“Launched in 2013, Lumina Foundation’s Community Partnership for Attainment (CPA)
initiative aimed to deepen the impact of cross-sector, place-based efforts to increase higher
education attainment in communities and cities across the country. … The CPA investment prioritized three pillars … This Issue Brief focuses on the second CPA pillar — Equity. In this Brief, we discuss how CPA communities have interpreted this pillar, describe how they have applied this principle to influence their partnership and attainment efforts, and discuss what other communities, funders, educators, and community-change stakeholders can learn from their experiences. We draw from data collected through interviews with representatives from all 75 communities shortly after receiving CPA funding, visits to 14 communities, and followup interviews with 10 communities focused specifically on the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We conclude the Brief with recommendations about how to deepen the conversation about the diversity, equity, and inclusion imperative in postsecondary, community, and systems change efforts.”