June 2026

This spring, students in the Agua Fria Union High School District gained hands-on experience planning and supporting a community health fair through a partnership with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona (Arizona Blue) and CFA.

Working alongside professionals, students explored career opportunities, developed real-world skills, and helped connect community members to free health resources and screenings.

We're now helping create a roadmap to bring similar work-based learning opportunities to more students and communities across Arizona.

Informed by contributions and thought partnership from CFA and the Morrison Institute for Public Policy at Arizona State University, The State of Black Arizona (SBAZ) has released the 2026 Housing Report.

Drawing on data-driven and lived experiences of Black Arizonans, the report provides insights to help advance solutions to housing disparities across our state.

When more young people can succeed and more employers can find skilled workers, all Arizonans benefit. That’s why we are so grateful to Arizona Public Service (APS) for partnering with CFA for over 20 years to help prepare Arizona students for success and strengthen the workforce on which our state's future depends.

Through their generous support of initiatives like Arizona Pathways to Prosperity, APS is helping connect students to real-world learning experiences, expand awareness of career opportunities, and strengthen pathways into high-demand STEM fields, including energy, engineering, finance, health care, advanced manufacturing, and cybersecurity.

CFA congratulates APS on 140 years of serving Arizona and is truly grateful for APS’ partnership and shared commitment to ensuring a stronger, brighter future for the state we all call home. Together, we are helping create more opportunities for Arizona students while building the talent, innovation, and economic strength needed for communities across the state to thrive.

As Arizona continues to build a strong, competitive workforce, partnerships among education and industry leaders are helping drive innovations like My Skills Pocket — ensuring skills and learning are recognized wherever they happen and creating more pathways to success for learners, employers, and communities.

The vision behind My Skills Pocket, a digital wallet developed by ASU with support from CFA, is for individuals to store and share verified skills and credentials earned throughout their learning and career journeys in one easy-to-access place. Through a grant from Walmart, we partnered with Rio Salado College to pilot My Skills Pocket. Participants used the digital wallet to showcase their credentials and connect with employers through PipelineAZ, demonstrating how stronger connections between education and workforce systems can expand opportunity.

Stay tuned as we move into the second pilot and share more findings.

Congratulations to CFA Chair, Pres & CEO Dr. Sybil Francis on being named Education Forward Arizona's 2026 Luminary Award honoree. This recognition reflects Sybil's visionary leadership, her commitment to bringing Arizonans together around shared public values, and her lasting impact on our state's future. We are grateful to work alongside her every day and look forward to celebrating her leadership and contributions later this year.