Frequently Asked Questions

The EdCollaborative is a regional intermediary organization serving Pierce County, Washington. We convene cross-sector partners around a shared goal to increase postsecondary credential attainment to 70% across the region by 2030.

We do not operate programs directly. Instead, we provide coaching, facilitation, data analytics, communication, and policy support that help partners align their efforts and scale solutions together.

Because our work changed. For over a decade, we were the Foundation for Tacoma Students, and our focus was building the Graduate Tacoma community-wide movement to help more students graduate from high school. But graduation was just the beginning.

Too many students were, and still are, walking across the stage and then hitting a wall. Our new name reflects a broader focus: connecting education to economic opportunity across Pierce County.

Our core approach of convening partners, aligning systems, and using data remains the same. What changed is where we are applying it.

Previously, as the Foundation for Tacoma Students, the focus was on high school graduation, centered in Tacoma, with a cradle-to-career scope. Now, as The EdCollaborative, the focus is on college and career connection, spanning all of Pierce County, with a clear lens on education to social and economic success. Our work is now organized around three workstreams: Affordability, Navigation, and Workforce Readiness.

The Graduate Tacoma initiative was a powerful chapter in our history, and high school graduation remains a critical milestone. Our evolution builds on that success. We are now asking and answering the question of what comes next, working to make sure graduation leads somewhere. Many of the partnerships and relationships built through Graduate Tacoma continue to inform our work today.

No. High school graduation is still essential. It is the foundation everything else is built on. But graduation alone is not enough anymore. In today's economy, most good-paying jobs require some education after high school. We have shifted our focus to make sure students who graduate have a clear, affordable path to a credential that holds value in the job market.

We bring together people who do not usually sit in the same room: high school principals and college deans, financial aid officers and employers, workforce boards and community organizations. We help them solve problems together. We do not deliver direct services to students. We strengthen the systems that serve them.

Specifically, we convene partners across sectors to coordinate their work, surface data that shows where students are getting stuck, facilitate strategy so partners are working from the same playbook, and advocate for policy changes when systems need to be fixed at a higher level.

When we bring partners together around shared data and strategy, systems start working better together. That means financial aid arrives on time. Credits transfer smoothly. Career programs connect to real jobs. Counselors have the information they need. Students do not have to navigate a maze alone.

Students do not stay inside city lines. They move between school districts, attend community colleges across the county, and look for jobs throughout the region. The systems that serve them operate at the county and regional level. To align those systems effectively, we need to work at the same scale they do.

Our goal is for 70% of Pierce County residents to hold a postsecondary credential by 2030. Currently, approximately 45% of residents do. Research consistently shows that regions with higher credential attainment rates experience stronger economic mobility, lower poverty rates, and more resilient local economies.

It is where the jobs are. In Washington, nearly 70% of jobs will require education beyond high school by 2031. A high school diploma alone does not open the doors it used to. People with postsecondary credentials earn two to three times more over their careers than those with only a high school diploma.

At current rates, our state faces a shortage of nearly 600,000 credentialed workers. Graduation rates have improved, but completion rates have not kept pace. That is the gap we are focused on closing.

A postsecondary credential includes any recognized certificate, certification, associate degree, bachelor's degree, or advanced degree earned after high school. Industry-recognized credentials and apprenticeship completions also count. The goal is broad by design, because pathways to economic mobility are not one-size-fits-all.

The work is organized around three focus areas:

• Affordability is focused on increasing FAFSA and WAFSA completion rates, with an initial target of 80%.
• Navigation supports students enrolling in postsecondary pathways, with a target of 75% enrollment.
• Workforce Readiness connects credential attainment to employment outcomes, targeting 70% credential completion.

Each workstream will be led by a network of partners with expertise in that area.

The Leadership Table is a group of senior leaders from across sectors, including K-12, higher education, workforce development, employers, philanthropy, and community organizations, who set the strategic direction for the Path to 70%. They establish priorities, approve accountability agreements, and ensure the work stays aligned to community-identified needs. The Leadership Table is being established in spring 2026.

Networks are the working groups organized around each workstream. Each network will have a chair and co-chair, a purpose statement, a problem statement, targeted goals, and an agreed-upon meeting cadence. These are the groups doing the tactical work of developing and implementing strategies within their focus area. Networks will be guided by the Leadership Table and facilitated by The EdCollaborative.

Accountability agreements are community-agreed-upon commitments that define what each partner organization will contribute. This can include human capacity, financial resources, in-kind support, expertise, or execution of specific strategies. These agreements ensure shared ownership of outcomes.

Progress and learnings will be shared through multiple channels: Partnership Summit convenings, email communications, newsletters, blog posts, and public reporting. Calls to action, celebrations of progress, and future direction will be communicated regularly so the entire community can see and engage with the work.

There are several ways to engage. Organizations can participate in workstream networks, attend Partnership Summit convenings, contribute resources or expertise, or partner with us on data sharing and aligned strategies.

Contact Dr. Tafona Ervin, CEO, at tervin@theedcollaborative.org to start a conversation about where your organization fits.

Funders play a critical role in sustaining the backbone infrastructure that makes collective impact possible. This includes supporting The EdCollaborative's convening, facilitation, data, and communications capacity, as well as aligning funding to the priorities identified by the Leadership Table and networks. We welcome conversations with funders who want to invest in systems-level change.

We want to hear them. This evolution came from listening to our community, and we are still listening. If you have questions about how this affects your work with us, or ideas about how we can do this better, reach out. The EdCollaborative is, by definition, collaborative. We do not have all the answers, and we are not trying to work alone.

The next full Partnership Summit is scheduled for October 21, 2026, at the McGavick Conference Center. This convening will bring together an expanded group of partners to review progress, celebrate milestones, and share agreement on a specific set of solutions to be activated in early 2027 and beyond.

We are currently establishing the Leadership Table, conducting one-on-one conversations with prospective leaders, codifying feedback from the March 2026 Partnership Summit, and preparing for the Leadership Table kickoff convening in May 2026.