Stand Together

This Women's History Month, Stand Together recognizes @ChristinaBDent, who discovered that people closest to addiction understand the crisis better than distant policymakers. Meeting mothers like Joanne transformed her thinking and led her to found @EndItForGoodMS.

William Walden Ford watched neighborhood kids assault a classmate for "thinking he was smart." He disengaged from school and aligned himself with peers involved in drugs and gang activity. When he came home with drugs hidden in a newspaper, his mother knew the system had forced an impossible choice. Virginia Walden Ford worked full time but never earned enough to access the school options wealthier families took for granted. Wealthy parents could buy homes in preferred districts or pay private tuition. Working parents were told to accept whatever their ZIP code offered. She started organizing other parents in her neighborhood who felt trapped by the same lack of alternatives. After years of rallies, congressional hearings, and legislative meetings, her coalition secured passage of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program in 2004. President George W. Bush signed it into law, creating the first federally funded private school voucher program in the country. @VirginiaFord had cleared institutional paths before. In the mid-1960s, she and her twin sister desegregated Central High School in Little Rock. This Women's History Month, the National School Choice Awareness Foundation honors that legacy with the Virginia Walden Ford Parent Empowerment Award. What one mother started in D.C. has reshaped how millions of families nationwide think about their right to decide where their children learn: bit.ly/3PMTzCT

What happens when you empty out an entire elementary school and take every student to Google? Through @vincentcountry, first through fifth graders from Burckhalter Elementary spent the day learning about AI, coding, and robotics. Many had never seen how programming and robotics worked — until now. "We work really hard to ensure our students have access to so many things, but our access is limited," says Dr. Carin Geathers, Burckhalter’s principal. "This broadens the scope on levels I could never explain." @TroyVincentSr and @cheftommiv don't just bring resources to communities, but they build connections and relationships for these communities that last. They create experiences that let students see themselves in careers they didn't know existed. Stand Together is proud to support leaders who understand that every student has unique potential, and that potential shouldn't be limited by zip code or circumstance.

Brandon Vogt and several Orlando homeschool families wanted a high school that was classical, Catholic, and affordable. No school offered all three. Eighteen months later, they opened the Chesterton Academy of Orlando themselves, with no education backgrounds and no institutional experience. The Chesterton Schools Network makes this possible by providing structured support through four stages: discovery, preparation, activation, and launch. The timeline matters because many families have children approaching high school age. Waiting years for an alternative isn't an option. The model just won the $1 million Yass Prize, often called the "Pulitzer Prize of Education Innovation." Forty-five Chesterton schools now operate nationwide, all parent-founded, all classical and faith-based, all costing under $10,000 annually. Students study philosophy, literature, theology, and the arts. Learn more here: bit.ly/3P3Ya3w

40% of Americans with degrees are drowning in student debt. @ascent_funding fixes the actual problem: misalignment between education cost and job outcomes.

Most student loan companies bet against students. @ascent_funding literally can't make money unless borrowers succeed. How that shift could make college a smart investment again:

This Women's History Month, Stand Together recognizes Jody Lewen, whose conviction that every incarcerated person deserves to develop their unique gifts built a college, @MtTamCollege, inside San Quentin Prison. She didn't wait for the system to change. She built something better inside it.

For the ninth year in a row, @TroyVincentSr and @cheftommiv brought @vincentcountry's Safe Zone Activity Day to a host city school. This year: Burckhalter Elementary in Oakland. NFL legends like Ricky Pearsall (@S1ickSzn), Bobby Taylor (@BobbyTaylor21), and EddieMason (@masetraining) showed up. Students coded robots in a Google STEM playground. Vincent Country installed a food pantry, painted a mural, and put in a new turf field. The theme was Dreams Grow Here — and in that spirit, students walked away with resources, experiences, and proof that people in their community believe in them. As Bobby says: "First and foremost, it's about service. Wanting to let them know they're important." Troy and Tommi do this every year, building partnerships that meet communities where they are and leave them stronger. Stand Together is proud to support leaders who show up, unify around a common goal, and prove that change happens when people work together.

The traditional lending system blocks pathways to better careers. No credit history, no cosigner? No loan. That’s why @ascent_funding is reimagining how Americans access the skills training and education that can unlock their futures.

50 million caregivers are the backbone of elder care. New research reveals an opportunity hiding in plain sight: building tech for caregivers instead of hospital systems, designed around dignity and daily needs. bit.ly/40Y8tZi

Hardwired for division? New research shows humans evolved to see disagreement as a threat. But that’s only part of the story. Three scholars explain what’s really driving American polarization and the skills we need to break the cycle. bit.ly/3PsbVZG

What a fantastic time we had kicking off Super Bowl LX at Burckhalter Elementary School alongside @NFL Legends, players, and friends! Thank you to the many, many volunteers who came out to support @vincentcountry Safe Zone Activity Day–making an unforgettable experience for the students and faculty.

For years, some of the toughest players in the @NFL believed silence was the key to their success. When they struggled, they pushed it down so they could push through on the field. But mental wellbeing doesn't flourish when it's hidden. That's why Stand Together partnered with @FaithOnTheField to create space for players to have raw, real conversations about their mental health. We saw athletes open up about what it takes to maintain mental health in high-pressure careers and everyday life. Because, as @ClintBruce_ says: "Community is how you treat mental health. You've got to have the right people around you."

This Women's History Month, Stand Together recognizes Lenore Skenazy, @FreeRangeKids, who turned national criticism into a movement restoring childhood independence. Trusting her son's capability sparked @LetGrowOrg, now reshaping how entire states approach education and parenting.

Read Across America reminds us why literacy matters: it gives young people access to ideas, futures, and possibilities. @AdamPeshek argues the next step is making sure high school actually prepares students for those futures whether that means college, career, trades, or entrepreneurship.

Your brain scans for threats five times a second. That's why disagreement feels like danger. Ex-political pundit @IrshadManji breaks down five skills to override that response and turn contentious issues into constructive conversations.

Political polarization isn’t an accident. @seanjwestwood explains who orchestrates it, and who stands to benefit:

Hardwired for division? New research shows humans evolved to see disagreement as a threat. But that's only part of the story. Three scholars – @IrshadManji, @seanjwestwood, @kurtjgray – explain what's really driving American polarization and the skills we need to break the cycle.

We’re proud to announce Believe in People: Bottom-Up Solutions for a Top-Down World, America’s 250th Anniversary Edition by Charles Koch and Brian Hooks, set to be published next month. As America approaches its 250th anniversary, this is a defining moment — not just to reflect on our history but to recommit to the principles that can shape the next 250 years. During this time of rapid change and disruption, America’s founding principles must light the way forward. Because the future depends on all of us playing our part. And that the path forward requires empowering people from the bottom up, recognizing that those closest to our country’s biggest problems are best equipped to solve them. With a new foreword by Martin Luther King III and powerful stories of social entrepreneurs turning timeless principles into real impact, the book is a call to action for anyone ready to step up and help shape the future of our country. Pre-order your copy today: standtg.to/3Oq1A0d

For years, employers have treated turnover like a compensation puzzle. Better pay. Better perks. More flexibility. Those things still matter, but new research suggests they are no longer decisive. People are not leaving only because of what they earn. They are leaving because of what their work feels like. A new Stand Together–commissioned report from Gallup points to a quieter but more powerful driver of engagement: purpose. Employees who feel their work connects to something meaningful are more engaged, less burned out, and far more likely to stay. Yet only 13 percent of workers strongly agree that their job meaningfully connects to their life purpose. The gap shows up clearly in the data. Workers with high life and work purpose are nearly four times more likely to be engaged and far less likely to be looking for their next job. Those without that connection are often working out of necessity, not investment, which makes disengagement and churn almost inevitable. What the research does not argue is that everyone needs to find their life’s calling at work. Purpose can live outside the office too. But organizations that help employees see how their work contributes to others, or that support people in pursuing purpose beyond their job title, unlock better outcomes across well-being, retention, and performance. The implication for leaders is uncomfortable but clear. Pay can stabilize a workforce. Purpose is what sustains it. At a moment when burnout is high and loyalty is thin, meaning may be one of the most underused performance levers companies have left: bit.ly/475K6wh