2023 Impact Report /
Forward
Together

Belonging Index

Our annual belonging index measures Continuum’s health from an employee perspective and serves as an indicator of whether our diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) efforts are having an impact internally. We’ll continue to evaluate ourselves against these metrics as we work to combine what DEIB means for our staff with our mission to expand equity in higher education.

Fostering diversity, equity, inclusion & belonging

At Continuum College, we believe DEIB is fundamental to our vision of offering everyone the education they need to thrive. We’re taking our DEIB work, which has an internal focus for our staff, and combining it with how we think about our mission in the world. This is the first year we’ve merged these two pieces into a strategic plan, which means how we work will continue to evolve.

As part of our DEIB efforts, we’ve hired our first director of people and culture to help us focus on our internal culture and facilitate continued staff learning and engagement around DEIB. We also engaged a consultant from UW HR’s Professional & Organizational Development (POD) organization to evaluate our internal DEIB practices and provide recommendations for action.

In response to the initial DEIB Assessment, we’ve been working to incorporate the themes and goals of the UW Diversity Blueprint over the past year. We formalized our DEI subcommittee commitments and established a leadership champion for each subcommittee who’ll work to refine program initiatives. As we integrate our internal DEIB work in support of our external mission, we realize that we’re at the beginning of this journey and look forward to collaborating with our community as we move forward.

Opening the Door to Opportunity

While the Pacific Northwest has seen a decade of economic boom, many local people are struggling due to inequities and rising living costs. The UW Certificate Scholarship exists to break down barriers for Washington adults living on low incomes by providing access to in-demand skills and career opportunities. With help from funding partners, we can now offer need-based aid for many UW Certificate programs, covering at least 80% of program fees.

Meet one of our 2022 scholarship recipients, Rebecca Bramwell, who used the UW Scholarship and UW Certificate in Wetland Science & Management to realize her dream to be a professional wetland ecologist and help protect the planet.

Read Rebecca's Story

Meet Our Chief Advancement Officer

After a nationwide search, Pacific Northwest local Manca Valum has joined Continuum as our first-ever chief advancement officer. In this role, Manca will serve as our strategic advancement adviser, supporting our mission of providing students with the opportunity to achieve their learning goals through access to educational opportunities that serve learners at every stage in their lives.

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