The Aspen Postsecondary Success for Parents (PSP) Initiative is a partnership with Imaginable Futures and the ECMC Foundation to raise awareness about and share recommendations to better support students who are parents. The PSP Initiative is informed by three groups of experts from across the United States: Parent Advisors, National Advisors, and the Postsecondary Leadership…

This brief highlights innovative ideas for improving access to family supports and services, blending and braiding national and state-level funding sources to promote a coherent statewide focus on early childhood, and addressing ongoing challenges surrounding data collection and governance. More than ideas, the strategies presented here are real examples of systems and programs that are…

This brief shares insights from the conversation that offer space to consider changes needed in workforce development policies and practices to be more supportive of parents. By sharing these perspectives, Ascend hopes other practitioners, policymakers, and researchers will use these ideas to identify and address similar gaps in their own efforts.

It is our pleasure to share this collection of leadership briefs from the inspiring leaders who make up the first cohort of the Aspen Institute Colorado Children and Families Fellowship. This journey began with a question: What would it take to make Colorado the best place to have a child and raise a thriving family? 

CareerAdvance®, developed and run by the Community Action Project of Tulsa County (CAP Tulsa), is a model two-generation intervention that pairs early childhood education for children with career pathway training in the healthcare sector for parents. CareerAdvance® recruits parents from high quality Head Start centers and offers career certification programs in the healthcare field at…

2Gen convenings have the potential to create change for whole systems and the lives of the families they serve. This planning guide is the first step. Having planned and supported more than 100 2Gen convenings, Ascend has cultivated a depth of knowledge for the practical elements and nuanced factors that result in successful convenings. This…