At Making Waves Education Foundation, we believe deeply in expanding opportunity — and we also believe in learning and growing alongside the students and communities we serve. 

Over the past few years, one truth has become increasingly clear: a college degree alone doesn’t guarantee economic mobility.  

Plus, Gen Z wants a new set of options – and we need to make those options available. Some want to pursue a bachelor’s degree; others want a faster path than taking 4-6 years before entering the workforce (and don’t want to shoulder the financial burden!); others are excited about technical training; and others don’t know what they want to do and want earlier exploration opportunities.  

We need to bridge the gap between education and employment — and we need to do it differently than before.

That’s why we’re testing new approaches as we develop a long-term vision to create accelerated pathways from high school to high-wage, high-demand careers. 

We’re using these pilots to explore what’s possible, and to better understand what kind of regional infrastructure might be needed to help young people move more seamlessly from education into meaningful, high-wage jobs.

This is a big, ambitious idea we’re exploring: what it could take to build a regional model that aligns high schools, higher education, and employers in new ways to unlock real opportunity for young people?

What we learned in our first pilot 

We knew we couldn’t just map out a five-year plan on paper — we needed to start learning by doing.

This spring, we launched our first pilot: Hands on Health. In partnership with Kaiser Permanente School of Allied Health Sciences, we designed a paid, three-day immersive program for high school students across Contra Costa County.

Over 100 students from 20 different schools applied; 23 were selected and explored healthcare careers through hands-on medical simulations, real-world projects, and peer collaboration. They built skills like collaboration and receiving feedback, and they developed their networks by making connections with healthcare professionals – all while getting paid. 

The experience was powerful. In our post-pilot survey: 

• 100% of students said they gained access to more useful information for pursuing their education or career goals. 

• 100% said they developed or strengthened key skills – including communication, collaboration, technical skills, and presentation confidence. 

• 100% reported building social capital by connecting with people who could support their career goals. 

• 100% said they felt more motivated about planning for their future.

• 78% felt more prepared to make decisions about their next steps. 

And we learned some important lessons: 

• Students are eager for authentic, real-world experiences that help them imagine their futures. 

• Durable skills — collaboration, communication, problem-solving — matter just as much as technical skills. 

• Paid opportunities remove barriers and open doors for students who might not otherwise participate. 

Listening to the labor market and student interests 

As we explore building education and career pathways, it’s important that two things are true – these pathways are wins for both students and employers. We need to design pathways that meet labor market demand, and we need to design pathways that match students’ interests and passions. 

We’re partnering with Education Strategy Group to conduct a regional labor market analysis — and the findings are helping us focus on the entry points that offer the greatest potential for students to access high-wage, high-growth careers.  

We’re learning that early work-based learning, early college credit, and industry-recognized credentials can accelerate students’ pathways – especially when those experiences are designed in partnership. No single school, college, or employer can do this alone — it takes a coordinated ecosystem working together to open these doors for young people.  

These insights are helping shape our next pilots and the career exploration experiences we design with students, which in turn will guide the development of our long-term vision.

We’re excited for what’s next

Thanks to new investments from The IGNITE Fund of the Roberts Foundation, the Payette River Foundation, the California Department of Education, and other philanthropic and public sector partners, we’re building on this momentum. 

Next year, we’re: 

• Piloting a career accelerator, a pilot where 50 rising 11th graders from Making Waves Academy and other Richmond high schools will explore careers, build durable skills, and participate in paid work-based learning experiences – the first steps to accelerate their paths to landing high-wage jobs.  

• Designing and testing a healthcare pathway alongside K-12, industry, and higher education partners committed to expanding career-connected learning. 

• Expanding early-stage career exploration and work-based learning opportunities for young people in Contra Costa, in partnership with Earn & Learn and Community Youth Center.  

In every effort, we are focused on building the capacity of schools, colleges, and employers to work together — so the systems themselves become stronger, more connected, and better positioned to serve students for the long term. 

Looking ahead, we hope to expand this work as we learn what’s most effective, with the long-term goal of building multiple industry-aligned pathways that open doors to real economic mobility.  

Recent panel conversation

If you’re interested to learn more from leaders from across K-12, higher education, and workforce development, I recently spoke on this panel conversation: Pathways That Pay Off on July 8.

Does this resonate with you? Let’s connect! 

We know we can’t do this work alone. If you’re a school leader, a college, an employer, or a funder committed to building new bridges between education and employment, we’d love to connect. 

Every young person deserves the chance to find their purpose, build the skills to pursue it, and create a life of economic mobility and wellbeing. 

Let’s imagine and build the pathways that make that future possible.