

Our Initiatives
EQ2 Initiative


Equipped for equity
The EQ2 Initiative is a statewide movement building thriving communities through educational innovation designed to increase equity and student engagement.
We are committed to transforming teaching, learning, and assessment through student-led, culturally and linguistically-responsive practices including graduate profiles, capstones, assessment literacy, and work-based learning.
For more information please email [email protected]

How to get involved

X3 Internships


Outside the classroom, inside the workforce
X3 Internship programs are the leader in paid, work-based learning opportunities in New Mexico. X3 connects students with caring mentors in professional fields, offering real-world experience, school credit, and wraparound support. X3 is setting a new standard for homegrown professional development for youth. X3 internships are available for high school students and X3 NeXt internships are for college-aged youth.
For more information please email [email protected]

NMPED Innovation Zone Initiative


Grassroots innovation, state-wide transformation
The Innovation Zone Initiative transforms the school experience by prioritizing real-world learning, local identity, and student agency.
In partnership with the New Mexico Public Education Department, we help schools incorporate graduate profiles, capstones, career and technical education (CTE), and work-based learning (WBL).
For more information please email [email protected]

Read more about Innovation Zones
Instituto del Puente


The Bridge to Future Focused Education Policy
Instituto del Puente is the research and development arm of Future Focused. The Instituto serves as a convener and catalyst dedicated to incubating, supporting, and co-creating policy for groundbreaking educational innovations. We foster progress as a policy influencer and a nurturer of new ideas and approaches. The name Instituto del Puente, symbolizing a bridge ("puente"), captures our mission to bridge our current reality filled with disengagement and alienation to a reality where young people say they will thrive by responding to dilemmas, adapting solutions to specific communities, and sustaining our efforts over time through public policy. With community help, insight and experience, we look forward to co-creating a better New Mexico, together.
2025 legislative outcomes to celebrate:
-
Secured a $1.0 million appropriation to support Youth Mental Health policy,
-
Supported $6.2 million appropriation to deal with absenteeism that will expand the reach of the Graduation Re-engagement, Internship, Program (GRIP) initiative,
-
Advocated for a memorial to study the implications of Artificial Intelligence with research support by Future Focused, and
-
Supporting HB 528 which was introduced to fund sustainable work-based learning across the state.
During the 2025 interim, we will expand the network of support for these initiatives by engaging young people, community members, and educators.
For more information please email [email protected]

Youth Civic Infrastructure


Youth Civic Infrastructure is a three-year grant to nonprofit organizations who work in partnership with a local school to create a project-based capstone curriculum.
Each nonprofit grantee leverages the Future Focused X3 program to bring young people into their organizations for 13-week internships.
Students, educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, and funders work collaboratively to build curriculum, internships, and capstone projects that actively work to improve the communities in which the students live.
For more information please email [email protected]

Are you a high school interested in learning more about capstone projects and how they can connect to the Youth Civic Infrastructure?
EdUprising Conference
EdUp 2025 March 7-8, 2025
Albuquerque Convention Center
The 5th annual EdUprising Conference is gearing up for another year of bringing together students, educators, and community to lead what’s working.


Join the Movement
The EdUprising Conference unites thought leaders, educators, and students from across the state in a vibrant exchange of ideas and strategies.
Renowned for fostering groundbreaking discussions and collaborative initiatives, our annual conference is a hub for inspiration and transformative action.
For more information please email [email protected]
