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Our Initiatives

EQ2 Initiative logo

EQ2 Initiative

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X3 Internships

Innovation Zones

Innovation Zones

Instituto del Puente logo

Instituto del Puente

Youth Civic
Infrastructure

Youth Civic
Infrastructure

EdUprising Conference logo

EdUprising Conference

EQ2 Initiative

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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]

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How to get involved

As a retired teacher, I know we need to make learning more applicable and culturally relevant. As a parent, I want all students to have access to internships. As a mom of biracial children, I want them to access mentorship from people they identify with.

—Cheryl Carreon,
Education Consultant

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It’s not our children failing these tests, it’s the tests failing our children. We need to start measuring what truly matters, the development of our children through their cultural backgrounds first.

—Wilhelmina Yazzie,
plaintiff in the Yazzie/Martinez lawsuit; USA Today’s 2022 Woman of the Year

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    Read more about EQ2

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    X3 Internships

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    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.

    For more information please email [email protected]

    Learn more about X3
    Get involved
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    X3 Videos

    • What Is the X3 Internship?

      Learn about what makes the X3 Internship different.

    • A Day in the Life of X3: Healthcare

      Cesiah Gonzales, a senior at Health Leadership High School, became an X3 intern at the University of New Mexico Hospital as a medical assistant. She fell in love with the profession and is now pursing a career in nursing thanks to her exposure and experience via X3.

    • X3 Testimonials: Mariana Grajeda

      X3 internships can change the trajectory of a student’s life. Listen to Mariana Grajeda’s story—a young mother and X3 intern with an incredible journey.

    • X3 Testimonials: Marcus Arellano

      Being an X3 intern can radically change a student’s confidence and career path. Listen to Marcus’s testimonial.

    • X3 Testimonials: Cheyeanne Frazier

      How does the X3 experience affect a student's future? X3 internships helped show Cheyeanne her areas of passion.

    • "First Steps"

      Liset never imagined a future outside of fast food. Through her X3 internship, she now has the work experience she needed to create a new career path for herself and her family.

    • A Day in the life of X3:
      Outdoor Recreation/
      Conservation

      Follow along as Sarah Joy Randall gives us a day-in-the-life tour of her outdoor recreation internship with the Friends of the Organ Mountains.

    • A Day in the life of X3:
      City Government/
      Administration

      Take a day-in-the-life tour with Amarisa Barboa, an X3 intern at the City of Albuquerque Office of Equity Inclusion.

    • A Day in the life of X3:
      Construction/
      Engineering

      X3 intern Marcos, a student at CNM, worked with local construction firm Bradbury Stamm, and got new insights into what that career path looks like, gaining professional skills and new network connections along the way.

    Read more about X3

    NMPED Innovation Zone Initiative

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    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]

    Learn more about Innovation Zones
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    Read more about Innovation Zones

    Instituto del Puente

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    The Bridge to Future Focused Education Policy

    Instituto del Puente is the research and development arm of Future Focused. New Mexico's 2025 Legislative session begins on January 21 and Instituto del Puente has the following policy priorities:

    The Instituto serves as a convener and catalyst dedicated to incubating, supporting, and guiding 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 ("el puente"), captures our mission to facilitate meaningful educational transitions and transformations to drive positive change.

    For more information please email [email protected]

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    Youth Civic Infrastructure

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    a group of high school students posing at the front of a classroom.

    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]

    Learn More About YCI
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    Are you a high school interested in learning more about capstone projects and how they can connect to the Youth Civic Infrastructure?

    Contact Us

    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. 

    Register Now
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    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]

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    Read more about EdUp

    The work that we’re doing with Future Focused is a game-changer. There has been a lack of imagination about how to get beyond standardized testing. Our partnership is going to impact the education sector as a whole, and hopefully serve as a model as we re-imagine things statewide in Minnesota

    —Samantha Diaz,
    Former Director of Public Charter Schools, Pillsbury United Communities

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    Once you have a curriculum the student can connect to, that engages them, that empowers them...then they have value. And I think that's the pivotal piece, because if they're not invested in what they're learning, that graduate profile isn't going to mean anything. But if they're invested in what they're learning, then they can make the connection.
    —Bonavita Quinto-MacCallum, Ph.D. District SEL Coordinator, Taos Municipal Schools
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    Integrating social and emotional skills can help us assure that all students in our state have the skills to thrive cognitively, emotionally, socially, culturally, linguistically and academically, in school and in life.

    —Dr. Amy McConell Franklin,
    Founding Co-Chair SEL4NM

    Read more from Amy
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