What does ABEC mean in BUSINESS

The Arizona Business and Education Coalition (ABEC) is a collaborative, non-partisan organization that serves as the bridge between business and education. By bringing together organizations from both sectors, ABEC supports an integrated approach to developing vibrant, educated communities. Through our partnerships, we promote actions that strengthen public schools, provide economic opportunities for students, and promote innovation throughout all levels of Arizona’s education system.

ABEC works to ensure that all students in Arizona have access to the support they need to succeed in school and on into their post-grad lives. This includes providing access to skills-based learning opportunities for K-12 students, college readiness initiatives, career exploration resources, and other workforce development services for both youth and adults. We also advocate for policies such as equitable funding of public schools that increase student success rates across the state.

We create customized programs tailored to meet the needs of each partner community. Our current offerings focus on creating work-based learning experiences in science, technology, engineering arts/design careers (STEAM), increasing college access and completion through our Leveraging Partnerships in Education program, developing Innovation Zones which bring businesses into public schools and engaging employers with student internships through our Career Ready earn & learn pipeline efforts.

Right now we are focusing on our home state of Arizona but hope to expand one day! Through collaboration with similar organizations around the country we are able to offer tailored national programming based on local needs while still connecting back to best practices here in AZ.

Yes – anyone interested in connecting business and education can get involved with us! We welcome individuals from both sectors who are looking to collaborate on strategies that better integrate business with educational areas such as curriculum design, leadership development or policymaking. Reach out anytime for more information about how you can get involved.

Businesses have numerous ways they can interact with our organization including participating in award programs like Educators Rising or sponsoring an Innovation Zone project at a local school. They may also be interested in attending our events such as Career Fairs which connect employers directly with talent pipelines or workshops designed specifically for industry professionals looking for ways to stay informed about new developments in education policy making or innovative teaching techniques.

At ABEC we believe it is important for educators keep up their skills by attending professional development programs and conferences either online or through one of our affiliate organizations in order to stay ahead of educational trends while staying connected to best practices nation wide. Our teacher training initiatives allow educators to experience hands-on immersive job simulations geared towards specific industries so they can become more effective at preparing students for meaningful careers.