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Friday Institute for Educatinal Innovation > The Wake Promise

What is the Wake Promise?

Dr. Jose Picart explains the two-pronged foundation of the County initiative, as well as it’s origin and future plans.

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We promise to work together as a community to help students in Wake County achieve a postsecondary credential and living wage employment. With this promise, we affirm our confidence in the potential and the promise in all our youth to be college and career ready. The Wake Promise is the work of the Wake Partnership for Postsecondary Success (WPPS)

Our Goal

Double the number of low-income youth in Wake County who achieve a postsecondary credential and living-wage employment by 2025.

The Wake Promise seeks to increase the number of Wake County youth who achieve a postsecondary credential and living-wage employment. To achieve this objective, the WPPS will convene and connect like-minded organizations in Wake County to form partnerships that agree to help youth graduate from high school, succeed in college and find employment. The WPPS provides the following services in support of this objective:

Resources

The operation and maintenance of a searchable listing and database of educational and work-force development resources in Wake County.

Collaboration

Identifying, convening and helping like-minded organizations explore the possibility of working together, rather than independently.

COLLECTIVE IMPACT

Education

Periodically hosting and presenting conferences/workshops focused on best practices, lessons-learned and innovations that help youth graduate from high school, go to college and find employment.

Leadership

Searching for, identifying and securing resources to support the Wake Promise, in addition to offering workshops for community members interested in leading community partnerships.

Our Legacy Programs

Wake Future Scholars

The Wake Future Scholars Program is part of Students Discover which is funded by an NSF Math Science Partnership grant and offers a cohort of Wake County middle-school students with:

STEM summer bridge programming and Saturday STEM sessions during the school year
Coaching
College campus visits
Parental involvement
The opportunity to interact with scientists at the NC Science Museum

Wake Fellows Program

Wake Fellows are NC State University and Shaw University students who have graduated from Wake County high schools and have agreed to participate in a variety of student success activities administered by the TRIO Program.

These activities are designed to increase college retention, persistence and graduation. In addition, Raleigh Fellows can apply for “last dollar” scholarships, offered by the Goodwin-Meissner Family Foundation, which cover the gap between total cost of college attendance and other sources of financial assistance.

Wake College Center

In collaboration with NC State University TRIO programs and partnering community-based organizations, the Raleigh College Center provides Wake County youth with academic support, college application assistance, advising services and campus visits.

Our Work