The Arizona Coalition for Career Readiness (ACCR) has formed to put career planning resources in local classrooms, including Phoenix College and north central Phoenix public schools. The coalition’s goal is to advance Arizonans’ quality of life with career development opportunities to help meet the workforce goals outlined in Achieve60AZ, an initiative that aims to help 60 percent of Arizona adults attain a postsecondary degree or credential by 2030 (https://educationforwardarizona.org/progress/az-60-action-plan).

Founding coalition members include Arizona Business and Education Coalition (ABEC), Junior Achievement of Arizona (JA), Center for the Future of Arizona (CFA), Valley of the Sun United Way, and Pipeline AZ. The Pipeline AZ career development and exploration platform is a singular hub for the coalition’s work around building comprehensive career pathway information in Arizona.

These five organizations have collaborated to ease workforce transitions and bridge existing career journey gaps by combining resources and expanding outreach and programmatic efforts, which includes MyFutureAZ (https://myfutureaz.pipelineaz.com).

JA has also aligned some of its programs with the MyFutureAZ platform to best serve its students. “When we work together, not only is our impact greater, but the process is more efficient for educators and administrators,” said Anne Landers, chief operations officer, Junior Achievement of Arizona. “ACCR will empower students to gather essential information about career support and planning to prepare them for an increasingly global and technologically advanced workplace.”

The Opportunities for Youth Grant through Valley of the Sun United Way and Pipeline AZ provides Arizonans aged 16-24 who are not working or in school with expanded access to education and employment opportunities such as hands-on, work-based learning, apprenticeships, and mentoring experiences.

Visit www.arizonaccr.org for details.