Innovation Design Labs & Pilots

Our mission is to partner with K-12 schools and districts, community colleges and 4-year universities, and workforce development CBOs looking for creative intersegmental solutions that build cohesive postsecondary pathways for young people.

At the College Persistence Coalition, our main goal is to bring together K-12 schools, higher education systems, and workforce development partners through Innovation Design Labs and Practicums. By connecting institutions, we encourage everyone to share resources and collaboratively brainstorm creative solutions to their students’ biggest struggles. Participants identify the highest leverage prototypes and create pilots to test their ideas.

Our work began with an Innovation Design Lab in April 2025, which emphasized curriculum, socioemotional development, and career core competencies as barriers to college persistence. As a result, CPC launched pilots at multiple CUNY colleges, including LaGuardia Community College, Hunter College, and Brooklyn College. 

Our Fall Innovation Design Lab featured NY State Chancellor Lester Young, K-12 district leaders, CUNY administrators and faculty, and CUNY students as co-designers reimagining the freshman year of college. This spring, we will be co-hosting an Innovation Design Lab with NYC Jobs CEO Council, which will feature a career and workforce lens with employers as co-designers.