Building Pathways to Economic Mobility, Together

At United Way of Greater Charlotte, we know that creating lasting economic mobility requires more than addressing one challenge at a time. It requires bringing people together, listening to those closest to the work and designing solutions that recognize how deeply interconnected financial stability, employment and opportunity really are.

That collaborative approach recently came to life through United Way of Greater Charlotte’s Economic Mobility Design Sprint, which convened critical partners and stakeholders around one central question:

What will it take to put ALICE households on a career pathway that can offer family-sustaining wages?

The day was designed not to produce a perfect strategy, but to build the shared understanding, strategic clarity and collective commitment necessary to move from ideas to action.

And that distinction matters.

Creating Solutions Together

Across our region, many households are working but still struggling to afford the basics. These ALICE households, Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, demonstrate why employment alone does not always translate into economic stability.

A career opportunity can be difficult to pursue without reliable childcare. Training can be inaccessible without transportation. A higher wage may still fall short when housing and other essential costs continue to rise.

Economic mobility is not one issue. It is the result of multiple systems working together, or failing to.

That is why United Way brought partners and stakeholders together to examine the challenge collectively.

Throughout the Design Sprint, participants reviewed data informing United Way’s developing economic mobility model, explored opportunities and potential barriers, and shared perspectives about what families need to move from economic instability toward greater financial security.

The conversation also challenged participants to consider an important question: How do we create a strategy that is inclusive and responsive to communities across Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, Union and Anson counties?

The answer begins with listening.

From Programs to Pathways

One of the opportunities explored during the sprint was how our community can better connect existing resources into clearer pathways for families.

Our region is home to organizations doing exceptional work in workforce development, education, childcare, transportation, housing, basic needs and other areas that contribute to financial stability.

The opportunity is not simply to create more programs.

It is to better connect the programs, partners and systems that already touch people’s lives.

During the Design Sprint, participants worked together to identify what it takes to build that bridge from economic instability to economic mobility. They considered which strategies would be most critical to success and began developing a high-level framework that can guide the next phase of the work.

This type of collaboration is central to United Way’s role in the community.

We invest in organizations doing important work every day, but our responsibility extends beyond funding. We also bring organizations, residents, businesses and community leaders together around shared challenges, use data to help identify opportunities and create space for collective problem-solving.

Collaboration as a Strategy

Complex challenges require coordinated solutions.

No single organization can address every barrier standing between a family and economic mobility. But together, our community can begin creating a more connected ecosystem of support.

That means looking beyond organizational boundaries and asking different questions.

Where are families encountering gaps?

Where are services disconnected?

What prevents someone from moving from a job to a career?

How can employers, nonprofits, educational institutions, philanthropy and other partners work differently together?

And how do we ensure the people most affected by these systems help shape the solutions?

These are not questions that can be answered in a single meeting. But bringing the right people together to wrestle with them is an important step toward meaningful change.

Turning Conversation Into Action

The Economic Mobility Design Sprint was intentionally designed to lead somewhere.

The insights generated through the process will help inform a more detailed implementation plan, moving United Way and its partners from identifying a strategic challenge to determining how we can act on it together.

That next phase will require continued collaboration, accountability and a willingness to learn and adapt.

It will also require what was described during the sprint as “execution with humanity.”

Behind every data point is a person making decisions about work, childcare, transportation, housing, education and the future of their family. As strategies become implementation plans, keeping those lived experiences at the center will be essential.

Leading Through Convening

For 95 years, United Way of Greater Charlotte has worked alongside this community to respond to its most pressing challenges. Today, that role increasingly means helping our region not only respond to immediate needs, but also address the systems and barriers that contribute to those needs.

The Economic Mobility Design Sprint is one example of what that looks like in practice.

It means bringing the right voices to the table.

It means grounding conversations in data and community experience.

It means creating space for honest questions and different perspectives.

And, most importantly, it means turning collaboration into action.

Our work on economic mobility is continuing, and so is our commitment to building a community where working families have opportunities not only to make ends meet, but to move forward.

Because when families have pathways to greater stability and opportunity, we create stronger neighbors, stronger neighborhoods and stronger communities, together.