Opportunity Nation

Opportunity Nation is a bipartisan, national coalition of more than 300 businesses, nonprofits, educational institutions and community leaders working to expand economic opportunity, particularly for young adults. Opportunity Nation seeks to close the opportunity gap by amplifying the work of its coalition members, advocating policy and private sector actions, and releasing the annual Opportunity Index, a composite measure at the state and county levels of 16 economic, educational and civic factors that foster opportunity.

Opportunity Nation’s guiding principle is that the zip code you are born into should not determine your chances in life. If the ability to move up the ladder of opportunity grinds to a halt, we are in grave danger of losing the best of America. 

Since its launch in 2011, Opportunity Nation has focused on driving the national dialogue on economic mobility and inequality away from divisive rhetoric and towards bipartisan and cross-sector solutions grounded in data. As part of this effort, Opportunity Nation has received over 1.5 billion media impressions and hosted three national summits for over 2,500 leaders and young adults with diverse co-conveners including TIME, US Chamber of Commerce Foundation, United Way Worldwide, and AARP.  Notable Summit speakers have included Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), Senator Rob Portman (R-OH), Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO), Governor Deval Patrick (D-MA), Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), NBC’s Chuck Todd, Blair Taylor, Chief Community Officer, Starbucks, Kristin Oliver, VP for People, Walmart, Michael Tipsord, Vice Chairman and President, State Farm, Pastor Rick Warren, Serena Williams, Jordin Sparks and many more.

Additionally, Opportunity Nation’s powerful network of individuals and organizations, includes:

• More than 300 Opportunity Nation coalition members led by a steering committee: America’s Promise Alliance, CFED, Employment Pathways Project, Seattle Colleges, Jobs for the Future, Jumpstart, Points of Light, World Vision, United Way Worldwide and Year Up
• More than 200 Opportunity Leaders in 45 states engaging their campuses and communities around Opportunity Nation’s goals and vision with 100 engaged through the last National Opportunity Summit
• A Leadership Council of 125 high-profile Americans representing business, higher education, community colleges and entertainment who lend their name and reputation to our collective work

In 2011, Opportunity Nation first released the Opportunity Index in partnership with Measure of America.  The 16 indicators in the Opportunity Index include the rate of disconnected youth, on-time high school graduation, unemployment, volunteering and percentage of residents with associates degrees or higher. The Opportunity Index provides annual rankings for all 50 states and Washington, DC and letter grades for over 2,600 counties. By providing a framework for community organizations, educational institutions, national, state and local policy makers, and businesses to track progress over time and to understand their role and impact across these three dimensions, the Opportunity Index inspires collaboration, action and dialogue.   

Opportunity Nation is a campaign of Be the Change, Inc.