There is a critical shortage of nurses in the United States today, particularly nurses who identify as Black, Indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC). Demand for trained and licensed nurses is greater than supply, a problem likely to grow worse in the coming years. At the same time, there are pervasive, systemic inequities for BIPOC representation in nursing pathways today, particularly among higher paid positions and occupations.
The Accelerating and Diversifying Nursing Pathways initiative is designed to address both problems by supporting community colleges that are creating stronger pathways to employment equity for BIPOC and first-generation students in nursing programs by increasing enrollment, completion, licensure, and jobs and careers that lead to social and economic mobility. Watch the below video to learn more.
Through a comprehensive review process, ATD selected ten community colleges that demonstrated commitment to increasing access and accelerating the completion of valuable nursing credentials for BIPOC and first-generation students. Each college will receive $300,000 disbursed throughout the grant (three years) based on milestone accomplishments. The funds are intended to develop further, test, scale, and document sustainable processes, policies, programs, and solutions that accelerate and increase enrollment and completion of nursing credentials, including:
▪ Structural and process changes
▪ Organizational capacity-building
▪ Systems improvement
▪ Instructional strategy innovation
▪ Technology-based solutions
▪ Partnerships
The following 10 community colleges from the ATD Network received grant made possible by the Brave of Heart Fund:
- Austin Community College
- Bay College
- Community College of Philadelphia
- Cuyahoga Community College
- Kingsborough Community College
- Lorain County Community College
- Northeast Wisconsin Technical College
- Northern Essex Community College
- Northern Virginia Community College
- Pierce College District
Questions? Contact [email protected].
This initiative is made possible by a grant from the Brave of Heart Fund and designed to address the shortage of nurses, particularly BIPOC nurses, and systemic inequities in nursing pathways. The Brave of Heart Fund was established by the Foundations of New York Life and Cigna, and administered by E4E Relief, to provide charitable grants and emotional support services to families of the frontline healthcare workers, volunteers, and support staff whose lives were lost in the fight against COVID-19. It continues to offer support via partnerships with nonprofit organizations aligned with the fund’s core purposes. To learn more, please review the Brave of Heart Fund impact summary.