WEC was awarded a Worcester Together Reimagining Grant!

Thank you to all of the community partners on this project! We are excited and inspired by our collective response to pressing challenges related to education and student well-being in Worcester.

Woo-Labs convened by the Worcester Education Collaborative was just awarded a $250,000 grant from the Worcester Together Fund. More information about Woo-Labs and next steps… are coming soon!

Press Release by the Greater Worcester Community Foundation & the United Way of Central Massachusetts

‘Worcester Together’ Announces $1 Million in Reimagining Phase Funding

 WORCESTER, MA – The Worcester Together fund recently announced $1 million in Reimagining Grants to six local nonprofits. A joint effort between the Greater Worcester Community Foundation and the United Way of Central Massachusetts, and in close partnership with the City of Worcester, Worcester Together has provided over $10.6 million in the last year to Central Massachusetts nonprofits working to help families facing issues such as lost income, unstable housing, food insecurity, and more. The Reimagining Grants are the Fund’s final phase of grant making.

“Worcester Together’s Reimagining grants were designed to encourage local leaders to step back from the immediate consequences of a social issue and address the root causes. The scale of these grants, at over $100,000 each, will position organizations to make lasting and fundamental changes,” said GWCF President and CEO Barbara Fields.

“COVID-19 has highlighted many of the community inequities and service gaps we have known existed for a long time,” said United Way President and CEO Tim Garvin. “As we approach the one year mark of the pandemic, we envision this last round of funding as helping the region’s non-profits operate at an even more effective level and build an even better future for our community.” 

The six organizations were chosen for their unique approach to tackling some of Central Massachusetts’ most critical challenges. These include access to newborn and maternal health care, increasing youth civic engagement, expanding quality educational programming, and addressing food insecurity.

The six organizations and their selected projects are:

Legendary Legacies, Inc.: $125,000

Creating a youth-led civic engagement academy to increase voter registration and turnout among 18-25 year olds.

Pernet Family Health Service: $150,000

Providing in-home neonatal visits for all Worcester parents.

Regional Environmental Council: $125,000

Improve food security by increasing utilization of federal and state programs designed to help residents purchase local produce

Together for Kids Coalition: $175,000

Establishing an early childhood care coordinated system.

Worcester Community Action Council: $175,000

Delivery of services in Southbridge and surrounding communities.

Worcester Education Collaborative: $250,000

Improving access to and quality of out-of-school time programs.

“COVID-19 has exacerbated the barriers that many face in accessing services and stabilizing benefits, such as to healthy food, rental assistance and access to good jobs,” said Marybeth Campbell of Worcester Community Action Council. “With our Reimagining Grant from Worcester Together, we will help more residents break the cycle of poverty by providing a place-based model for coordinated care, connecting all of the providers, leveraging resources, referrals and interventions in order to achieve a better result for everyone.” 

“Worcester has long been plagued by disparities and inadequacies in our K-12 public education system,” said Jennifer Davis Carey of Worcester Education Collaborative. “Our Reimagining Grant will make it possible to ensure afterschool and out-of-school programs are widely accessible and of the highest quality for all.”

“In the past year, young people used their voices to speak out for social change in record numbers, yet less than five hundred 18-25-year-olds in Worcester voted in the 2019 Municipal election,” said Ron Waddell of Legendary Legacies. We know that the greatest impact on the political process happens at the local level, so with our Reimagining Grant, we will establish a youth-led Civic Engagement Academy. We know that peer-designed programming and activities are key to boosting interest and engagement in the political process.”

Learn more about Worcester Together and Reimagining Grants here.

About the Greater Worcester Community Foundation

Greater Worcester Community Foundation (GWCF) is central Massachusetts’ leading community foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life in the region by connecting donors to high impact nonprofits and community partners. The Foundation employs its expertise and resources to address the region’s most urgent needs. Since 1975, GWCF has worked with donors to build a $179 million endowment and each year awards more than $7 million in grants and scholarships to help build a stronger and more vibrant region.  For more information, please visit www.greaterworcester.org

About the United Way of Central Massachusetts

Every day, The United Way of Central Massachusetts works to improve the community and break the cycle of poverty. Our donors and supporters contribute $5 million each year, which gets invested into programs and initiatives with a proven track record of results. Our programs are aligned with our strategic goals: Education, Family Stability, and Health and Safety Net. Our entire community benefits when the most vulnerable members of our community find a way out of crisis, children are able to learn, people are healthy, and parents earn enough money to support a stable family. For more information on The United Way of Central Massachusetts programs and how to give, please visit www.unitedwaycm.org

Check out our resources for Educators: how to have difficult conversations with kids

Check out these 4 activities to help you build a resilient classroom. For similar resources check out our most recent page "Having Difficult Conversations with Kids"

Click here for our list of strategies, articles, and other resources.

Credit to Teaching Tolerance's guide "Let's Talk!"

February Events: Join us from the 10th-18th

Conversations about early-college access, state budget allocations, and engaging with young people on the concerns of these extraordinary times.

February 10th, 4 PM-6 PM | Early College: An Equity-Based Solution to Post-Secondary Success

Increasing post-secondary completion rates of economically disadvantaged students and students of color is critical to ensuring that students are equipped with the tools and habits of mind to make positive contributions to our community. Early College programs--in which high school students take college courses that offer credit toward a high school diploma and the college degree--present a scalable education model that meets the needs of historically underserved young people by leveraging the assets of our state’s higher education system.

Join the Worcester Education Collaborative on February 10th to learn more about Worcester's leadership role in our state's Early College programming and the promising results we are seeing as we work towards equity-based solutions that meet our education and workforce needs.

This session features the following speakers:

• Maureen Binienda, Superintendent, Worcester Public School District with staff and students

• Chris Gabrieli, Chairman, Board of Higher Education for the State of Massachusetts

• Barry Maloney, President, Worcester State University

• Christina Hebert, Director of Educational Partnerships K-12 & Early College Initiatives, Quinsigamond Community College

February 11th, 12:15 PM - 1 PM | Looking into the Crystal Ball: Our Needs, Our Resources

Over the last few weeks, Gov. Charlie Baker has announced that he's including funding to implement the Student Opportunity Act in his fiscal year 2022 budget proposal. In addition, $53 million will be allocated towards addressing and alleviating educational gaps and inequities. How will additional funding be used?

Please join the Worcester Education Equity Roundtable for a Lunch and Learn via Zoom with Brian Allen, Chief Financial Officer, Worcester Public Schools. The goal of this presentation will be to learn more about the budget and what opportunities there will be for community input.

This is the first in a series of short briefings for those with an interest in education on topics related to educational equity in Worcester.

February 18th, 9:30 AM - 10:45 AM | Fostering Civil Discourse: How Do We Talk About Issues That Matter?

Please join us on Thursday, February 18th from 9:30-10:45 am via Zoom for the second in our series of presentations for those in Worcester’s education ecosystem on engaging in conversations with young people on the concerns of these extraordinary times.

Joining us at this gathering is Elizabeth Carroll, Associate Program Director for New England with Facing History and Ourselves.

Facing History and Ourselves couples the lessons of history, literature, and human behavior with ethical decision making, critical thinking, and social-emotional learning. Their innovative approach is adaptable to a range of settings and allows young people to reflect on the choices they confront today and consider how they can make a difference.

This event will be of interest to all those working with children, youth, and young adults

Jennifer Davis Carey's Remarks

Thank you for joining WEC’s Annual Meeting

Twenty-three days until we can say goodbye to 2020. The plague year. The year of uprisings. The year of fires. The year of drought. The year of political upheaval. The year when bills came due. The year of change, upheaval, chaos, and yes, of revelation and awakening. The year 2020 has exposed fissures, fractures, and inadequacies in every sector of American society. And these revelations have seeded an awakening…the belief that we absolutely must work to re-imagine new and better systems, policies, approaches, and yes, attitudes that work for all people. And at the heart of that re-imagination, there are some things on which we absolutely need to focus.

As you know, I always look at things through the lens and vantage point of education. And from my vantage point at the Worcester Education Collaborative, as we as a community and a district re-imagine how we accomplish teaching and learning we absolutely must be guided in that work by the centering of the child and their needs and gifts along the lines and principles of equity.

The seeds for this type of re-imagination are taking root in Worcester. As we respond to the multiple bills that have come due, we have come together in a shared response—witness the Worcester Together Fund, the Black Lives Matter Mural, the Worcester Mutual Aid FB page, and in the education eco-system, the emergence of the Worcester Education Equity Roundtable.

For WEC the work of re-imagination is not new work. We have always held as our north star, not what is merely acceptable for our children, for our common future but what is possible. Tonight, we will consider what is possible through the interplay of education and technology, but our work goes beyond that to seek what is possible when the community is fully behind our kids and our schools and when our schools are fully allied with our community.

In March of this year, WEC began its 11th year of operation. While our work with the schools and community have borne fruit—a strategic plan, and strong literacy program in seven of our schools, an ongoing series of community briefings, a community of practice for the education eco-system, a social and emotional learning training program—our work is ongoing. Thanks to all of you, to our financial supporters, and to those who offer their time and expertise to assure that this important work is accomplished.

Tonight's special and heartfelt thanks are due to Patty Eppinger. Patty has served as our resolute and unflappable board chair since 2015. Smart, visionary, politically savvy, and fearless she has guided WEC to maturity. She is a personal friend and professional support and patient beyond words she saved me from fleeing on to Main Street to shout at randomly passing cars. Patty will be stepping down this year but will remain on the board in a new role. We are looking forward to continued work with her. Patty, many, many thanks.

- Jennifer Davis Carey, Executive Director

Thank you for attending WEC's 11th Annual Meeting!

WEC's first virtual annual meeting was a success! We engaged with 200+ people across Zoom and Facebook. In addition, we raised just over $18,000.00. Thank you to all of our supporters, new and old.

Joseph South’s remarks and the fireside chats challenged our ways of thinking and will no doubt catalyze further conversation. The comments that I have received have been universally positive. An excerpt from one, in particular, will give you a sense of them: “Thank you for inviting me to [WEC’s] annual meeting. Truly I was blown away by Joseph South and Dr. Mariel Novas, who show a dynamic, hope-filled path forward for Worcester's public schools.”

We are energized and inspired by everyone who has supported our Annual Meeting with their attendance, donation, and engagement. Going into the new year, we will continue our work to reimagine what is possible.

Recordings of the event will be available on our website and YouTube channel.

Best regards to all and blessings for the holidays.

WEC's 1st Virtual Auction

We are excited to share our first-ever virtual auction!

With the Worcester Education Collaborative's 11th Annual Meeting just around the corner, we are excited to launch our very first Virtual Auction!

Gift Baskets, Woo Sox Tickets, Wine Tastings, Designer Masks and More... Our auction is a celebration of central Massachusetts businesses and festivities. Don't miss your chance. Need a great gift idea for the holidays? Stop on by for a chance to win.

All funds raised through our Virtual Auction will support WEC programs including Principal for a Day, Reading Together, Understanding Trauma Sensitive Practices training, the Education Equity Roundtable, and more!

Help us reach our 10K fundraising goal!

Giving Tuesday is right around the corner! Please consider donating to WEC's 10k fundraiser.

Your gift will support our mission and programs including; Principal for a Day, the Worcester Education Equity Roundtable, WorcesterHEARS, Trauma & Social Emotional Learning Curriculums, and Reading Together.

WEC serves as a critical friend to the district. When we see a concern, we raise that concern but we also bring solutions to the table and work hand-in-hand with the district and the community to find the solutions and implement them. Regardless of what issue we are tackling or where we are working, we always keep the students at the center. The deciding factor is always what is best for the students in Worcester Public Schools. - WEC's Deputy Director, Julia Kilgore

Please Welcome Julia Kilgore to WEC!

I am pleased to announce that Julia Kilgore has joined the staff of the Worcester Education Collaborative as Deputy Director. 

Julia is a graduate of Assumption College with concentrated studies in Sociology, Social Policy, and Community Service Learning.  In addition, she holds a master’s degree from New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service.  Julia comes to us with extensive experience in the non-profit sector with a particular focus in out-of-school learning gathered from her work with Boston After School and Beyond and African Community Education (ACE).  Please join me in welcoming Julia to WEC and back to Worcester.

Read more about Julia in the Worcester Magazine!