Future Ready New Jersey Coalition Launches

On Nov 13, 2025

The New Jersey Council of County Colleges has announced the 28 inaugural organizational members of the Future Ready New Jersey Coalition to Expand Economic Mobility and Broad-Based Prosperity.

The member organizations are committing to working together in search of innovative solutions in a time of complex technological, economic, demographic, and social changes — where access to good jobs requires postsecondary education and where employers face challenges finding workers with the right skills and knowledge.

The Future Ready New Jersey Coalition is calling for the state to adopt a new, ambitious educational attainment goal: for 75% of New Jersey adults in the labor market to have postsecondary degrees or credentials of value by 2040, meaning they lead to jobs with wages that exceed the average earnings of a high school graduate by at least 15%.

Currently, fewer than half of New Jerseyans have degrees or credentials that meet this criteria, and 41% of New Jersey adults have no formal education or workforce training beyond high school.

New Jersey’s 18 community colleges, which educate over 250,000 individuals of all ages and backgrounds across the state every year, have an important role to play. However, meeting this goal and driving broad-based economic prosperity will require bold, cross-sector action from business, labor, K12 and higher education, workforce development, libraries, and community-based and social justice organizations—as well as partnership with government leaders.

Initial Future Ready New Jersey Coalition plans include developing a blueprint to share with Governor-Elect Sherrill and our State Legislators in early 2026.

Future Ready New Jersey inaugural member organizations include:

• African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey
• BioNJ
• Boys & Girls Clubs in New Jersey
• Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Union of New Jersey
• Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey
• Garden State Employment and Training Association (GSETA)
• Gathering Ground
• HealthCare Institute of New Jersey (HINJ)
• Hunger Free New Jersey
• Independent Colleges and Universities of New Jersey
• Junior Achievement of New Jersey
• Latino Action Network Foundation
• Mental Health Association in New Jersey
• New Jersey Association of State Colleges and Universities
• New Jersey Business and Industry Association (NJBIA)
• New Jersey Chamber of Commerce
• New Jersey Council for the Humanities
• New Jersey Council of County Colleges
• New Jersey Council of Vocational Technical Schools
• New Jersey Institute for Social Justice
• New Jersey Library Association
• New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association
• New Jersey School Boards Association
• New Jersey Small Business Development Centers
• New Jersey State Library
• New Jersey YMCA State Alliance
• Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey
• United Way of Northern New Jersey

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