Community Impact News + Updates

KConnect has reached an important milestone in its journey to strengthen the systems that shape opportunity in Kent County. StriveTogether, a national organization that supports cradle-to-career networks across the country, has recognized KConnect with its Systems Change designation. Only seventeen communities nationwide have reached this milestone, which signals steady, documented progress toward transforming policies, practices, and resources to improve outcomes for children and families. 

This recognition builds on national attention from 2024, when KConnect received the Nancy Zimpher Courage in Leadership Award for advancing strategies that confront systemic inequities and expand opportunity. Both honors point to the commitment of partners across the community who choose to creatively collaborate, share data, and anchor decision-making in the real experiences of youth and families. 

KConnect: A History of Building Conditions for Change 

KConnect began in 2013 when partners across Kent County rallied behind a shared vision to improve outcomes and expand economic mobility for every child and family. That early commitment created a foundation that now includes more than 250 organizations and 400 partners spanning education, housing, health, workforce development, nonprofits, businesses, government, and arts and culture.

Over time, broad collaboration has helped to strengthen key systems in ways that open opportunity. Partners have aligned strategies that raise high school graduation rates across the county, resulting in nearly 1,000 more students per year graduating on time compared to a decade ago. They have expanded diverse education pipelines, resulting in a 35% increase in Black educators and a 30% increase in Latine educators. They have helped redesign the housing system, ultimately launching Housing Kent, a collective impact organization dedicated to improving housing outcomes. Partners have collaboratively developed a common language and are in the process of delivering a community plan to strengthen support for young people navigating the justice system. They have also elevated the role of arts and culture as a catalyst for community connection and economic growth. 

KConnect President & CEO Salvador López shared, “Together, these efforts demonstrate how coordinated partnership can shift long-standing conditions and build a more vibrant and equitable future for children, families, and communities. Our region’s progress is the result of people and organizations choosing to work creatively, centering community voice, and aligning around the belief that every child and family should have the opportunity to thrive.”

Looking Ahead  

Reaching Systems Change is both a milestone and a launching point. As KConnect and its network look toward 2026, the focus is on accelerating strategies that strengthen home and family stability, improve education and workforce outcomes, and increase access to economic mobility. Partners will activate new cross-sector initiatives, deepen their use of shared data, and advance solutions designed with community members.

The work ahead is ambitious, and it builds on more than a decade of collective learning. By continuing to move together, the network is positioned to make steady, measurable progress for young people, families, and the broader region in the years ahead.