Navicate
About the Collaboration
Navicate (formerly Linking Learning to Life) is a comprehensive youth serving organization that was founded in 1997 as a partnership between the Burlington (VT) School District, the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce, and the University of Vermont. These entities were brought together by their shared mission to help all Burlington students successfully prepare for the future.
Original funding for the collaboration came through a federal School-to-Work Opportunities Act grant. The grant provided five years of seed funding to establish a collaboration and implement programs to support youth. When this funding ended, Linking Learning to Life (LLL) merged with a regional school-to-work collaborative and expanded its services to begin serving all of the school districts in Chittenden County, Vermont. At that time, LLL became an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. In 2013, LLL rebranded into Navicate, which stands for helping young people navigate next steps and helping to transform education in Vermont. Since its inception, Navicate has continued to grow and form new partnerships with regional entities around Vermont in an effort to replicate some of its programs statewide.
Navicate creates and manages a variety of programs that collectively work to accomplish its mission “to improve the educational success and career prospects for youth through school, business, and community partnerships.” Navicate leads the way in Vermont with providing young people with hands-on, real-life experiences to help them succeed in careers, in post-secondary education, and within their communities.
Click here for Career and Post-Secondary Readiness Programs.
The organization now engages and prepares more than 5,000 middle and high students from seven parts of the state through career events and workshops, internships, work readiness classes, supported dual-enrollment, and youth leadership development. Navicate also offers trainings for educators and employers engaged in work-based learning and is a leader in resource development to support this work in Vermont.
