Vision Supporters

Achieving the Dream (ATD) enthusiastically endorses Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education put forward by Advance CTE. This learner-centered call to action recognizes the importance of cohesion across systems, a commitment to dismantle structural racism, and comprehensive supports in building an effective career preparation ecosystem. These principles mirror ATD’s vision that community colleges serve as catalysts for individual and community transformation—providing inclusive, quality education resulting in economic mobility. As we encourage colleges to take bold leadership roles in their communities, combatting racism and building stronger pathways with K-12 and workforce partners, the recommendations in CTE Without Limits are a confirmation of our shared goals.

- Karen Stout, President & CEO, Achieving the Dream

CTE Without Limits is a bold vision that seeks to ensure each learner has access to high-quality and equitable Career Technical Education. The vision calls upon stakeholders to work together to break silos and remove systemic barriers in order to build a cohesive, flexible CTE ecosystem where every learner can succeed, employers have a strong talent pipeline and our nation’s economy flourishes.

-Kimberly Green, the Executive Director of Advance CTE

The Alliance for Excellent Education is pleased to endorse CTE Without Limits. This comprehensive vision for career and technical education places equity at the center and outlines policies and practices needed for CTE to prepare students for the future. Postsecondary education is a must in the 21st century. By addressing the issues articulated in Without Limits -- equitable funding, personalized pathways, PreK-20W advisement systems, portable credit, and more – we will continue to raise the quality of CTE and ensure students graduate from high school college- and career-ready.

As the only professional association dedicated to family and consumer sciences students and professionals from both multiple practice settings and content areas, the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (AAFCS) supports Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education. Family and Consumer Sciences professionals help learners develop essential knowledge and skills to lead better lives, be work and career ready, and make meaningful contributions to their communities. AAFCS appreciates the vision’s collaborative and systemic approach to strengthen and ensure career exploration, high-quality career preparation, equity and access, and lifelong learning in all areas of Career and Technical Education. 

- Nancy Bock, Executive Director, AAFCS

School counselors play a critical role in supporting all students on their pathway to success. CTE Without Limits provides a clear structure for the future of Career Technical Education through the development of high-quality, flexible programs that meet the needs of individual learners. This ambitious roadmap is critical as we work toward equitable outcomes and career opportunities for all students.

- Jill Cook, Executive Director, American School Counselor Association

AYPF is proud to support Advance CTE’s efforts to build a national career and technical education ecosystem that prioritizes and values equity in all its forms; facilitates quality services and supports; invites groups from all sectors to contribute. AYPF brings our commitment to traditionally underserved youth and offers our complete support to achieve the goals identified in CTE Without Limits!

- Dr. Stephanie McGencey, Executive Director, American Youth Policy Forum

The Association for Career and Technical Education – representing America’s frontline CTE professionals – is excited to partner with Advance CTE and other forward-thinking organizations on this shared vision. The Vision provides fresh perspective on what is needed for a flexible, dependable, and responsive education and workforce system to support every learner in the 21st Century economy.

- LeAnn Wilson, Executive Director, Association for Career and Technical Education

As a student-centered organization, Business Professionals of America strives to hold ourselves to the highest standards of excellence and appreciates the challenge put forth by Advance CTE and their shared vision. We believe the work we do both prepares students for the future and makes the world a better place.

We are inspired by any and all activities that engage a broad range of stakeholders to ensure lifetime leadership and success. It is important that we continue to work together to assure quality, equity and inclusion in the area of Career and Technical Education.

- Dr. LouAnn Ross, Executive Director, Business Professionals of America

The Center for Global Education at Asia Society is pleased to support CTE Without Limits. The United States continues to face shortages of workers in critical areas such as healthcare, IT, construction, and more. To fill these gaps, we need high-quality CTE programs that prepare workers with “hard skills” as well as employability skills, including global and cultural competence. This will help meet our diversity and equity goals and will prepare students for work in our diverse global economy. CTE Without Limits clearly lays out a plan for building CTE programs that will meet both our current and future needs.

- Heather Singmaster, Director CTE and GCEN, Center for Global Education, Asia Society

The Center for Occupational Research and Development and the National Career Pathways Network—are pleased to support Advance CTE’s bold new vision for the future of career technical education. The vision’s key principles align closely with CORD’s long-standing core tenets and illuminate critically important issues stakeholders across technical education must champion. As our society experiences a pace of technological advancement and adoption never seen before, it is ever more important the voices of those who support technical education are heard and that our collective arguments are clear and compelling. We pledge to advocate for thoughtful consideration and adoption of the shared vision among all our constituents and look forward to collaborating with your team and member networks on these efforts.

- Hope Cotner, President and CEO, CORD

The Coalition for Career Development (CCD) Center is committed to making career readiness the first priority of American education. We believe in providing ALL learners with high-quality career development services and technology to help ensure they secure productive employment in their chosen career as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible. We are excited to announce our support of Advance CTE’s Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education.  We are encouraged by the organization’s ability to develop a career preparation ecosystem that offers each learner access to and the means to succeed in any high-quality career and technical education (CTE) program or related experience that leads to success in their career of choice—regardless of their race or ethnicity, socioeconomic status, education level, or how they self-identify. Advance CTE has a long history of success in being innovative, proactive and progressive in CTE. We embrace this new vision and will continue to support them as an organization, along with their new featured publication.

- Jan Bray, CEO of the Coalition for Career Development Center

The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) and Advance CTE are pleased to be working together on our common interests. As advocates for high quality, evidence based social and emotional learning (SEL), our work aims to provide students with the foundation for a lifetime of success. Together, SEL and CTE can strengthen one another by finding ways to align and integrate practices, highlighting an equity lens, to more intentionally promote the competencies and environments youth need to thrive in school as they prepare for the workforce. CASEL and Advance CTE look forward to continuing the work of ensuring every student has the CTE and SEL support they need to be successful.

- Dana Godek, Manager, Policy and Research, CASEL

Corporation for a Skilled Workforce (CSW) is delighted to support Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education. The five principles and the associated recommendations represent the level and types of transformative actions that will be required to provide all learners the opportunity to succeed now and in the future. CSW is particularly excited to see the plan’s strong emphasis on making systemic changes to deal with multiple dimensions of equity, which is central to CSW’s mission. We’re happy to see the plan envisions integrating CTE’s efforts with those of other systems serving learners and openness to collaborative solutions. We share the plan’s recognition that we lack and desperately need a system of career advising and navigation that supports learners of all ages to make good choices.  And we share the plan’s principle that each learner’s skills should be counted, valued and portable, wherever those competencies were acquired. 

CSW works on systems change initiatives across the country.  We look forward to collaborating closely with Advance CTE and its members in turning these principles into reality.

- Larry Good, President & CEO, Corporation for a Skilled Workforce

State education agencies are working to ensure that every student is career ready. The CTE Without Limits vision explores how the nation can make advancements in career readiness by keeping equitable opportunities at the center and through bold goals driven by targeted action and policy to align education and workforce systems.

- Carissa Moffat Miller, CEO, Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO)

Credential Engine proudly endorses Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education and its call to increase equity and eliminate barriers for Black, Indigenous, and people of color through partnerships that facilitate access and use of better credential data. We firmly believe in the power of these shared values and actively work to achieve them through credential transparency. Better credential data, specifically on high-quality CTE programs, can help individuals find, compare, and act upon education and career pathways that are most relevant to them. State leaders and policymakers can also use these data to uncover barriers, understand needs, allocate resources, and support CTE pathways. But it takes all of us to make this vision a reality. Credential Engine is committed to helping forge partnerships and collaborations that create the necessary linked open data network that everyone can access to find the full range of opportunities available for learning, advancement, and meaningful careers.   

- Scott Cheney, Chief Executive Officer, Credential Engine

The Data Quality Campaign supports CTE Without Limits because a student's background or current circumstances should never stand in the way of academic and career success—and data is one way to make that possible. Every individual deserves clear, actionable information that allows them to chart their own path through school and into the workforce. Transparent, trustworthy data about CTE pathways is an important piece necessary to make that happen.

- Jennifer Bell-Ellwanger, President and CEO, Data Quality Campaign

Preparing emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management, DECA supports Without Limits: A Shared vision for Career and Technical Education. An integral component of classroom instruction, DECA shares in CTE Without Limits’ vision that our programs must meet the unique needs of each learner, be responsive to industry, forge meaningful partnerships and continuously improve through collaboration. DECA looks forward to working with leaders at all levels to prepare emerging leaders for the future of work and to create a diverse and equitable workforce. 

- Frank Peterson, Executive Director, DECA

As the future of work rapidly evolves and states and communities position schools and higher education institutions to better prepare students for career success, the role of high-quality Career Technical Education (CTE) will take on greater importance. Education Strategy Group (ESG) is proud to support the new vision put forth by Advance CTE, which we believe will be critically important for ensuring that every student has the opportunity to explore and pursue high-quality programming both now and into the future. At ESG, we believe that all students deserve access to high-quality learning experiences that inspire and equip them with the skills and credentials needed to advance into fulfilling and financially sustainable careers. High-quality CTE is a crucial piece of achieving this goal. We are inspired by the new vision's front-and-center commitment to equity, emphasis on quality, and promise of continuous improvement, and we look forward to being a supportive partner in its implementation. 

- Matt Gandal, President & CEO, Education Strategy Group

Family, Career and Community Leaders of America, Inc. (FCCLA), the Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO) that aligns with Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) supports Advance CTE’s shared vision for CTE. It is the mission of FCCLA to prepare youth for career success in their careers, families, and communities. The goal to provide opportunities for all youth to have access and be successful in high-quality CTE programs without any limitations or barriers is foundational to the mission of FCCLA and we look forward to working alongside the leaders of CTE to provide all youth exceptional CTE experiences that include the integration of CTSOs in all CTE courses.

- Sandy Spavone, Executive Director, FCCLA, Inc.

As a youth-serving organization, For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) supports the Advance CTE vision CTE Without Limits and creating a more equitable ecosystem for career and technical education. A vital part of our strategic intent is to serve an inclusive and diverse audience, reflecting the population of the communities we serve. ALL young people should have the opportunity to become science and technology leaders to build a uniquely diverse and innovative workforce. We are committed to helping engage all stakeholders in the vision of enabling students access to CTE in any learning environment through personalized and flexible pathways from middle school and beyond.

HOSA-Future Health Professionals is encouraged by the ambitious shared vision for CTE, especially given the rapidly changing and challenging healthcare workforce. We are particularly proud that HOSA membership has attained a 55 percent diversity rate and will alleviate health disparities when patients value healthcare providers who look like them. For the past ten years, HOSA Executive Councils reflect the diversity of the membership and provide outstanding leaders and future health professionals.

- HOSA, Inc. Executive Committee

JFF shares in Advance CTE’s bold vision for a future career and technical education system that supports equitable career preparation and outcomes for all learners—particularly Black and Latinx youth and young people experiencing poverty—to ensure they have agency, social capital, skills, and credentials needed to thrive in the workforce and in life. We support a vision that calls for a cohesive and flexible approach to delivering career preparation that breaks down silos and strengthens, sustains, and scales connections across CTE, K-12, postsecondary, workforce development, and industry. We look forward to working with Advance CTE and our national and state partners to create a more resilient, more prosperous, and more equitable career and technical education ecosystem that supports all learners while providing the skilled workforce that our communities and economies need. 

-- Kyle Hartung, Associate Vice President, JFF

The Law and Public Safety Education Network (LAPSEN) supports thousands of programs nationwide seeking to transition youth into careers in law and public safety. We are looking forward to realizing amazing results through our partnership with Advance CTE in advancing CTE Without Limits. The bold scope of this initiative is unrivaled and the potential transformative impact on the way education and school to career structures are designed will reverberate in every aspect of the way we prepare our youth for careers. LAPSEN looks forward to collaborating with Advance CTE to build a new approach to developing youth and engaging them in their futures. CTE will never be the same. 
 

Our rapidly changing world, technologies and employment opportunities require a personalized approach to education that meets each student where they are; provides them with a network of high-quality customized supports; and ensures they graduate with the knowledge, skills and social-emotional competencies to navigate a lifetime of learning and career success. As we look towards the future of learning and work, the most successful and equitable approaches center on the needs of learners. In this student-centered vision for Career Technical Education, Advance CTE is advancing a future where today's learners thrive in tomorrow's workforce.

- Lillian Pace, Vice President of Policy and Advocacy, KnowledgeWorks

NAF is pleased to support Advance CTE’s publication Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education. Now, more than ever, we need to prepare the next generation of leaders to be successful in the workforce. CTE Without Limits highlights that the future workforce is sitting in our high school classrooms and every young person should have access to the benefits of CTE programs. CTE allows for students to feel engaged in their education and career choices, and by advancing this vision, we can create a more equitable, diverse, and fulfilling future.

- JD Hoye, CEO, NAF

We at National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity (NAPE) are deeply aligned with the goals and outcomes envisioned in CTE Without Limits. I am excited to see the document call out institutionalized racism, implicit bias, unfair and inequitable funding, and the disproportionate effects of poorly integrated systems on outcomes for marginalized individuals, including those who are often invisible within the system. NAPE, our members, and our broader community have an important part to play in the work ahead, and I look forward to our participation in this national effort. This year there are a number of initiatives, programs, and activities that we can leverage in support of this vision.

- Ben Williams, PhD, Chief Executive Officer, National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity (NAPE)

It is well past time to reimagine the systems that have the most promise and potential to advance this nation by increasing opportunities for its people. The National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships applauds the CTE Without Limits vision to refine and rebuild the ways we connect education and careers. Programs that give learners early access to postsecondary education and training, such as concurrent and dual enrollment, play an important role in creating these connections and are vital for creating an equitable, diverse, and inclusive career preparation ecosystem that reaches, engages and benefits all learners. 

- Amy Williams, Executive Director, National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnership

We support this new vision for career and technical education that Advance CTE developed in coordination with a range of stakeholders, including state workforce agencies and National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA). The future of work is here and it is critical to ensure all learners have access to high-quality career and technical education opportunities. State workforce agencies are committed to working with Advance CTE and its members to build an ecosystem that supports learner success.

The CORD organizations—the Center for Occupational Research and Development and the National Career Pathways Network—are pleased to support Advance CTE’s bold new vision for the future of career technical education. The vision’s key principles align closely with CORD’s long-standing core tenets and illuminate critically important issues stakeholders across technical education must champion. As our society experiences a pace of technological advancement and adoption never seen before, it is ever more important the voices of those who support technical education are heard and that our collective arguments are clear and compelling. We pledge to advocate for thoughtful consideration and adoption of the shared vision among all our constituents and look forward to collaborating with your team and member networks on these efforts.

- Hope Cotner, President and CEO, CORD

The National Council for Workforce Education wholeheartedly supports Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education. The vision aligns with our core value "Justice." Through strategies, actions, and policies that promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice, NCWE strives to support workforce education professionals in their efforts to serve all members of their community inclusively, ensuring fair and equitable 'workforce education for all.' The NCWE Board of Directors commit to working with our members and partner organizations to support this important vision .

- Darlene G. Miller, Ed.D., executive director, National Council for Workforce Education (NCWE)

As an organization, National FFA is committed to developing the next generation of leaders who will change the world. This can only be achieved through rigorous industry-aligned instruction delivered through quality educators and programs that create an inclusive and equitable experience for all students. Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education is bold yet appropriate for preparing a pipeline of young people to help our nation and world overcome serious challenges. Therefore, the National FFA Organization fully supports this vision and is inspired by the ambitious approach to elevate and leverage Career Technical Education to make an impact. 

- Christine P. White, Chief Program Officer, FFA Programs & Events Division

NOCTI is excited to support Advance CTE’s new vision for the future of Career Technical Education (CTE) as it aligns well with our mission of, “building a competent workforce through creative learning solutions”. Throughout our organization’s 55-year history we have witnessed the positive impact of CTE on individual learners and on our nation. We believe that Advance CTE’s bold vision will expose even larger numbers of diverse populations of learners to the power of CTE. In addition to our consortium of states, our organization also represents a collaborative universe of like-minded credentialing partners who also support this aggressive vision.  NOCTI can provide mountains of data from its national sources regarding the growth of technical credentialing and the populations that participate, or have barriers to participation, in that process. In addition, our maintenance of national standards in over 200 existing and emerging technical areas, our work in content development, and our work with CTE teacher and administrator professional development will dovetail perfectly as the vision becomes a reality.

- Dr. John C. Foster, President/CEO, NOCTI

National Skills Coalition enthusiastically supports CTE Without Limits because high-quality career and technical education allows more people to have access to skills training that is aligned with the needs of workers and industries to ensure an inclusive economic recovery. We applaud a vision that recognizes the moral imperative to dismantle the institutional barriers and systemic racism in policies and programs that have held learners back from their economic potential. We look forward to working with our national partners to build on this foundation in the months and years to come.

- Amanda Bergson-Shilcock, Senior Fellow, National Skills Coalition

SkillsUSA is proud to stand in support of Advance CTE’s Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career and Technical Education. As a partnership of students, teachers and industry, SkillsUSA has always relied on mutual support to accomplish our mission of empowering our members to become world-class workers, leaders and responsible American citizens. As a result, the notion of developing a “career preparation ecosystem” as described in Advance CTE’s vision is something we fully and passionately embrace as a crucial step in the evolution of CTE. The plentiful opportunities that only a CTE education can provide must be available to all who seek them, and the diversity, equity and inclusion components of this vision truly resonate with our own organizational goals of widening the paths toward success. This vision is bold, substantive, and, above all, achievable. SkillsUSA is excited to take our place alongside other like-minded organizations as, together, we shape this vision into reality.  

- Chelle Travis, Executive Director, SkillsUSA

It is the vision of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) that each child and adult in the region will have high-quality educational opportunities that build on the rich diversity of the region and lead to productive, meaningful lives and robust economies. The five principles in CTE Without Limits connects well with this vision. SREB applauds the efforts of the CTE community to address equity, program quality, public-private partnerships, trustworthy data, and continuous improvement.

Since its creation, SREB has helped teachers, counselors, school leaders, and policy makers empower youth to connect the classroom with the real world. Our school improvement process employs a distributed leadership approach to involve the whole community in identifying problems that impact achievement and develop plans to solve them. The actions found in CTE Without Limits can help community shareholders develop, scale, and sustain a culture of continuous improvement. Thus, SREB is pleased to support the shared vision for the future of Career and Technical Education.

- Dale Winkler, Vice President – School Improvement, Southern Regional Education Board

The State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO) proudly supports Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education. We genuinely align with the principles of this vision, including the intentional removal of systemic barriers that perpetuate inequities and limit opportunity, public-private partnerships, the importance of actionable and transparent data, and collaboration at all levels of leaders. We at SHEEO will work with our members and partner organizations to design and deliver career and technical education so that it reaches its full promise for all learners.

- Christina Whitfield, Ph.D., senior vice president and chief of staff, State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO)

The Technology Student Association (TSA) supports Advance CTE’s CTE Without Limits and its purpose of exploring important issues such as cohesive CTE goals at the local, state, and national level, the needs of diverse learners, and the availability of equitable workforce development opportunities. TSA shares the vision of Without Limits of ensuring middle and high school students have access to robust CTE experiences and 21st century leadership skills in a variety of educational settings. The CTE Without Limits efforts will help administrators, educators and students with a dedicated interest in Career and Technical Education. 

 - Dr. Rosanne White, Executive Director, TSA

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation supports CTE Without Limits because we must be more intentional in connecting learning experiences to employment in ways that promote success for all students and workers. This vision acknowledges advances that must be made, including supporting learning and employment records and encouraging employers to develop skills-based hiring practices. It also recognizes the critical role of the employer community as both beneficiary and key contributor to career and technical education. We look forward to advancing this work together. 

- Cheryl Oldham, Senior Vice President, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation