Driving Possibilities: The Importance of Partnerships

In April 2022, Toyota announced a $110 million career readiness and community engagement initiative, Driving Possibilities. The initiative focuses on preparing youth for the careers of tomorrow, while addressing root causes that impact learning, such as food insecurity and mobility. The goals of Driving Possibilities are to increase excitement and readiness for STEM careers, coordinate community-based services to fuel innovative solutions, decrease barriers to success, and engage businesses in mentoring, training, and career readiness efforts.

The vision for Driving Possibilities started right here in Dallas in a partnership among the West Dallas Community, Dallas Independent School District (ISD), Southern Methodist University, and Toyota to create an innovative PreK-8 STEM School in West Dallas. The school combines hands-on, inquiry-based learning, wrap-around services provided on site by local nonprofit organizations, and industry engagement in mentoring, curriculum design, and classroom programming.

Join this spotlight session to learn more about how partnerships among industry, educational institutions, nonprofits, and the community can help ensure all students have access to opportunities to prepare for and be successful in tomorrow’s careers.