Greater Phoenix Chamber: Inside the school day
Local employers kept telling the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce (Ariz.) that they could not find talent for in-demand jobs.
The chamber’s foundation reviewed what local high schools were teaching. Staff then compared the most popular career and technical education programs with the region’s fastest-growing jobs. They found a significant gap.
To address the issue, ElevateEdAZ, a program of the Greater Phoenix Chamber Foundation, launched in the 2020-21 school year with two Phoenix Union High School District campuses. It has since grown to seven campuses in that district, which runs more than 20 high schools.
The program’s model is what makes it unique. The foundation hires and pays college and career coaches, each of whom currently serves on two campuses. Coaches run career awareness activities, arrange job shadows and place students in internships. District directors supervise them and stay assigned to a single district.
“It’s really an embedded level of support,” said Isabel Gonzalez, vice president of ElevateEdAZ.
Each side of the partnership brought what the other could not. The chamber brought grant funding, a program model, existing industry collaboratives and relationships with local employers. The district brought scale, a large student population and permission to walk in the door.
“You can’t do that from an outsider,” Gonzalez said. “We’re trying to create systems change.”
Internships in Phoenix Union averaged four per campus in year one and now average 12, against a goal of 20. Job shadows grew from 50 or 60 students in the early years to roughly 600 across the district. Industry-recognized credentials jumped 150% from the 2023-24 school year to 2024-25.
As the initiative has evolved, Gonzalez said one of the lessons has been the importance of building support beyond a single contact. Leadership changes occur in school districts. Business contacts leave companies. If that person was the partnership’s only champion, the relationship can become vulnerable.
The foundation has responded by working more intentionally to establish higher-level buy-in that can outlast staff transitions. It also uses regular campus-level outcomes meetings as part of its operating practice.
“A lot of this work is built on trust and relationships,” Gonzalez said.
The chamber is the intermediary. And when the work hits a policy wall, such as a barrier to dual enrollment, the chamber’s advocacy arm can address it.