Our Story
Milwaukee Succeeds is driven by a vision of cradle-to-career success that’s rooted in racial equity, community voice and systems change. We’ve taken a radical step away from traditional decision-making structures to put power in the hands of our communities and create equitable outcomes for our children.
Then: 2011–2019
Milwaukee Succeeds was launched by the Greater Milwaukee Foundation in 2011 as a way to unite the community around a common goal: bringing about lasting change to the way education works for children in Milwaukee.
In those early years, Milwaukee Succeeds worked across 11 areas of educational importance, from preschool readiness to college completion. While these priorities reflected important challenges facing Milwaukee's children, we recognized that spreading our efforts across so many areas limited our ability to drive meaningful systems change.
A Strategic Shift
In 2019, Milwaukee Succeeds began to re-envisioned its approach, moving from direct-service programming toward long-term systems change. The events of 2020 made it clearer than ever that it was time to change.
To better meet the needs of our community, we narrowed our focus to the two areas where we believed we could have the greatest impact: early childhood education (ECE) and high school success.
A New Chapter
From 2019-2026, high school success was a significant part of our work. Through our Youth Forward MKE coalition, we brought together young people, community partners and systems leaders to advance more equitable outcomes for Milwaukee’s youth. Youth Forward MKE centered youth voice, built opportunities for young people to influence decisions and worked to address the barriers facing youth today.
In 2026, Milwaukee Succeeds made the decision to transition away from the Youth Forward MKE coalition and our broader high school success strategy. Yet the relationships, research and lessons from this work remain an important part of our story.
Where We Are Now
Today, Milwaukee Succeeds is deepening its focus on ECE – ensuring every child in our city has the strongest possible start. We bring together data, research and community voice to understand what children and families need, identify where systems can do better and advocate for meaningful changes that strengthen the ECE sector. Together, we’re working to create a system where every child has the chance to thrive.
What Guides Our Work
Throughout our evolution, several principles have remained at the heart of our wok. We believe those closest to an issue should have an active part in shaping the solutions. We confront systemic racism and the systems that perpetuate inequity, while using data, lived experience and collective action to challenge the status quo.
As we look toward our future, these principles will continue to shape how we listen, how we lead and how we work toward lasting change.