Creating Collective Impact in Our Community and Beyond
KConnect is a network of public and private organizations working to advance a collective movement aimed at ensuring all children in Kent County have an equitable path to economic prosperity through quality education, family, and community support.
our focus
Everything Starts with Equity
Fundamental to our vision is that we are committed to nothing less than closing the unacceptable achievement gaps for low-income students and children of color, and increasing the achievement for all students from prenatal to college and career.
core workgroups
Core Workgroups focus on creating strategies to achieve equitable outcomes in three focus areas: Prenatal to Third Grade, 4th-12th Grade, and High School to Career.
Cross-Cutting workgroups
Cross-Cutting Workgroups are workgroups that act as content experts in the following fields: Data and Capacity, Equity and Inclusion, Community Engagement, and Policy and Advocacy.
Foundational Workgroups
Our Foundational Workgroup is Home and Family Stability. This workgroup focuses on meeting the community’s basic needs in order to prepare students for educational and career success.
Accountability partners
council
Our Accountability Partners Council (APC) serves as the large convening space for all of KConnect’s network. It’s the only space where we bring ALL of the work together and make decisions collectively
2025 Education Summit
We are excited to invite you to KConnect’s Education Summit on Saturday, April 19, 2025 at the Grand Rapids Center for Community Transformation. This convening will unite K-12 educators, postsecondary leaders, policymakers, community partners, parents, and students to align efforts toward improving student well-being in our community schools.
Leading up to the event, we are hosting a series of webinars and podcasts to engage stakeholders in key conversations that will culminate in actionable strategies and advocacy opportunities at the EdSummit.
Accountability Partners Council
Join us on Thursday, May 8, 2025 from 9:00 a.m. to noon at the May Accountability Partners Council convening at the Daniel and Pamella DeVos Center for Interprofessional Health. More to come!
How We Do It:
Process and Facilitation
KConnect brings Process and Facilitation to our convenings in order to equip our partners to develop tools and strategies that address disparate outcomes. We collectively develop frameworks and partner with expert facilitators to implement them.
Data Creates Impact
KConnect is data informed, meaning we track and disaggregate local metrics on our 8 Success Measures and 27 Indicators in order to determine how to optimize strategies that create the most equitable outcomes for our community. We share this data publicly on our Data Dashboard.
Get a look at what metrics matter right now and how those relate to the current work of the Workgroups.
Understand how the landscape of early childhood looks as well as other focus areas in Kent County.
Find a curated group of resources vetted by our expert staff.
Explore the Data Dashboard, hosted by the Community Data & Research Lab.
Funding Partners
