COLERIDGE INITIATIVE ANNOUNCES NEW COHORT OF DEMOCRATIZING OUR DATA CHALLENGE TO ADVANCE DATA-DRIVEN POLICY

Three teams awarded funding in the areas of workforce, education, and corrections.

WASHINGTON, DC, June 17, 2025 —The Coleridge Initiative today announced the latest cohort for Round Three of its Democratizing Our Data Challenge (DDC) program. The DDC is designed to facilitate the use of administrative data to help researchers develop, build, and scale innovative data products that support public policy and programs. Leveraging Coleridge’s secure data platform, the Administrative Data Research Facility (ADRF), the teams in the DDC program collaborate on developing practical tools that help public leaders make more informed policy decisions.

Since its launch in 2022, the DDC program has aimed to tackle high-impact challenges through partnerships within and across state agencies, universities, nonprofits, and mission-driven companies. This third round of the DDC awards will support two projects from Connecticut, and one multi-state project from Washington, DC, Virginia, and Maryland, which are focused on workforce, education, and corrections.

“It is so inspiring to see the DDC teams take administrative data and transform it into something so powerful — not just for policy, but for people.” said Dr. Ahu Yildirmaz, President and CEO of the Coleridge Initiative. “By equipping them with philanthropic funding, secure infrastructure like the ADRF, and expert guidance, we’re helping them move from insight to impact — and ultimately driving better outcomes in education, justice, and family well-being.”

Third Round Awardee Projects Include:

• DC/VA/MD Award Connecting Education to Employment: By linking education and workforce data across the region for the first time, this project will help the jurisdictions better understand outcomes for residents who began in its K-12 schools, regardless of where they live or work in the region. This project will demonstrate the value of sharing data across states.
• Connecticut Corrections Award: Supporting Re-Entry through Workforce Training: This project will study how prison education and training programs, like Vocational Village and Second Chance Pell, affect people’s chances of getting jobs and staying financially stable after release. This project will report on program participation and provide insights into the efficacy of these programs beyond the DOC setting.
• Connecticut Childcare Award: Childcare and Family Stability: By linking data from the Jobs First Employment Services (JFES), Care 4 Kids, and K-12 education programs, the project will create foundational knowledge on how these programs affect families, specifically through exploring how receiving childcare subsidies helps parents complete job training and enter the workforce.

The DDC program has been supported by generous funding from Ascendium Education Group, Gates Foundation, and the Walton Family Foundation.

Past Project Highlights

In Rounds 1 and 2, DDC awardees developed innovative tools via multi-state data collaborations to improve workforce and education insights, including:

• New Jersey (Rutgers University’s Heldrich Center): Developed a comprehensive dashboard integrating workforce and education data to analyze employment outcomes across diverse demographic groups.
• Kentucky, Indiana, and Tennessee: Developed a Multi-State Postsecondary Report dashboard that provides insights on employment outcomes after postsecondary education.
• Ohio: Created new measures of non-degree credential outcomes for inclusion in the Multi-State Postsecondary Report dashboard hosted by KYSTATS.
• Rhode Island, New Jersey, Virginia, and Kentucky: Enhanced the Multi-State Postsecondary Report with data from the eastern states to present employment outcomes of postsecondary graduates. 
• Indiana–Education Design Lab: Developed a data model to evaluate the effectiveness of micro-pathways in improving employment outcomes for learners completing non-degree programs.

Media Contact: Nick Obourn, Senior Director of Marketing and Communications, Coleridge Initiative. nick.obourn@coleridgeinitiative.org

About The Coleridge Initiative, Inc.

The Coleridge Initiative is a nonprofit organization working with governments to ensure that data are more effectively used for public decision-making. Coleridge provides agencies with the opportunity to enhance their data literacy and collaborate within and across states to develop new technologies through the secure access and sharing of confidential microdata. Coleridge provides secure data enclave services to a diverse range of clients, including 24 state government agencies and several federal agencies, through the Administrative Data Research Facility (ADRF). The ADRF is a FedRAMP-authorized cloud-based platform that enables government agencies to link their longitudinal data with other states and agencies. To learn more, visit www.coleridgeinitiative.org