New America Launch Accelerator for Community Colleges

New America has launched the Accelerator for Community Colleges in the Innovation Economy (Accelerator) using a $3 million grant from Ascendium Education Group.

Sethuraman PanchanathanThe Accelerator provides community colleges engaging with NSF Engines with a community of practice, technical assistance, best practices, research insights and recognition, capacity-building funding, and broader support structures to support institutional policy, programmatic, and practice innovations.

New America and the National Science Foundation (NSF) have embarked on the strategic initiative to grow capacity, effectiveness, and impact of community and technical colleges across NSF’s 10 regional innovation Engines investment communities across 18 states.

“None of the Regional Innovation Engines will be successful if we don’t have the capacity of the skilled technical workforce unleashed at full force and full scale, everywhere,” said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan.

“I am thrilled to see our NSF Regional Innovation Engines program continuing to unlock investment and resources to expand pathways to opportunity all across America,” he said. “This initiative by New America, made possible by Ascendium Education Group, will help stand up the training and workforce readiness programs that will ensure working families can access good-paying jobs in critical technologies that are vital to American economic competitiveness.”

New America plans to collaborate with NSF’s new Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP) Directorate and the NSF Engines Builder Platform to disseminate insights among the NSF Engines workforce leaders around best practices for cultivating a diverse skilled technical workforce through community and technical colleges. Thus, the Accelerator will help ensure that community and technical colleges have the resources and support they need to succeed.