FIRST AND FOREMOST, STUDENTS ARE AT THE CENTER OF EVERYTHING WE DO.
All youth, especially those furthest from opportunity, deserve an education that nurtures their talents and full potential, preparing them for whatever future career path they choose. At the heart of our approach is a fundamental shift in mindset about what it means to prepare young people for college, careers, and life.
Ford NGL mobilizes educators, employers, and community leaders to prepare a generation of diverse young people who will graduate from high school ready for college, careers, and life—prepared to apply their passion and skills to improve and contribute to their communities and to succeed.
Young people who achieve success in college, careers, lifelong learning, and leadership
Community prosperity shared by all
Extraordinary diverse talent for the region
Educational equity and justice for all
Capacity of this network and our partners to contribute and go further
OUR PRINCIPLES
These principles guide our work with communities in achieving the outcomes.
- EQUITY
All students, including those furthest from opportunity, must have access to and support in pursuing learning and work opportunities. - STUDENT VOICE
All students must have choice, ownership, and agency in pursuing their learning and career aspirations. - COMMUNITY-CONNECTED APPROACH
All stakeholders in the community (schools, families, business, post-secondary, and community organizations) share responsibility and accountability for designing, implementing, and sustaining the transformation, including the way they communicate, collaborate, and coordinate around their work. - PASSION
All stakeholders will demonstrate a relentless quest for excellence – a blend of mind and heart – in pursuing our goals. - INNOVATION
All stakeholders will continually innovate with new forms and ways of preparing young people for success and fulfillment.
STRANDS AND TACTICS
The Ford NGL Strands are the three major strategies Ford NGL coaches help communities to pursue in their adaptation and implementation of the Ford NGL Design.
Strand 1 focuses on transforming teaching and learning.
Strand 2 focuses on transforming the culture, systems, and structures of schools to deliver that experience.
Strand 3 focuses on transforming the partnerships the school forms with key community sectors.
Within each of the strands are a small number of tactics which have emerged from our practice in working with more than 40 communities over the last 15 years. The tactics are grounded in research and literature and constitute the essential elements of the Ford NGL Design. A carefully staged implementation of these tactics, as an interdependent set, helps deliver the promise of the Ford NGL Design — graduates who are uncommonly prepared for success in their post-secondary work and careers and for leading happy and productive lives in their families and communities.
While each of the tactics is essential to a high-fidelity implementation of the Ford NGL Design, each community must decide how and when to implement each tactic based on an assessment of what implementation they have already accomplished and on their priorities for their transformation. Staging the implementation of the tactics is described in the master plan that each community develops to guide its multi-year implementation. Thus, while each community addresses all the tactics as part of its adaptation of the Ford NGL Design, the details of that
adaptation are unique to each community.
The Ford NGL principles, strands, and tactics represent the essentials of a high-fidelity Ford NGL Design.
The Ford NGL Framework
- Career-Focused Academics
- Work-based learning
- Learning & work pathways
- Credit opportunities
- Student voice & leadership
- Teacher teams
- Professional development
- Family engagement
- Systems & structures to support workplace learning
- Supportive policies & practices
- Data systems
- Governance systems & structures
- Community learning resources
- Align workforce demand & district programs
- Shared ownership & accountability
- Communications & marketing
- Data systems
ABOUT FORD FUND
As the global philanthropic arm of Ford Motor Company, Ford Fund focuses on providing access to essential services, education for the future of work and entrepreneurship opportunities for under-resourced and underrepresented communities. Ford Fund’s partnerships and programming are designed to be responsive to unique community needs, ensuring people have equitable opportunities to move forward. Harnessing Ford’s scale, resources and mobility expertise, Ford Fund drives meaningful impact through grantmaking, Ford Community Centers and employee volunteerism. For more information, visit fordfund.org or join us at @FordFund on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
