What Higher Expectations for Racine County does

Higher Expectations for Racine County is a nonprofit collective impact organization founded in 2014 in Racine, Wisconsin, operating under a "career to cradle" framework that works backwards from workforce outcomes to ensure youth are prepared for success from early childhood. The organization functions as a backbone convener for cross-sector collaboration in Racine County, coordinating business, civic, nonprofit, higher education, and school district partners through formal Leadership Tables, Collaborative Action Networks, and a Community Transformation Council. It is a member of the StriveTogether Cradle to Career Network, reaching 13.7 million students across nearly 70 communities, and was designated a Systems Transformation organization by StriveTogether in 2023.

The organization's core products center on data and community engagement. The data portfolio includes interactive dashboards tracking six career-to-cradle outcome areas, the Higher Education Regional Alliance (HERA) dashboards spanning 18 southeastern Wisconsin colleges, a Sustainable Wage Tool that estimates family income needs in Racine County, a FAFSA Completion Dashboard supporting the FAST FAFSA Initiative, and an interactive Visualizing the Legacy of Redlining project. Programmatic offerings include the Parent Grade Leads parent leadership initiative embedded in schools such as Knapp Elementary, Lunch & Learns for family engagement, and direct one-on-one financial aid support through the FAST team. Partners include Racine Unified School District, Gateway Technical College, UW-Parkside, Carthage College, YWCA of Southeast Wisconsin, Racine County, and 90+ employers through the Academies of Racine.

Higher Expectations is fiscally sponsored by the United Way of Racine County, which processes and receipts all tax-deductible donations. The organization does not charge for its programs or services. Funding is philanthropic in nature, combining individual donations routed through United Way, multi-year corporate foundation grants (InSinkErator $200,000 over five years in 2018; Modine Foundation $200,000 over five years in 2019), and state and county government grants such as the $267,000 Commute to Careers award and over $100,000 for community internet access points. The core team of 1-10 includes an Executive Director (Elizabeth Erickson), Community Engagement Manager, Post-Secondary Education Facilitator, Data Impact Manager, and Communications Coordinator, augmented by a Community Fellows program and Community Power Consultants.

Name

Higher Expectations for Racine County

Legal name

Higher Expectations for Racine County

Website

https://higherexpectationsracinecounty.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Higher Expectations for Racine County is a nonprofit collective impact organization founded in 2014 that coordinates cross-sector partners across education, government, and business to improve cradle-to-career outcomes for Racine County youth and families through data dashboards, parent engagement programs, and policy advocacy.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Development Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Civic and Social Organizations (813410)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Youth Mentoring & Positive Youth Development Nonprofits (BPAGADAD)

Keywords

• Collective impact nonprofit
• Education equity programs
• Workforce development services
• Community data dashboards
• Cradle to career network

Headquarters

HQ city

Racine

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Philanthropic Donations: Accepts tax-deductible donations through United Way of Racine County's online donation page. Donors can designate gifts to 'Higher Expectations / Strive Together'. Also accepts check donations mailed to United Way of Racine County.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Higher Expectations for Racine County is a nonprofit collective impact initiative that convenes cross-sector partners to improve education and employment outcomes in Racine County through a 'career to cradle' approach. It delivers community engagement programs (Parent Grade Leads, FAST FAFSA Initiative), interactive data dashboards tracking six outcome areas, and tools such as the Sustainable Wage Tool and Redlining Visualization. Its work is funded through donations (fiscal sponsor: United Way of Racine County) and grants, with no fees charged for services.

Product overview

Higher Expectations for Racine County operates as a collective impact initiative focused on education and workforce development from career to cradle. The organization offers a portfolio of data-driven tools and programs including interactive Data Dashboards tracking six outcome areas (employment, postsecondary attainment/enrollment, high school graduation, middle school math, elementary reading, kindergarten readiness), a Sustainable Wage Tool for understanding family income needs, a Parent Grade Leads Program for family-school partnerships, a FAST FAFSA Initiative with completion dashboards, and a Visualizing the Legacy of Redlining project. These products work together to help community partners identify high-impact strategies, track progress, and drive systems change for equitable outcomes.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Data Dashboards Interactive data dashboards tracking progress across six career-to-cradle outcome areas including employment, postsecondary attainment, enrollment, high school graduation, middle school math, elementary reading, and kindergarten readiness. Data helps partners identify high-impact strategies, make real-time decisions, and address disparities.
• Parent Grade Leads Program A parent leadership initiative that recruits and trains parent leaders to build connections between families and schools, engage in advocacy, and collaborate with educators to strengthen school-community partnerships focused on student learning and success.
• FAFSA Completion Dashboard A dashboard tracking Free Application for Federal Student Aid completion rates, part of the FAST FAFSA Initiative to help students access financial aid for postsecondary education.
• Sustainable Wage Tool An interactive tool that estimates the income working families in Racine County need to meet basic needs, factoring in family size, housing, food, and local costs of living. Also explores local jobs that pay sustainable wages and their education requirements.
• FAST FAFSA Initiative Financial Aid Support Team providing one-on-one support to students completing their FAFSAs in Racine and Kenosha counties, helping combat the billions in unclaimed Pell Grants each year.
• Visualizing the Legacy of Redlining An interactive data visualization project exploring how racial disparities in Racine are rooted in historical redlining practices, including background slides, interactive maps, and further reading resources.
• HERA Dashboards Higher Education Regional Alliance dashboards tracking postsecondary data and outcomes across southeastern Wisconsin institutions.

Quantifiable outcome

• 14,000+ pathways to success for individuals by 2030
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and secondary.

• StriveTogethercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational movement helping every child succeed from cradle to career. Higher Expectations is a member of the StriveTogether Cradle to Career Network, receiving resources, best practices, and processes. The network reaches 13.7 million students across nearly 70 communities in 30 states and Washington D.C.
• Wisconsin PartnershipcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition of local organizations working in Brown, Kenosha, and Racine Counties plus City of Milwaukee. Committed to Early Childhood Education including Kindergarten Readiness and Early Literacy. Aims to put 10,000 more young people on a path to success by 2030. Members include Achieve Brown County, Building Our Future, and Milwaukee Succeeds.
• Building Our FuturecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKenosha County partner in the Wisconsin Partnership coalition and FAST FAFSA Initiative. Collaborates on regional approach to postsecondary access and FAFSA completion in both Racine and Kenosha counties.
• Racine Unified School DistrictcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKey educational partner. Work includes North Star initiative to ensure all students graduate prepared for college or career; 4K expansion; Academies of Racine with 90+ employers; Parent Grade Leads program; continuous improvement practices in schools.
• Gateway Technical CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHigher education partner with articulation agreements to UW-Parkside. Programs include embedded credentials for students who need to exit early. Partner in HERA (Higher Education Regional Alliance) and Talent Hub designation. Gateway Graduate Follow-Up Survey data used for outcomes tracking.
• University of Wisconsin-ParksidecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHigher education partner with articulation agreements with Gateway Technical College for seamless transfer from associate to bachelor's degree. Partner in HERA and Talent Hub designation. Data shared for post-secondary enrollment and completion tracking.
• Carthage CollegesecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerHigher education partner creating pathways for adult learners. Offers bachelor's degree completion pathways from Gateway Technical College programs.
• YWCA of Southeast WisconsincoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in competency-based 5.09 High School Equivalency Diploma (HSED) program with Gateway Technical College and Racine County. Program has graduated 190 individuals with 80% annual graduation rate.
• Milwaukee SucceedscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMilwaukee partner in Wisconsin Partnership coalition. Introduced Wisconsin Reading Corps program to Higher Expectations. Collaborates on child care advocacy and early childhood initiatives.
• Achieve Brown CountycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBrown County partner in Wisconsin Partnership coalition, working alongside Higher Expectations, Building Our Future, and Milwaukee Succeeds on early childhood education and systems transformation.
• Wisconsin Reading CorpssecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerEvidence-based literacy intervention program operating in four RUSD elementary schools: Julian Thomas, Knapp, North Park, and Roosevelt. Students demonstrate more than a year of reading progress.
• Racine CountycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernment partner contributing over $100,000 with Gateway Technical College and Higher Expectations to fund 15+ internet access points across high-needs areas. Partner in Commute to Careers program ($267,000 state funding) and YWCA HSED program expansion.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Building Our Future: Kenosha County, WI cradle-to-career collective impact partner and co-member of the Wisconsin Partnership coalition. Co-implements the FAST FAFSA Initiative with Higher Expectations and shares the same StriveTogether framework.
• Achieve Brown County: Brown County, WI cradle-to-career collective impact organization and co-member of the Wisconsin Partnership coalition with Higher Expectations. Operates the same backbone model serving a neighboring Wisconsin community.
• Milwaukee Succeeds: Milwaukee cradle-to-career backbone organization and Wisconsin Partnership coalition member. Operates a comparable collective impact model focused on educational outcomes from cradle to career in a larger urban setting.

Broad incumbents

• StriveTogether: National cradle-to-career network of nearly 70 communities reaching 13.7M students. Higher Expectations is a member; StriveTogether provides the framework, theory of action, and designations (Systems Transformation, Proof Point) that structure the local work.
• Harlem Children's Zone: Pioneering place-based cradle-to-career organization serving a defined NYC neighborhood. Comparable model combining in-school programs, family supports, and data tracking across the full youth pipeline.
• Promise Neighborhoods Institute at PolicyLink: National intermediary supporting the federal Promise Neighborhoods program, which funds cradle-to-career place-based initiatives. Comparable in operating model to Higher Expectations' data-driven collective impact backbone.

Emerging players

• Say Yes to Education: National nonprofit providing comprehensive scholarship and postsecondary supports to urban and rural communities. Comparable in mission to expand college access and completion via community-wide commitments and data tracking.

Others

• United Way of Racine County: Fiscal sponsor for Higher Expectations and a co-funder of community programs including the Commute to Careers initiative. Operates the same community-impact space with a broader funding and convening role.
• Talent Hub (Lumina Foundation designation): Lumina Foundation initiative designating metro areas with coordinated talent development strategies. Higher Expectations' regional partners Gateway Technical College and UW-Parkside hold Talent Hub designations, providing comparable ecosystem-level convening frameworks.

Regional players

• Racine County Eye / Racine Unified School District Foundation: Local education ecosystem partner (RUSD) and adjacent community funders. While not a backbone organization, RUSD is the primary institutional partner for Higher Expectations' K-12 programs and outcome metrics.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/higher-expectations
• Xx.com/heracinecounty
• Facebookfacebook.com/higherexpectationsracinecounty

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Higher Expectations for Racine County