Most schools already have a powerful economic development partner sitting in their backyard—they just haven’t activated the relationship yet. Local chambers of commerce represent a largely untapped resource for connecting students with real-world opportunities, mentorship networks, and pathways to economic mobility that traditional classroom instruction simply cannot provide.

As Tasha Marsaglia, Executive Director of the Plainfield Shorewood Area (Illinois) Chamber of Commerce, puts it: “Connecting the students with the community is extremely important. So many students don’t realize what’s outside their back door. The opportunities that open up are huge — jobs, internships, connections, and ventures that wouldn’t happen otherwise.”

Lessons from Arizona: A Systems-Level Approach

Before diving into specific school examples, it’s worth examining how chambers can create systemic change at scale. Jennifer Mellor, Chief Innovation Officer at the Phoenix Chamber Foundation, and Mike Huckins, Senior Vice President of Public Affairs at the Greater Phoenix Chamber, have pioneered an approach that operates simultaneously at three levels: grassroots support within schools, district-level systems change, and state policy advocacy.

Their ElevateEdAZ initiative works with 20 high schools across five school districts and a charter network. But what makes it effective isn’t just the number of schools—it’s the college and career coaches embedded on each campus, working directly with teachers, students, and families to increase participation in high-wage, high-demand career pathways.

The chamber identified a critical challenge: Arizona leads the nation in manufacturing job growth, particularly in semiconductors, yet only one manufacturing program serving 24 students exists across their partner high schools. Meanwhile, the semiconductor industry alone projects over 60,000 jobs. This massive gap between opportunity and access drove their focus on advanced manufacturing as a strategic priority.

The chamber’s workforce collaboratives bring competing employers together to solve talent challenges collectively. Beyond manufacturing, this collaborative approach led to tangible wins: working with hospital partners, they identified the need for specialty nurses, partnered with community colleges to create two new specialty nursing programs, and secured state appropriations for simulation labs and infrastructure.

On the policy side, Huckins notes their biggest obstacle was demonstrating real workforce outcomes to legislators skeptical of education funding. By tying dual enrollment funding directly to workforce needs and showing concrete career pathways, they secured appropriations that have driven a 40% increase in dual enrollment registration, with an additional 6% increase after expanded funding.

Their approach includes means-testing to ensure underserved communities have access, removing registration barriers that make enrollment difficult for students and families, and creating social media campaigns featuring student voices to shift perceptions about who belongs in college.

Perhaps most importantly, they’re addressing a perception problem. As Mellor discovered through student focus groups: “We have a lot of students that aren’t opting into dual enrollment because they don’t see themselves as going to college.” One young woman shared that she skipped dual enrollment her freshman and sophomore years because she didn’t see college in her future, only to regret it junior year when her perspective changed. Using student voices like hers to reach peers has become central to their strategy.

Read full article on GettingSmart.com.