Growing Inland Achievement (GIA) has received a $40,000 grant from Bank of America to support the launch of a new Business Education Network (BEN) in the Inland Empire.
This initiative aims to improve regional coordination between education institutions and employers, strengthen the college-to-career pipeline, and expand opportunities for students to access meaningful work-based learning experiences.
The grant aligns with GIA’s 2030 Strategic Plan, which outlines five cradle-to-career goals designed to increase educational attainment and economic mobility across Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. The fifth goal—strengthening pathways from education to employment—emerged directly from feedback gathered in 2024 from hundreds of education and business stakeholders, including members of the Inland Empire Economic Partnership (IEEP). Business leaders emphasized the need to better align educational programs with workforce demands, expand access to internships, and address the persistent mismatch between the skills graduates acquire and the competencies employers seek.
The Business Education Network will be developed in collaboration with IEEP, educational institutions, and local employers. By combining GIA’s role as a regional education convener with IEEP’s business and industry expertise, the partnership will work to build a coordinated and sustainable infrastructure for employer engagement, strengthen alignment between education and workforce systems, and expand access to high-impact work-based learning opportunities for Inland Empire students.
The initiative builds on GIA’s experience coordinating the #CaliforniansForAll College Corps program, which engages more than 400 students from the Inland Empire annually in service, skill-building, and career preparation. It also reflects insights from GIA’s College and Career Action Network Team, which has identified stronger employer engagement and clearer post-graduation transitions as key regional needs.
“Bank of America continues to be a valued partner in advancing educational and economic mobility in the Inland Empire,” said Dr. Ashish Vaidya, President and CEO of Growing Inland Achievement. “This grant allows us to strengthen the bridge between education and employment through cross-sector collaboration.”
For more information about GIA’s work to strengthen the Inland Empire’s talent pipeline, visit www.inlandempiregia.org.
