About Reach Higher
Reach Higher was the first initiative of the Massachusetts Action Learning Academy, created in response to a solicitation from the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices. As part of a two-year grant to Commonwealth Corporation from the National Governors Association, Reach Higher was embedded in a systems improvement process aimed at making it easier for more working adults to gain postsecondary skills and credentials that prepare them for jobs and careers in high demand occupations.
After a highly competitive selection process, Massachusetts and seven other states were awarded grants in October 2003 and invited to join the National Governors Association Policy Academy for Pathways to Advancement. Participation in the Academy allowed Massachusetts to examine the state's capacity to motivate, recruit, enroll, support, educate, train, and graduate working adults prepared for careers in high demand occupations. It also afforded an opportunity to determine which policy and practice strategies are working well, and which need to be improved. A Massachusetts delegation attended three cross-state meetings to review promising policy and practice strategies from across the country.
Reach Higher was led by the state's former director of workforce development, Jane C. Edmonds. With staff support from CommCorp, Director Edmonds assembled a team of over fifty top workforce and economic development stakeholders from adult basic education, public and private higher education, organized labor, local and regional workforce intermediaries, research institutions, community-based education and training providers, advocacy groups, employers, industry associations, other public sector representatives, and the Massachusetts Legislature. Together this group successfully came to agreement on the vision, mission, outcome goals, and key policy and practice strategies to make it easier for Massachusetts working adults to have the knowledge, skills, abilities, and postsecondary credentials valued by employers and required by today's competitive global market.
