OneFuture Coachella Valley (OFCV) officially launched on March 1, 2017 as a non-profit in the Valley focused on a regional collaboration to assure all students – especially those in most need – attain higher education aligned with promising local industries such as health care, renewable energies and creative arts.

While OneFuture may be new, their work is not. OFCV launched from the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership (CVEP), originally as a career pathways initiative in 2005 and expanded to include a regional college access and scholarship initiative. This body of work collaborates nationally with key organizations such as Alignment USA and Ford Next Generations of Learning to bring models of excellence to the Coachella Valley, as well as distribute approximately $1.3 million in scholarships to local students each year. OFCV has been instrumental in creating a regional leadership focus on college and career success across education, business and community. In 2012, they brought 75 regional stakeholders together to write and adopt a five-year plan on how business and education will work together with five long-term outcomes: 1) Increase graduation rates; 2) Increase college readiness; 3) Increase college and higher skills training completion; 4) Increase career readiness; and 5) Increase the number of local students with higher wage jobs.

OneFuture Coachella Valley continues the work with strategic alignment of industry sectors like health care where there is need for highly qualified professionals, while providing an opportunity for low-income students to break the cycle of poverty.

The health care industry has been a major focus for the organization for good reason. According to the California Health Commission 2017, California ranks 46th out of the 50 states in nurse ratios. Demand for primary care providers will increase by up to 17 percent by 2030, while 38 percent of primary care physicians are age 55 or older and are expected to reduce their hours or retire within the next decade. This will leave California with an estimated shortage of 4,100 primary care clinicians in 2030. Further, the Inland Empire and Central Valley, two of the largest and fastest growing regions of the state, have ratios of primary care physicians far below national standards. The Inland Empire has 42 percent of the primary care doctors recommended by the Council on Graduate Medical Education, and the Central Valley has just 35 percent.

In order to meet the needs of the future in health care, OFCV focuses on aligning efforts with education, business and community. OFCV provides local students with paid undergraduate summer internships in health care fields; supports the local school districts by providing health career awareness for high school and middle school students; provides a platform through the Healthcare Industry Councils for business and education to continue collaboration; to disburse scholarships to local students studying health-related fields; and provides counseling and additional support services to assure that students are prepared for college and career success.

For more information, collaboration with partners, scholarship program or how to get involved, please visit onefuturecv.org.