All-In Milwaukee will soon be able to significantly expand its reach through a new five-year, $7.4 million grant from Ascendium, a Madison-based nonprofit.
All-In Milwaukee is a nonprofit organization that provides advising, financial aid and career-focused support to help students finish college and begin careers. Since launching in 2017, All-In Milwaukee has supported 600 students.
Ascendium, which was founded in 1967, provides funds nationwide for efforts to remove barriers for individuals from low-income backgrounds seeking education and training after high school.
With this funding from Ascendium, All-In Milwaukee aims to expand its reach to serve 1,000 students annually by 2029. All-In Milwaukee currently serves 30% of eligible applicants. Of the students served, 90% are on track to graduate in six years or less, 85% are free of student debt and 88% of graduates have chosen to remain in Wisconsin through employment or graduate studies, according to the organization.
“To fully align the potential of all our scholars, we need every community member and every employer to join us and be — no pun intended — all in,” said Allison Wagner, executive director of All-In Milwaukee. “Together, we will build a bright future for Milwaukee and for Wisconsin by cultivating the college educated workforce that will drive our success.”
All-In Milwaukee and Ascendium gathered with supporters and partners at the Baird Center on Tuesday morning to announce the $7.4 million award.
“It’s a day of celebration, a day to look forward to a very bright future, and most of all, a day where we celebrate and say thank you to lots of people,” said Mary Ellen Stanek, Baird managing director and All-In Milwaukee board member.
Adrian Mora, a former All-In Milwaukee scholar who graduated from Marquette University in 2023, is now a budget analyst at Baird. As a first-generation college student, Mora said he was grateful for the resources and guidance he received as an All-In Milwaukee scholar.
“Your investment empowers more students like me to build my life here in Milwaukee,” Mora said. “I am living the life I always dreamed of, and I owe that to All-In Milwaukee, All-In Milwaukee career partners like Baird, and most importantly, the donors that make it all possible.”
Ascendium board member Joan Prince, who grew up in Milwaukee and formerly served as the vice chancellor of global inclusion and engagement at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee before she retired, said the grant to All-In Milwaukee received unanimous board approval.
“Another critical piece of this grant is actually the learning and the assessment work that we will be supporting,” Prince said. “We are going to closely study what works. We will help strengthen this program any way that we can, but we also want to develop insights that can be applied to similar initiatives worldwide. It’s just our way of ensuring that the impact of this work extends far beyond Milwaukee.”
Prince said this investment is one of the largest “big bets” Ascendium has ever made in Milwaukee.
“Our eyes are on you,” Prince said to Wagner. “Do a good job, and we might just be back here in a couple of years.”
