Five Years of Catalyze: What We've Learned About Innovation in Career-Connected Learning
This year marks an important milestone for the Catalyze community: five years of supporting innovative approaches to career-connected learning across the country.
As part of our anniversary kickoff, members of the Catalyze Community of Practice gathered for a Learning Lab conversation with Jamie Jutila, Senior Program Officer for the Walton Family Foundation Education Program and Chair of the Catalyze Advisory Board.
As one of the leaders who helped shape Catalyze from the beginning, Jamie reflected on how both the initiative and the broader career-connected learning field have evolved over the past five years and where they may be headed next.
One lesson surfaced throughout the discussion: some of the most powerful innovations in career-connected learning do not emerge from a single model or blueprint. They emerge from communities designing solutions around the needs of their young people, employers, and local economies.
Five years ago, one of the biggest questions facing the field was whether career-connected learning could become a meaningful part of the K-12 experience. Today, the question is different.
The challenge is no longer proving that career-connected learning matters. It is ensuring that every young person has access to experiences that help them discover their interests, build real-world skills, and navigate an economy that is changing faster than ever.
Innovation is local.
Some of the strongest ideas emerged from communities designing around their own economic realities and learner needs.
There is no single model.
Internships, apprenticeships, mentorship, career exploration, challenge-based learning, and employer partnerships all have a role to play depending on context.
Relationships matter as much as programs.
Sustainable career-connected learning depends on strong partnerships among schools, employers, intermediaries, and community organizations.
Innovation is local.
When the Walton Family Foundation first began investing in career-connected learning a few years before Catalyze launched, the work was driven by a simple question. While many high schools were helping students access college, longer-term outcomes showed that not every learner was completing a degree or finding a pathway aligned with their goals and aspirations. That prompted a broader reflection about how schools could better prepare all young people for the future.
At the time, much of the national conversation focused on higher education and workforce development. There was far less attention on how K-12 systems, particularly high schools, could help students explore careers, build skills, and connect learning to future opportunities. Catalyze was launched to help address that gap.
What funders soon discovered was that innovation was already happening. Across the country, schools, nonprofits, employers, and community leaders were building solutions tailored to local opportunities and challenges. The issue was not a lack of innovation. It was a lack of visibility, connection, and support.
“It turns out that a lot was actually starting to happen, and it was that funders weren't necessarily well plugged in or finding those opportunities because they're often very community-based, addressing really local needs.”
Many of the most promising ideas were already being developed by schools, nonprofits, and local leaders. The challenge was visibility. National funders often lacked a clear view of the full landscape of local innovation and programs, making it difficult to determine where support could truly have the greatest impact.
Catalyze became a way to surface those ideas, connect innovators with resources, and create a community where practitioners could learn from one another. Over the past five years, that community has helped elevate a wide range of approaches, from new postsecondary pathways to innovative credentialing models and career exploration experiences designed around local needs.
From Momentum to Impact
Five years later, the field looks very different.
Jamie highlighted growing momentum among governors, funders, employers, and school leaders to expand career-connected learning for young people. What was once an emerging area of innovation has become a central part of conversations about the future of education.
“There is now no question. What we are most excited about is the energy from governors, from funders, from schools across the country that are really focused on how we embed more quality and more innovative experiences into the high school experience for young people.”
As interest has grown, the field's questions have evolved. The conversation is no longer about whether career-connected learning matters, but how to expand access to high-quality experiences while ensuring they lead to meaningful outcomes for young people.
One of the central challenges is employer engagement. Jamie noted that even strong education programs struggle to scale without meaningful employer participation. At the same time, years of implementation have reinforced that there is no one-size-fits-all approach. While internships remain a cornerstone of career-connected learning, communities are increasingly embracing mentorship, career exploration, curriculum partnerships, apprenticeships, and other models that reflect local needs and employer capacity.
The field is also continuing to wrestle with measurement.
Career-connected learning aims to influence outcomes such as agency, purpose, and long-term success, yet many of those outcomes are difficult to track and measure through existing systems.
“How do we build purpose? How do we build agency in students? Those are the things we really care about.”
While organizations continue to improve how they measure impact, Jamie acknowledged that stronger data infrastructure will be critical to understanding the long-term effects of these experiences on young people's lives.
What's Next for Catalyze?
As Catalyze enters its next chapter, Jamie sees significant opportunities ahead.
She highlighted growing interest from funders and policymakers, particularly at the state level, where leaders are exploring how policy and funding can support stronger career-connected learning ecosystems. She also pointed to lessons emerging from Catalyze's work in Birmingham and the potential for deeper place-based partnerships that help communities design solutions tailored to local needs.
At the same time, she hopes the field will continue pushing forward on an area that remains underdeveloped: middle school career-connected learning.
While substantial progress has been made in reimagining the high school experience, Jamie sees an opportunity to create more high-quality experiences that help younger learners explore interests, build agency, and begin connecting learning to future possibilities.
Jamie also sees new questions emerging as technology and the economy continue to evolve. Artificial intelligence is beginning to reshape how young people learn, explore careers, and demonstrate skills. Employers are increasingly seeking evidence of capabilities alongside traditional credentials. These shifts create opportunities for career-connected learning to play an even larger role in helping young people build agency, navigate opportunities, and connect learning to life beyond school.
Looking back, Catalyze's greatest contribution may not be any single program or model. It has been helping a field uncover what is possible when young people are given meaningful opportunities to explore their interests, build skills, and connect learning to the world around them.
The next chapter will require that same spirit of innovation, along with deeper partnerships, stronger evidence, and new approaches that help more young people access opportunity. While the challenges ahead may look different than they did five years ago, the goal remains the same: ensuring every young person can discover a future that feels meaningful, attainable, and connected to their aspirations.
Thank you again to Jamie for joining us and to our Director, Michelle Cheang, for facilitating the conversation.
Watch the full conversation here:
