This is the work Seeding Success and our partners are advancing through More for Memphis and our broader education and workforce efforts.
Last month, Tennessee SCORE selected Seeding Success as a recipient of its 2026 Future Forward Innovation Grant. The grant supports locally designed education-to-career pathways that prepare students for high-wage, in-demand careers. Across Tennessee, SCORE is investing $725,000 in nine partnerships, with recipients also participating in the Tennessee Pathways Incubator to strengthen and scale their models.
Our project, the Memphis Construction and Infrastructure Talent Pathway, will create a more coordinated route to construction and infrastructure careers for Memphis students and young adults. Working with the Tennessee Builders Education Foundation, Good People Inc., the West Tennessee Home Builders Association, and other local partners, the pathway will connect technical training with career coaching, supportive services, work-based learning, and access to registered apprenticeships.
The goal is not simply to recruit participants into another training program; instead, we are working to improve how all these pieces fit together.
The revised funding formula is an important step, but it should be viewed as the beginning of the conversation rather than the end.
Local institutions will need transparent, regularly updated information about the employment and earnings outcomes connected to their programs. If that information is presented with public audiences in mind, students and families can use it to make informed decisions. Additionally, employers will need to offer work-based learning, hiring commitments, and feedback about changing skill needs. Community organizations can pitch in by helping participants navigate the system and overcome barriers that funding formulas do not capture.
We must also ensure that a stronger focus on economic outcomes does not unintentionally reduce access for students who face the greatest barriers. Institutions should not be encouraged or incentivized to serve only students who are likely to complete a credential quickly. High-impact pathways must be paired with advising, financial assistance, transportation, childcare, and other supports that allow more students to succeed.
For too long, workforce development has been treated as a collection of disconnected programs. Systems change work demands that we ask a difficult question: How do we organize all of these institutions, resources, and policies around the long-term success of students and families?
Tennessee’s new funding approach gives us an opportunity to move closer to that goal. Through Future Forward, More for Memphis, and our partnerships across education, workforce development, industry, and labor, Seeding Success will continue working to ensure that credentials earned in Memphis are not merely pieces of paper but connected steps along clear pathways to economic mobility.
