Achieving the Dream is proud to support the vision outlined in The Connected Path and its focus on building a more connected, learner-centered CTE ecosystem that aligns education, workforce, and community partners. This vision reflects what we know to be true across our network: when institutions work in partnership to design clear, coherent pathways, more students are able to access opportunity and succeed.

At Achieving the Dream, we see this work as central to building community vibrancy — ensuring that colleges and their partners are strengthening pathways that connect learners to meaningful careers and support the long-term health of their communities. Realizing this vision will require sustained commitment to how this work takes shape within and across institutions. Colleges play a critical role in aligning pathways, strengthening advising, and ensuring seamless transitions from high school into postsecondary education and careers. Dual enrollment and other early postsecondary opportunities are essential to this effort when intentionally designed and supported through strong partnerships.

We look forward to continuing our work with Advance CTE and colleges nationwide to translate this vision into practice in ways that expand opportunity, strengthen communities, and improve outcomes for all learners.

For too long, career pathways have been designed around what is convenient for systems rather than for the needs of learners. All4Ed supports the vision articulated in The Connected Path because it names that coherence, transparency, and learner agency can’t be aspirational – they need to be the baseline. We are encouraged by the insistence that barriers to access are not learners’ problems to solve. This framing matters because it centers the young people these systems are meant to serve and places accountability where it belongs: with policymakers, institutions, and industry. Turning this vision into practice will require the field to reckon with what hasn’t worked and forge new strategies that will work on behalf of young people. All4Ed is committed to doing this harder work alongside partners who share the conviction that pathways must lead not just to jobs, but to thriving.

CTE Connects lays the groundwork to shape the future of CTE and career readiness not just for the next five years, but the next 25 years. Connecting the education and industry systems that support learners throughout their career journey is ambitious, but is absolutely necessary to keep pace with changing workforce needs. With CTE Connects, Career Technical Education can not only take the lead in creating a connected path for lifelong learning, but make its programs the difference maker for learners to gain economic mobility in an ever-changing world.
Kate Kreamer, Executive Director, Advance CTE

ALLready proudly supports Advance CTE’s The Connected Path: A Shared Vision for Opportunity and Empowerment Through Career Technical Education as a critical step toward making career readiness the first priority of American education. This vision reflects the future we are building—one where education, industry, government, and communities operate as a connected ecosystem to ensure every learner can thrive.

What distinguishes The Connected Path is that it is both bold and innovative, yet practical and actionable. We are especially energized by its commitment to seamlessly integrating core academics with CTE, transforming math, science, literacy, and civics into applied, meaningful learning grounded in real-world challenges. This approach deepens engagement, strengthens mastery, and makes learning visible in communities.

At a moment when success depends on the ability to think, integrate, and apply knowledge beyond what AI can automate, this work is urgent. ALLready is committed to advancing this vision.

The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) is pleased to support Advance CTE’s The Connected Path: A Shared Vision for Opportunity and Empowerment Through CTE (CTE Connects). School counselors play a critical role in helping students explore their interests, identify their strengths and align their learning with meaningful postsecondary opportunities.

High-quality career and technical education programs expand opportunities for students and help ensure each and every learner has access to experiences that prepare them for all postsecondary pathways—leading to meaningful employment, economic mobility and long-term success.

Through comprehensive school counseling programs, school counselors collaborate with educators, families and community partners to help students navigate the wide range of options available. Efforts like CTE Connects strengthen these pathways by highlighting the value of career exploration, work-based learning and aligned educational opportunities.

ASCA appreciates Advance CTE’s leadership in empowering students to pursue their goals and build successful futures.

Apprenticeships for America (AFA) stands with Advance CTE and its partners in supporting career and technical education as the connected pathway that connects education with careers and economic opportunity.

A vibrant and scaled career and technical education system creates the basis for broadening the horizons of students. It can foster pre-apprenticeship experiences for young people. And it can play a critical role in providing the classroom instruction that is part of every registered apprenticeship.

A strong career and technical education system is an important foundation for growing apprenticeship and other work-based learning and ensuring that America’s educational system expands career and economic opportunity for all.

The Connected Path: A Shared Vision for Opportunity and Empowerment offers a compelling, learner-centered roadmap for the future of Career Technical Education – one that recognizes the urgency of stronger connections between education, business and industry, while keeping quality and innovation at the forefront. ACTE is proud of our long-standing partnership with Advance CTE and our shared commitment to strengthening CTE systems that expand opportunity and deliver real value for students, families, and employers nationwide. As ACTE celebrates our 100-year Centennial, this Vision reinforces the importance of honoring our legacy while boldly preparing for what comes next. Together, we are focused not only on meeting today’s challenges, but on shaping a forward-looking CTE ecosystem that is responsive and built to serve every learner for generations to come.

Business Professionals of America believes every learner deserves a connected, empowering path to a meaningful career. The Connected Path reflects our deepest commitments: that CTE must center the learner experience, foster leadership and belonging, and meet the demands of a rapidly evolving world of work. BPA is proud to stand alongside Advance CTE and our partners in championing this bold vision — and in the work required to bring it to life.

CASEL is pleased to support The Connected Path: A Shared Vision for Opportunity and Empowerment Through Career Technical Education. As the world of work continues to evolve, we know it is more important than ever for all stakeholders to collaborate together to ensure learners have the skills, support, and agency they need to thrive. Advance CTE’s leadership in advancing the idea that workforce development must be informed by partnerships spanning state agencies, multiple learner levels, and stronger collaboration between education and industry is critical to future success. CASEL looks forward to supporting Advance CTE’s efforts to reimagine learning pathways and expand access for all young people so they are prepared for long-term success, including through personalized pathways that reflect both the academic and social and emotional aspects of learning.

Career and Technical Education (CTE) is a vital pathway to economic mobility, workforce readiness, and community prosperity. We strongly support policies and investments that expand access to high-quality career and technical programs aligned with in-demand industries and local workforce needs. CTE equips learners with the academic knowledge, technical skills, and employability competencies necessary to succeed in today’s rapidly evolving economy.

For adult learners in particular, career and technical education provides an accelerated, practical route to family-sustaining wages, industry-recognized credentials, apprenticeships, and meaningful employment. Strong partnerships among education providers, employers, workforce boards, and community organizations are essential to ensuring programs remain relevant, responsive, and equitable.

We believe career and technical education must remain accessible, affordable, and inclusive—especially for individuals seeking to reskill, upskill, or reenter the workforce. By investing in career pathways, work-based learning, and stackable credentials, we strengthen our talent pipeline and empower learners to achieve lasting success.

Supporting CTE is not only an investment in individuals—it is an investment in the long-term economic vitality of our nation.

The Coalition for Career Development (CCD) Center strongly supports Advance CTE’s The Connected Path: A Shared Vision for Opportunity and Empowerment Through Career Technical Education as a critical step toward making career readiness for ALL the first priority of American education, as our Founder Leo Reddy envisioned.

This vision advances CCD’s Five Pillars of Career Readiness by strengthening leadership alignment across education, industry, and government; embedding career-connected learning through the seamless integration of academics and CTE; and prioritizing work-based and applied learning as essential to mastery. It reinforces the importance of prepared adults—educators, advisors, and industry partners—working together to guide learners, while also calling for the resources and systems needed to scale access and ensure quality. Finally, it
centers stakeholder alignment and accountability, ensuring transparent outcomes that matter.

Together, these elements create the conditions for every graduate to connect to a personally meaningful and financially viable path after graduation. CCD Center is committed to advancing this vision.

The College in High School Alliance supports The Connected Path as a shared vision for building college and career success for all students through CTE that creates opportunities for students to take intentional college course experiences in high school.

Corporation for a Skilled Workforce (CSW) is proud to support CTE Connects in creating better opportunities for learners through improved access to career and technical education. CSW’s mission to develop better-aligned workforce and education systems closely mirrors the goals of CTE Connects. The principles of implementing data-driven decision-making, promoting ethical and transparent processes, and advocating for strong employer partnerships, are critical to securing better outcomes for learners across the US.

The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) is a nonpartisan, nationwide, nonprofit organization of public officials who head departments of elementary and secondary education in the states, the District of Columbia, the Department of War Education Activity, the Bureau of Indian Education and the five U.S. extra-state jurisdictions.

Career and technical education (CTE) opens up pathways for students and their families—and data is integral to understanding which programs and credentials set students up for success. Learners need information on what works to decide which programs are aligned not just to future coursework but to quality career pathways. And leaders need data to align quality CTE experiences with the necessary credentials, counseling, and pathways that lead to student success and economic mobility. CTE Connects ensures that students are equipped with the tools to make meaningful decisions about their futures.

DECA is pleased to support this shared vision so our student members can continue to gain the skills, confidence and experience needed for a future-ready workforce. They’re not just learning about business, they’re also actively preparing to lead with the skills employers are looking for, like critical thinking, communication, innovation and the ability to execute under pressure.

At the EdTrust, we believe a strong education improves the lives of young people, is vital to sustaining our democracy, and strengthens America in a global economy. That belief is also rooted in ensuring learners are equipped with education and skills required to succeed in our interconnected world. As part of this commitment, we support pathways that are clear, connected, and supported, ensuring students can move from PreK–12 through postsecondary and into the workforce with confidence about where they are headed and how to get there.

We support The Connected Path’s shared vision for CTE because it reflects that access is critical but doesn’t go far enough. Too many students are navigating pathways that feel vague or disconnected, encountering a patchwork of opportunities without the alignment or supports needed to add up to something meaningful, or are limited in their access to rigorous and college and career-connected opportunities, with the greatest impact on students from low-income backgrounds and students of color.

This vision aligns with our work to strengthen alignment across systems and ensure every learner can access and complete a pathway that leads to real opportunity.

Education Strategy Group is proud to support “The Connected Path,” a transformative vision for the future of Career Technical Education (CTE). This framework shifts the CTE paradigm from isolated educational steps to a seamless, interconnected journey designed to empower every learner. By fostering intentional alignment between education, industry, and communities, this vision ensures that career pathways are flexible, responsive, and grounded in real-world relevance.

We support the commitment to a transparent and accountable system that centers quality outcomes and removes systemic barriers to access. This bold strategy responsibly harnesses emerging technologies and prioritizes the development of transferable skills, preparing learners to thrive in an ever-changing global economy. Together, we are championing a unified ecosystem that creates lasting opportunity and economic mobility for all.

Family, Career and Community Leaders of America®, Inc. (FCCLA®) proudly supports The Connected Path: A Shared Vision for Opportunity and Empowerment Through Career Technical Education. This vision reflects what FCCLA sees every day—students thrive when education, industry, and community are intentionally connected to create meaningful, learner-centered pathways.

Rooted in Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS), FCCLA plays a vital role in preparing students for careers that strengthen families, communities, and the workforce. Through leadership development, career preparation, and real-world experiences, FCCLA members gain the skills, confidence, and sense of purpose needed to succeed in an evolving workforce.

The emphasis on integrated learning, strong partnerships, and personalized pathways aligns closely with FCCLA’s mission. FCCLA is committed to advancing this shared vision by empowering young people to lead, serve, and connect their FCS education to future careers, ensuring every learner has the opportunity to succeed and make a lasting impact.

Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) supports The Connected Path: A Shared Vision for Opportunity and Empowerment Through Career Technical Education. This vision outlines a clear and necessary direction for CTE, strengthening alignment between education, industry, and learner experiences to better prepare students for success in a rapidly evolving workforce. FBLA’s national model across middle school, high school, and collegiate divisions aligns closely with the framework’s principles, particularly in integrating academic and technical learning, expanding work-based experiences, and developing leadership and career readiness skills. Through structured yet adaptable member education programs, competitive events, and chapter initiatives aligned to cross-cutting career clusters, FBLA brings these principles to life. FBLA is committed to partnering with national leaders to advance this vision and strengthen outcomes for learners nationwide.

HOSA-Future Health Professionals is proud to support The Connected Path: A Shared Vision for Opportunity and Empowerment Through Career Technical Education. This vision recognizes that strong CTE systems are built through meaningful partnerships among education, industry, communities, and Career Technical Student Organizations. For five decades, HOSA has seen how CTE and CTSOs work together to develop leadership, technical skills, and professional networks for future health professionals. Just as importantly, we have seen how this ecosystem fosters a sense of empowerment and belonging, a core principle highlighted in this vision. HOSA is proud to stand alongside partners across education and industry to strengthen systems that prepare learners for meaningful careers and lifelong success.

The Connected Path rightly pushes for unlocking CTE’s full potential through the alignment and integration of academic and applied learning, secondary and postsecondary education, and co-design between employers and educators. This is the kind of blurring —between systems, learning, and work that is needed to match the demands of quality jobs in an AI-transformed economy. The success of learners is a shared responsibility of policymakers, institutions, and partners across education and workforce systems. When we collaborate successfully, everyone advances.
Maria Flynn, CEO, Jobs for the Future (JFF)

Career and technical education plays an essential role in developing student-centered experiences where learners can best personalize their education. The Connected Path offers a clear and practical vision for strengthening that role in ways that reflect how learning and work are changing.

The framework’s emphasis on alignment across education, workforce and community partners, along with its strong focus on quality, outcomes and responsible use of technology, is timely and important. This framework pushes the conversation beyond incremental change and toward systems that work better for learners and employers alike.
Bill Hite, CEO and President of KnowledgeWorks

NACEP supports The Connected Path: A Shared Vision for Opportunity and Empowerment Through Career Technical Education and the clear direction it sets for the future. This is not incremental work. It is a fundamental shift away from systems that operate in silos and toward a more connected, coherent approach where education and industry co-design experiences that are relevant, rigorous, and real.

CTE offers a clear route to innovative, transformational learning, bringing together academic, technical, and workforce experiences in ways that reflect how students learn and how work actually happens. Dual enrollment is central to this effort, connecting systems, aligning expectations, and bringing the voice of business and industry directly into program design and delivery. To make this shared vision a reality, we must intentionally build pathways that make options visible, viable, and valuable for every student. The future demands it. Together, we can deliver it.

NAF is proud to support The Connected Path and its bold, future‑focused vision for Career Technical Education. This vision powerfully affirms what we at NAF see every day: when education, industry, and community partners work in true collaboration, students gain access to meaningful experiences that prepare them for college, career, and life. Its call for coherent, industry‑aligned systems; transparent and outcome‑focused accountability; integrated academic and technical learning; and personalized, flexible pathways reflects the principles that drive our work with over 100,000 students nationwide. Especially encouraging is the emphasis on belonging, empowerment, and access—foundations that ensure every student can see themselves in a successful future are a core part of NAF’s work. The Connected Path provides a compelling roadmap for strengthening the talent pipeline, advancing upward mobility, and creating opportunities that endure. NAF stands ready to champion this vision alongside our partners across the country.

State boards of education are leading the way in making learning more engaging and relevant for students. They recognize that this work is essential to ensuring students are prepared for life beyond high school. A key part of this effort is connecting classroom learning to careers and real-world experiences—because when learning sparks interest, it deepens understanding and impact. Career and technical education is a powerful example of this connection in action.

Advance CTE, with its many partners, including the National Association of State Boards of Education, has developed a strong vision to guide the future of career and technical education. State boards play a critical role in shaping these systems, and The Connected Path report offers clear principles to support this work. No doubt it will drive meaningful state action to support educational experiences that better prepare students for success in learning, in life, and as engages citizens.

The National Association of State Directors of Adult Education (NASDAE) is pleased to support “The Connected Path: A Shared Vision for Opportunity and Empowerment Through Career Technical Education”. This vision reflects what adult educators have long championed, learning is lifelong, pathways must be flexible, and every learner deserves the support and opportunity to succeed.

Adult learners face unique barriers to workforce entry and advancement. The Connected Path’s commitment to multiple entry and exit points, wraparound supports, and personalized pathways speaks directly to the populations adult education serves. We are particularly encouraged by the vision’s emphasis on upskilling, reskilling, and re-engagement opportunities that meet learners where they are.

NASDAE looks forward to partnering with Advance CTE and fellow stakeholders to ensure that adult learners are fully represented in the codesign of CTE programs, data systems, and workforce strategies this vision demands.

Replied to email – needs more time, Nithya have until EOD 4/14As stakeholders across all levels of government work to strengthen connections between education and workforce systems, this shared vision advances key goals and strategies to guide this important work. As the national organization representing workforce agencies in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories, the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA) looks forward to collaborating with our partners to support initiatives that connect learners to high-quality career pathways with real opportunities for economic mobility. One example of NASWA’s readiness to advance this vision is our current GitLab Foundation-supported partnership with the New York State Department of Labor to develop an AI-enabled service connecting students and job seekers to Registered Apprenticeships.

The National Career Pathways Network (NCPN) strongly supports The Conncted Path’s vision for a more connected, learner-centered CTE system. The vision emphasizes seamless integration among education, industry, and communities to ensure coherent, flexible pathways that drive learner success and workforce readiness. This closely reflects CORD’s Framework for Career Pathways Alignment, which advances an industry-informed ecosystem built on continuous feedback, deep employer engagement, and stackable pathways that support lifelong learning.

Together, these approaches reinforce the importance of co-designed systems, shared accountability, and the integration of academic and technical learning. NCPN is proud to support Advance CTE’s bold vision and to continue advancing models that bring these principles to life at the regional and national levels.

NCWE is happy to support the new bold, future-focused shared vision for Career Technical Education (CTE). The call for CTE to serve as a seamless and connected path for lifelong learning—one that supports early exploration, structured secondary, postsecondary, and adult career pathways, and re-engagement and advancement—will meet the needs of modern learners and employers across our nation. Creating an interconnected CTE ecosystem will ensure more people have the opportunity to access college, complete credentials of value, and connect to careers that offer fulfillment, stability, and economic prosperity. NCWE and our network stands ready to help transform CTE and make The Connected Path vision a reality.

The National FFA Organization is pleased to support The Connected Path: A Shared Vision for Opportunity and Empowerment Through CTE. National FFA values the six principles outlined in the vision, from strong industry engagement in coherent and aligned learning systems to the ethical and innovative use of emerging technologies.

FFA looks forward to working with Advance CTE and the other partners to support progress for learners aligned to the vision’s six principles.

National Skills Coalition proudly supports The Connected Path: A Shared Vision for Opportunity and Empowerment Through CTE. In a time of rapid change, this vision positions CTE as a connected, lifelong pathway linking education and industry. By centering learners and strengthening sector partnerships, it reflects the bold, coordinated action needed to expand access to quality training and economic opportunity. We’re especially encouraged by its focus on adaptable systems that evolve with learners and the labor market. NSC looks forward to working with AdvanceCTE to advance this vision.

The National Technical Assistance Center on Transition: The Collaborative (NTACT:C) whose charge is to support learners with disabilities to engage in post-secondary education and competitive integrated employment fully supports this new shared vision. CTE Connects embodies the need for collaboration between special education, vocational rehabilitation, and CTE to ensure learners with disabilities equitably engage in career pathways of their choice to achieve positive post school outcomes.

For nearly 30 years, Project Lead The Way (PLTW) has prepared PreK–12 students for careers, college, and life by equipping them with the STEM knowledge, credential preparation, transferable skills, and confidence to succeed. Its hands-on, real-world learning, deep industry partnerships and clear, scaffolded curriculum guide students from early career curiosity to postsecondary readiness. With strong professional development and a national network of more than 116,000 trained teachers in 12,200+ schools across all 50 states, PLTW enables schools to design scalable, future-focused programs that inspire students, empower educators, and connect learning to life after graduation. Visit pltw.org to learn more.

The State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO) applauds the important vision put forward by AdvanceCTE in “The Connected Path: A Shared Vision for Opportunity and Empowerment Through CTE,” also known as CTE Connects. As education, economic development, and workforce policymaking become increasingly interconnected, ensuring high-quality, meaningful pathways to economic prosperity is a critical policy imperative among SHEEO members and aligns with SHEEO’s goal to improve human lives and the public good.
CTE Connects presents a compelling, flexible framework that moves beyond the segmental approaches traditionally defining career and technical education, calling for an intentionally designed system that recognizes the critical role CTE plays in the learning journey for all students across all industry sectors. In doing so, AdvanceCTE empowers all partners to center learners’ needs and reimagine how our respective sectors support economic opportunity in a more holistic manner.

SkillsUSA proudly supports The Connected Path: A Shared Vision for Opportunity and Empowerment Through Career Technical Education, a bold call to reimagine how learners connect to opportunity, purpose and success. This vision reflects what we see every day: CTE is most powerful when it is aligned, connected and centered on the learner.

As a national organization serving more than 400,000 members, SkillsUSA is committed to ensuring that every learner not only gains technical skills, but also develops strong personal and workplace skills, building a confident professional identity and a lasting sense of belonging.

We believe a truly connected CTE system integrates education, industry and community while providing seamless pathways from exploration to employment and advancement. Together, through strong partnerships and a shared commitment to quality outcomes, we can build a workforce that is skilled, adaptable and future-ready, ensuring every learner has the opportunity to succeed and contribute to America’s economic strength.

The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) proudly supports The Connected Path: A Shared vVsion for Opportunity and Empowerment Through Career Technical Education. At a time when the world of work is rapidly evolving, high-quality CTE plays a vital role in preparing learners to succeed by strengthening both academic and technical learning while connecting education to real-world experiences. SREB shares this commitment to ensuring every learner is workplace ready – equipped to demonstrate rigorous academic and technical skills, communicate effectively, solve complex problems, collaborate purposefully, and act responsibly in a changing economy. By strengthening partnerships among education, industry, and communities, we can build coherent pathways that expand opportunity, empower learners, and prepare the next generation of talent to thrive in this unprecedented moment.

The Technology Student Association (TSA) strongly supports the new shared vision for Career Technical Education (CTE), as presented in The Connected Path: A Shared Vision for Opportunity and Empowerment Through CTE (CTE Connects). This document outlines the vision and principles for creating a connected, high-quality, and equitable CTE system that aligns education, industry, and community partners to sustain learner success and workforce development.

TSA recognizes that CTE is at a pivotal moment in which there is a transformative opportunity to meet the demands of an evolving workforce: CTE must prioritize learner-centered pathways that integrate academic, technical, and employability skills.  By fostering collaboration between state agencies, educators, and industry leaders, CTE can create transparent, high-quality programs that empower learners and provide clear returns for employers.

TSA endorses and aligns with the shared vision for CTE to build a connected path that adapts to changing industry needs and enables learners to thrive in their careers and communities.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation is pleased to offer its support for The Connected Path: A Shared Vision for Opportunity and Empowerment Through CTE. The Connected Path sets a strong, practical vision for a more connected CTE system—one in which education and industry share responsibility for program design, delivery, and outcomes. The vision reinforces the importance of employer-validated skills frameworks and a common language across systems so employers can send clearer, more consistent signals about the skills learners need. It also makes a compelling case for expanding high-quality work-based learning and career readiness supports, and for equipping educators with professional development to deliver relevant, project-based learning that connects classroom instruction to real-world application.

The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) is pleased to support CTE Connects, a new vision for the future of Career Technical Education developed by Advance CTE. Designed in partnership with industry and learners, CTE Connects aims to build an accountable, innovative, and flexible CTE system which closely aligns with WICHE’s commitment to strengthening education-to-workforce pathways, advancing innovation, and demonstrating the value of postsecondary education. Since its founding in 1953, WICHE has worked to expand educational access and excellence for residents of the West, and the comprehensive vision outlined in CTE Connects provides a compelling roadmap to advance that mission by creating seamless learner journeys and building stronger connections between education and workforce opportunity.