We are thrilled to share some exciting news! United to Learn has been recognized as a finalist in the Innovation in Education Category for D CEO’s 2025 Nonprofit and Corporate Citizenship Awards. This recognition highlights the work we are doing alongside Dallas ISD to bridge gaps and accelerate student achievement.
The D CEO Awards celebrate organizations making a significant difference in the community. Being named a finalist is a tremendous honor and a testament to the collective efforts of our community-powered approach.
Our Innovation in Education nomination recognizes our work creating a Thriving Campus Model Rubric. Developed in collaboration with McKinsey & Company, this tool is a first-of-its-kind quantitative tool for measuring campus climate and culture. It provides school leadership and educators with actionable metrics across five critical domains.
Lauren Brzeski, U2L’s Social Emotional Learning Director, spearheaded this initiative. Brzeski notes, “It’s been affirming in a lot of ways to analyze campus by campus and trends on a wider scale and tighten other programming to achieve social and emotional learning by definition of the Thriving Campus Model Rubric”.
Research consistently shows that positive school environments—where students feel safe, supported, and engaged—directly correlate with improved attendance, reduced behavioral problems, and higher academic achievement. Similarly, when educators work in positive, supportive environments, they experience less burnout and are more likely to remain in the profession, addressing the critical educator retention crisis facing Dallas schools.
The rubric creates a measurable framework that correlates with academic outcomes and teacher retention. As Abby Williams emphasizes, this rubric allows us to “quantify the impact of foundational campus supports and invest with precision where it matters most”. She calls it a “return on investment framework for culture”, one that links staff wellness, student belonging, and schoolwide systems directly to academic outcomes.
The rubric serves as the foundation for our Culture Corps program, which supplements campus environments through targeted interventions. Our structured implementation approach includes:
- Connecting with and developing principals
- Determining current campus state
- Designing individualized campus proposals
- Implementing targeted programming
- Reviewing data and adjusting supports as needed
Our Thriving Campus Model has already yielded remarkable results, showing meaningful positive change in Dallas schools by effectively strengthening campus climate and culture and supporting student and educator wellbeing. Specific growth metrics include:
- 75% of Team Thrive Campuses are progressing from Tiers 2 and 3 to Tier 1 in implementing supports for a positive campus culture.
- 25% increase in Staff Modeling of positive behavior
- 17% improvement in adult behavior and cultural competence.
- 15% growth in Student Support systems.
The impact is evident in specific success stories. At Oran M. Roberts Elementary, a first-year principal, supported by U2L, led her campus to achieve “all green” ratings on the Dallas ISD Climate Survey for the first time in 12 years. She gained renewed confidence and energy through U2L’s support.
Through empathy interviews and value-setting efforts, H.I. Holland Elementary grew to Proficiency in 14 of 15 indicators across all domains. Arcadia Park achieved Exemplary status in student voice and engagement via a Student Ambassadors program.
Anne Wicks of the Bush Institute and a U2L Board member highlights the potential, noting that U2L’s approach could be a “game-changer for schools” by building essential capacity in adults to improve student outcomes. Policy alone does not improve student learning, but strong teams of adults do exactly that, and the United to Learn team is directly building this essential capacity on some of Dallas’ highest need campuses through the Thriving Campus program.
This recognition as a D CEO finalist validates our innovative approach and the dedication of our extensive collaborative ecosystem, which includes Dallas ISD, corporate and financial partners, numerous community organizations, and independent schools. Together, we are creating a community-wide investment in educational excellence that prepares the next generation of Dallas talent for future success.
We are incredibly proud of this recognition and grateful to our partners and the entire United to Learn community for making this work possible!