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Over the past decade, the United States has experienced profound economic, political, and social change. We have weathered a global pandemic and continue to navigate technological disruption, confront deep political polarization, and witness a growing crisis of disconnection and mental health challenges among young people. Throughout these changes, one question has remained consistent: What does it take to help all young people thrive?

At the Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions, we have spent more than a decade working alongside multi-sector collaboratives, commonly referred to as Place-Based Partnerships, in communities across the country to answer that question. Through the Opportunity Youth Forum and Fund (OYF), we have partnered with more than forty urban, rural, and Tribal communities committed to connecting young people to quality education, careers, and civic life. Together with educators, employers, workforce leaders, community organizations, philanthropists, government agencies, and most importantly, young people, we have helped grow stronger pathways to opportunity while contributing to measurable improvements in educational attainment, workforce participation, and systems transformation. Today, these partnerships in the OYF national network collectively serve hundreds of thousands of children and youth while advancing a shared national goal of cutting youth disconnection from the Cradle to Career continuum in half over the next decade.

The most important lesson from this work is both simple and profound. Young people do not succeed because of one great program. They succeed because place-based partnerships support and build ecosystems — that work together to ensure impact and success from cradle to career.

For too long, public and philanthropic leaders have searched for singular solutions, promoting single-point strategies: “fix algebra” or “optimize AI for education outcomes,” “focus on third grade reading” or “design all pathways based on labor market demand,” just to name a handful of narrow strategies. However, a new curriculum, an innovative workforce program, a mentoring initiative, or a targeted employment strategy alone will not lead to the equitable education and employment impact that is required. Those approaches are necessary, but they are not sufficient because sustainable progress requires schools, colleges, employers, justice and child welfare systems, philanthropy, community organizations, and local government to align around a common purpose and shared responsibility for young people’s success.

We have also learned that systems improve most often when young people themselves are treated as leaders rather than only recipients of services. Across our network, communities that consistently engage young people in designing solutions make better decisions, build stronger institutions, and create policies that are more responsive to the realities young people face every day, especially in a constantly changing world. The principle of “nothing about us without us” is not simply good practice, it is essential infrastructure.

Another lesson has become increasingly clear: data matters and relationships matter, too. Communities that improve outcomes over time invest not only in measuring progress but also in building trust between institutions, across sectors, and with young people. Increasingly, our work has shown that belonging, meaning, wellbeing, and purpose are not peripheral to educational and economic success; they are foundational to it. Young people are far more likely to persist in school, remain connected to employment, and contribute to their communities when they experience environments where they feel seen, valued, and connected.
This insight aligns youth policy with broader national concerns. If we want stronger economies, healthier communities, and a more resilient democracy, we must invest in the conditions that enable young people to flourish, not simply intervene after they have gone off track. That understanding is shaping the next chapter of our place-based partnership work.

We are growing our approach and supporting the movement for place-based partnerships in several ways: First, we are deepening our investment in state-level strategies. States have tremendous influence over education, workforce, juvenile justice, child welfare, and postsecondary systems, making them critical partners in creating durable place-based impact. Building on promising place-based collaboratives in states such as Texas, California, Maine, and Montana, we will continue to engage leaders who are aligning policy, practice, and investment across systems to improve outcomes for young people in nearly a dozen states.

Second, we will expand our focus on narrative change. Too often, public narratives reduce young people to statistics or define them by the barriers they face. We know from experience that narratives shape policy, funding decisions, public will, and ultimately opportunity. Changing outcomes requires changing the stories our society tells about children and youth, particularly young people of color.

Finally, we must deepen partnerships with organizations investing in place-based partnerships and impact, such as Strive Together, My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, and other national networks committed to improving outcomes for children and youth. The challenges facing young people and communities are too complex for any one organization or network to solve alone. The next decade must be defined by greater collaboration, shared learning, and coordinated action across the field.

The work ahead is not simply about connecting young people to school or work. It is about meaningfully reconnecting our institutions and systems to one another, including creating systems that recognize the dignity, potential, and aspirations of every young person.

Ultimately, we must ensure that every community in America has the capacity to help its young people not merely survive but truly thrive.

About the Opportunity Youth Forum at the Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions
The Opportunity Youth Forum, our flagship initiative, was formed at the Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions in 2012 following the work of the White House Council for Community Solutions. Our decade-long journey has been marked by high impact place-based partnerships with urban, rural, and tribal communities, all with the common goal of expanding cross-sector pathways to youth reconnection, and transforming cradle-to-career systems to enhance educational and employment outcomes for all young people to thrive throughout their lives.

About the Authors

Melody C. Barnes – Chair, Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions 

Melody Barnes is the Chair of the Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions and Opportunity Youth Forum. She is Executive Director of the University of Virginia’s Karsh Institute of Democracy where she is also a faculty fellow at the Miller Center of Public Affairs and a senior fellow at the Karsh Center for Law & Democracy at UVA School of Law.

Melody was Assistant to the President and director of the White House Domestic Policy Council during the Administration of President Barack Obama. Prior to her tenure in the Obama Administration, she was executive vice president for policy at the Center for American Progress and chief counsel to the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Learn More.

Dr. Monique Miles – Vice President, Aspen Institute; Director, Opportunity Youth Forum; Managing Director, Forum for Community Solutions 
Dr. Monique Miles is a Vice President of the Aspen Institute, the Director of the Opportunity Youth Forum, and Managing Director of the Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions. Prior to joining the Forum for Community Solutions, Monique was the Director, Postsecondary Achievement at the National Youth Employment Coalition (NYEC). In her role at NYEC, Monique oversaw the Postsecondary Success Initiative, a national pilot that supported Community Based Organizations (CBOs) across the country to design and implement postsecondary programming, in partnership with local institutions of higher learning, for students who were disconnected from education.

Monique began her career in education reform working as a Literacy Instructor at Youth Opportunity Boston. In this role, Monique worked directly with students remanded to the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services (DYS) to design and deliver education and career development curriculum. Monique went on to serve the same population of students through political advocacy initiatives at the Commonwealth Corporation (CommCorp).
Stephen Patrick – Vice President, Aspen Institute;  Executive Director, Forum for Community Solutions 
Steve Patrick is a Vice President of the Aspen Institute and Executive Director of the Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions. He oversees work that includes a focus on building the collective impact field, as well as launching and implementing the Opportunity Youth Forum in partnership with over 30 different foundations. His work at the Forum for Community Solutions has helped to grow the opportunity youth movement while also lifting up successful stories of civic engagement and community power building.

Prior to joining the Forum for Community Solutions, Steve served as a Senior Program Officer at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. His work at Gates included managing a portfolio of grants focused on supporting opportunity youth on pathways to and through postsecondary education, along with work focused on adult education populations and education for justice involved individuals. Steve also served as a Vice President at the Daniels Fund and as Director of Youth and Emerging Initiatives at the New Mexico Community Foundation. Learn More.

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