Focus on Equity

Each of the three Educational Outcomes in Section 2 – Aspiration and Preparation, Access and Entry, and Persistence and Completion – begin with a “report card” of their respective indicators, along with an Overview of the changes from last year’s report. Significant findings and possible action items are highlighted in purple shaded boxes as illustrated below. More detailed discussions of the data about the indicators follow the Overview.

The FutureMakers Coalition hopes that the data in this report will act as a flashlight, so to speak, to illuminate key findings and to suggest possible action items. The purple boxes throughout this report will highlight some of these findings. The FutureMakers Coalition is committed to engaging with its network partners to utilize the information in this report in order to take the pulse of the Southwest Florida workforce and to more clearly define what action items are required to foster changes in the system.

A driving force behind the FutureMakers Coalition’s efforts is to ensure that everyone – no matter where you come from, what you look like, or how much money your family has – has access to genuine educational and career development opportunities along the cradle-to-career pathway and to flourish in Southwest Florida’s growing economy. The outcomes presented in this report, however, paint a different picture; opportunities are not equally realized among the region’s minority populations. Deeply rooted policies, practices, and beliefs hinder many within our minority communities from attaining the education and skills they need to succeed.

The FutureMakers Coalition is committed to working with its network partners to take real action in order to remove barriers and to design and implement system-wide improvements that will equally benefit all residents in Southwest Florida’s diverse communities. The green boxes in this report will identify findings that highlight important equity issues and potential action items.