February 27, 2008—The Forum for Youth Investment and its partners have launched a nationwide challenge to everyone working with young people: change the odds for youth by changing the way we do business.

The Ready by 21™ Challenge aims to ensure that all young people have the supports and opportunities they need to be Ready by 21 -- ready for college, work and life.

To get there, the Challenge will help develop a critical mass of leaders in every state, and support efforts to prioritize differently, to bring together existing programs and funding, and to integrate individual efforts so that “they add up rather than simply add on to current programs.”

It is sponsored by the Forum for Youth Investment and six major partners: United Way of America, American Association of School Administrators, America’s Promise Alliance, Corporate Voices for Working Families, the National Collaboration for Youth and the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The Challenge
At a February 27 launch event in Washington, DC, Challenge co-chairs former Congressman Dick Gephardt and former Governor Tom Ridge applauded the initiative and pledged their support.

“Improving young lives means changing old strategies,” said Congressman Gephardt. “Increasing funding for one program while decreasing funding for another generates political wins but it fails children and youth. We need to challenge our leaders – public and private – to be accountable for the lives they touch directly or indirectly. These goals are ambitious, but doable, because of the groundwork that has already been laid.”

“Ready by 21 thinks in terms of the community and pulling everyone in,” said Governor Tom Ridge. “The goal is that by age 21, young people are not just a bunch of ‘nots’ – not pregnant, not dropouts, not gang members – but are actually ready for college, work and life.”

United Ways are actively involved in two-thirds of the Ready by 21 Challenge sites and present in all. The sites provide a natural learning lab for United Way and the other National Partners to work together and to engage their members and affiliates.

United Way of America will be paying particular attention to measuring outcomes—including what is measured and how. “You have to get the metrics right, “ said Brian Gallagher, president and CEO of United Way of America. “Instead of focusing solely on minimum wage or poverty, you add in family financial stability and jobs and wages; you measure graduation rates in addition to the number of after-school programs.”

Youth Voices, Youth Action
The launch event also honored Nashville youth activist, Eric Polk, 23, recipient of the first Ready by 21 Change Maker award.

Polk grew up in East Nashville, Tennessee, in a neighborhood where there was plenty of interest in going to college—but not a high rate of success making it there.

"I entered high school with 657 ninth graders; 187 graduated," he said. “Of these, only 40 percent went on to college.”

The root issue was not a lack of desire, Polk added, citing a 2005 Oasis/Community Impact survey that found that ninety-percent of East Nashville teens wanted to attain some level of post-secondary education.

By 2007, the high school graduation rate had doubled in east Nashville—from 35 percent to 70 percent, according to Karen Pittman, executive director of the Forum for Youth Investment.

This very real result is due in part to the work of Oasis Community Impact, which trains youth mobilizers to tackle community issues including college access, educational equity and financial stability.

Polk was in the first class of mobilizers trained by Oasis Community Impact. Now a graduate of Wake Forest University, he has returned to his hometown to work with the organization—it is his leadership in this area that earned him the Change Maker award.

“It’s time for us to act, not just talk. Up to this point, no disrespect, it just hasn’t worked. In some senses, it’s gotten worse.” Polk said. “Kids don’t grow up in places, they grow up in communities, so we have to change the communities.”

For the full release and other materials, visit the new Ready by 21 site [1].

>>Ready by 21 [2].