We Are The EPC
The Education Partnerships Coalition members are Austin Aspires, Cradle 2 Career (Rochester), Generation Next (Twin Cities), Northfield Promise, Northside Achievement Zone (Minneapolis), Children First / Park Partnerships for Success (St. Louis Park), RiseUp Red Wing (Red Wing), United Way of Central Minnesota (St. Cloud area), and Saint Paul Promise Neighborhood.
The Coalition engages more than 120,000 youth and their families across Minnesota.
Coalition members take a birth-to-career approach to eliminating Minnesota’s worst-in-the-nation opportunity gaps. All Coalition members are locally-controlled, data-driven public-private partnerships. This collective impact focus brings communities together to enact solutions that improve outcomes for children and families. Additionally, all EPC members are affiliated with either the Promise Neighborhood Institute or StriveTogether, national collective impact networks.
History of the EPC
2021
Park Partnership for Success joins the Coalition.
2020
EPC members work together to address urgent family needs related to the COVID-19 pandemic and civil unrest.
2019
Northfield Promise achieves “Proof Point” status, which makes it just the 12th community in the nation to reach this level of the Theory of Action from StriveTogether, a leader in collective impact.
Partner for Student Success merged with United Way of Central Minnesota.
The EPC secured state appropriations and added additional rigor to the Education Partnerships State Statute (124D.99).
2018
Rochester’s Cradle 2 Career joins the Coalition.
The EPC secures a multi-year grant from StriveTogether to build parent advocacy leadership and expand access to collective impact in Minnesota.
2017
Northfield Promise earns the Bush Foundation Prize for Community Innovation because of their improved outcomes for youth.
Austin Aspires and Generation Next join the EPC.
Former Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer and Connie Ballmer, Co-Founder of the Ballmer Group, visit the Minnesota Legislature to share their support for the EPC. The EPC secured state appropriations and created the Education Partnerships State Statute (124D.99).
2016
The EPC is created when the Greater Minnesota initiatives of Every Hand Joined in Red Wing, Northfield Promise, and Partner for Student Success in the Saint Cloud area partner with the inner-city organizations of Minneapolis’ Northside Achievement Zone and the Saint Paul Promise Neighborhood. Since its creation, the Coalition has met on a monthly basis to share best practices and advance statewide collective impact efforts. The Coalition secured state appropriations.
2014
Austin Aspires is launched to improve educational outcomes for all students in Austin.
2012
Generation Next is founded to make a measurable impact for children in the Twin Cities.
Every Hand Joined is created to focus on youth development in Red Wing.
Northfield Promise is developed to achieve community-wide change for children and youth.
2010
Saint Paul Promise Neighborhood is launched to take a proactive approach to eliminating opportunity gaps by focusing on supporting children, beginning in early childhood.
Partner For Student Success is created to serve families in the Saint Cloud area. Today, Partner for Student Success services over 19,000 students from prekindergarten to 12th grade across three counties.
2008
Inspired by the Harlem Children’s Zone’s results, North Minneapolis community organizations and residents join together and create the Northside Achievement Zone to focus on ending the “cradle to prison/grave pipeline”.
2003
The Northside Achievement Zone begins as the PEACE Foundation, a grassroots effort focused on reducing violence in North Minneapolis.