing — for every $1 of seed investment by philanthropies to the Education Design Lab’s Community College Growth Engine, participating community colleges were able to unlock $8 in public and private funding to advance micro-pathways.
16 pages
NOVEMBER 2025
Colorado’s Community College Innovation
The Colorado Community College System (CCCS) partnered with Education Design Lab to center learners and employers in designing a statewide, stackable, skills-based education model in behavioral health.
20 pages
JULY 2025
Micro-Pathways Macro Impact
Offers a meta-analysis of four independent evaluations of Education Design Lab’s Community College Growth Engine program between 2021 to 2024, showing how the micro-pathways design process is leading to a ripple effect of institutional changes that better align education toward the future of work.
16 pages
November 2025
Building Capacity for Innovation Across Montana’s Community College System
Montana’s Year-to-Career (Y2C) initiative, a collaborative effort between Education Design Lab, the Montana University System, Montana’s Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education, and community colleges, represents a significant undertaking to address the state’s evolving workforce needs.
In this Impact by Design brief, we show how the process of designing micro-pathways, when facilitated through human-centered methods, can build institutional and system capacity.
29 pages
Febrauary 2026
Why Non-Degree Data Needs a Redesign
This brief draws on three years of experience from the Lab’s Data Coaches, three of whom are authors of this piece. Over that time, the team coached dozens of community colleges as they worked to collect, report, and make sense of data on short-term, non-degree programs.
Their insights and recommendations for the field reflect not a single implementation, but recurring patterns observed across institutions as they tried to build data practices in a space that was never designed to be measured.
14 pages
