Leveraging STEM for Social Change

A strong cradle-to-career STEM education prepares students for in-demand, high-paying jobs and lifelong learning. STEM jobs are abundant in every region of our state, but systemic barriers prevent students from accessing career pathways equitably. 

The Washington Jobs Initiative (WJI) has invested nearly $17 million into eight job-training partnerships across the state. The goal is to train or upskill 5,000 students—placing at least 3,150 into high-demand, household-sustaining wage jobs upon completion of training. These programs are opening doors to five growing industries: construction, healthcare, advanced manufacturing and aerospace, clean technology and energy, and information technology and cybersecurity. 

Led by the Washington Student Achievement Council (WSAC), the Washington Jobs Initiative focuses on building training programs within locally-led workforce systems by engaging historically marginalized communities and those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a sub-awardee, Washington STEM is designated to provide technical assistance to each backbone organization, co-creating a technical assistance framework and toolkits. Through community-of-practice convenings, we also established a format to share what's working and exchange ideas.

In partnership with the Washington State Employment Security Department (ESD), the contract grant manager for our backbone organizations, we identified an opportunity to incorporate program site visits into the equity audit process. These visits create a direct line of visibility and coordination between ESD and the healthcare sector backbone, SEIU Healthcare. For statewide initiatives such as this, programming experts and decision-makers must work together to fulfill contract requirements and deliver the best possible experiences for students and instructors.

Each partner plays an essential role in supporting student persistence through this initiative. Washington STEM’s role is cross-system—we assess the whole landscape, ensuring adult mindsets and power structures evolve in ways that advance equity and opportunity for all participants.

The Washington Jobs Initiative targets industry and community organizations to help scale work-based learning programs, creating new pathways for young people to access training and connect to in-demand jobs. WJI launched more than 270 training programs with eight sectorial partners. Some were built from scratch and some were based on existing or partially developed programs. Due to the complexity of the varying differences in scope, size and approach to the work across each partnership, they have all had unique challenges to address as we built and launched each program. As all programs have now hit full stride, our partners are confident we will hit our placement goal of 3,150 young adults by September 2026. 

As of December 2025, 4,819 Washingtonians have enrolled in training programs, and 2,923 have completed their education. Both these figures are more than 90% to the goal. In addition, we have reached 75% of our placement goal, with 2,366 people placed in high-demand, household-sustaining jobs. At Washington STEM, we believe showing up in the environments where career pathway building happens in real time is critical to uncovering opportunities to strengthen the system as a whole. There’s more to come as we continue learning alongside our partners—but one thing is clear: when individuals and organizations lead with their strengths, we all move closer to a system that works better for everyone.