Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) and the Chicago-based nonprofit LRNG are merging to provide an innovative solution that aims to create “seamless connections” between education and the workforce, particularly for those in underserved communities.
With the new partnership, SNHU and LRNG will work with cities, employers and community-based partners to develop “digital badges,” “learning playlists” or other degree programs in alignment with a city’s educational and workforce needs. The organizations will reach “upstream” to serve pre-college young people and reach “downstream” to serve older adult learners, said SNHU president and CEO Dr. Paul LeBlanc.
“We are very, very mission driven and we really have a focus on unlocking the talent that we believe exists in every community, including poor communities,” LeBlanc added. “It’s not a lack of talent. It’s a lack of opportunity.”
SNHU and LRNG collectively serve more than 180,000 learners through their programs, ranging from middle-school aged students to adult workers.
LeBlanc added that LRNG’s work is “complimentary” to SNHU’s in that the private, mostly-online university can help the nonprofit scale its efforts around connecting learning to career opportunities, while the nonprofit can help university leaders rethink how they structure learning experiences for young people.
Launched in 2015, LRNG’s youth-inspired work currently reaches 19 American cities. SNHU and LRNG – as the university’s “community impact arm” – will launch their new learning model in Birmingham, Alabama and Chicago, with plans to expand to other cities as the initiative develops.
“Our goal is to build this national effort, but at a city-by-city basis,” LeBlanc said.
