John Henry
A panel consisting of, from left, David Saenz of the Fort Worth school district, Troy Johnson of UT Arlington, Jeremy Smith of the Rainwater Charitable Foundation, David Nolet of JP Morgan Chase, and Natalie Young Williams of the T3 discuss the importance of partnerships in advancing the mission of the T3.
The adage “it takes a village to raise a child” has been poisoned with the pollution of politics, which can have the kind of impact acid rain never dreamed of on a forest.
However, reality is clear on this: It takes good friends and kind strangers to reach our full potential. In turn, when we reach our full potential, the community at large, or region, reaches its full potential and, in this case, its full economic vitality.
The nonprofit Tarrant To & Through, better known by its shorthand, the T3 Partnership, founded in 2020 under the leadership of Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, at that time the organization’s CEO, is that friend to so many high school students in Fort Worth and Tarrant County who don’t have the guidance or experience to recognize a career pathway to make a viable living after secondary school.
An “impact network” was the term they were using at an assembly of stakeholders and very important people on Wednesday at Texas Wesleyan’s Martin Center, a gathering to recognize the importance of the signature investment JP Morgan Chase has made in the T3 Partnership, as well as the company’s example for other others to follow.
The total is a $2 million multiyear gift, made in 2020 and late 2021, the largest in the firm’s 149-year history in Fort Worth. The Rainwater Charitable Foundation has also been in on the ground floor of the T3.
It’s an investment in students and designed to bridge the gap in the ready workforce companies need and Fort Worth and Tarrant County lack.
“It’s philanthropy at a level we have never given before,” said David Nolet, managing director and market leader for JP Morgan Chase in Tarrant County. “Our hope is that other corporations that are here will carry it on.
“At the end of the day, we’re training people for jobs at their companies. We’ve got to have a more skilled workforce that will make [companies] more successful and drive dollars into the economy.”
Chase conducted an analysis five years ago that identified jobs here in the health care, manufacturing, and aerospace industries that have gone unfilled simply because would-be workers don’t know about careers in those fields.
And many don’t require a four-year degree, but rather certification through training. An 18-year-old can make $40,000-$60,000 right out of high school in these jobs, Nolet noted.
“That’s a game changer for many,” he said.
“It’s the power of partnership,” said Natalie Young Williams, Parker’s successor as T3’s CEO, on the job for less than a year. “Chase has been one of the individual businesses that came on board early on and invested heavily in the work we want to do. Today not only commemorates that partnership but also shows the power of other partnerships. When the business community comes, so to other ISDs, higher education, and philanthropy. It’s a powerful impact network.”
The T3’s first district partner was the Fort Worth school district, where all of the district’s juniors and seniors can become “T3 Scholars” by signing the “partnership pledge.” More than 8,000 have done so.
As T3 Scholars, students are introduced to high-impact supports, including additional college and career advising, scholarships, developmental mentorships, job opportunities, and overall case management.
The T3’s College Adviser Corps is one program Chase’s investment is supporting. The program puts recent TCU graduates on campuses to advise students on college opportunities.
One of those is a Polytechnic High School student from Africa who received the Community Scholars award from TCU. That will essentially pay for her tuition at TCU. Without her adviser from TCU she might not have known the inroad existed.
In attendance, not surprisingly, was the mayor, who said on the campaign trail last year that the T3 would remain firmly on her radar even if she won.
The mission is too important for people and the city and county, she said, citing that 14% of low-income students made it to a two-year or four-year school post-secondary. That fact, she emphasized, could not be considered a success under any perspective.
“Our students in Tarrant County and Fort Worth simply deserved better,” Parker said. “The business community was an integral piece of that that was missing. The greatness of Tarrant County and Fort Worth is simply not possible without a focus on students who sit in those classrooms. For a long time, I think these students felt like no one cared what their pathway was out of high school. No one was asking the right questions. Fort Worth in many ways had turned its back on what it looked like to have a thriving workforce and how important Fort Worth residents and students were to that future.
“T3 and partnership has changed that.”