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Mission: Graduate and Mission: Families, two initiatives of United Way of Central New Mexico, have combined under the new name Rising Together.
“Our Rising Together programs and partners foster a strong foundation for local families and give kids the support they need to be successful today in school and tomorrow in the workforce,” Rodney Prunty, president and CEO of UWCNM, said in a recent newsletter to donors and other stakeholders.
“The integration recognizes that when families are stable, they are better able to achieve their educational aspirations,” he said. Likewise, “educational attainment can foster stability in families and lead to better outcomes” in multiple areas, including employment and health.
Mission: Graduate was a cradle-to-career partnership of educators, employers, educational support providers, government leaders and citizens. Together they developed strategies to help more students graduate from high school and enroll in colleges or programs to earn a degree or certificate, and hopefully find employment in central New Mexico.
Mission: Families, designed to complement the work of Mission: Graduate, had as its goal the development of strategies for families in central New Mexico to access resources to care for and support their children so they can succeed in education and in life.
The goals of the new Rising Together initiative are still evolving but will certainly incorporate the goals of its predecessor programs, according to Megan Dunn Davison, chief impact officer of UWCNM.
The United Way of Central New Mexico focuses its programs in the central New Mexico counties of Bernalillo, Sandoval, Valencia, Torrance and as of January 2021, Santa Fe.
