BUILDING A RESILIENT COMMUNITY
Excel Together is a community initiative to
empower all individuals to reach for and attain greater opportunity, provide employers with a productive and engaged workforce, and
position Greater Philadelphia for increased economic prosperity.
Our initial goal: transforming opportunities for 100,000 people in Greater Philadelphia.
Personal opportunity and community prosperity within Greater Philadelphia are being challenged by widespread, long-term economic trends collectively called the Future of Work: loss of middle-wage jobs; low attachment between workers and employers; technology displacement of jobs; globalization; and more. COVID has exacerbated these issues and added potentially long-term high unemployment to the mix.
Excel Together helps individuals of all ages and educational backgrounds build key High Performance skills that are valuable in education, work, and life, regardless of professional path. These High Performance skills include college-level quantitative reasoning, workplace literacy, problem-solving strategies and mindsets, independent learning skills, persistence, and self-efficacy.
By building lifelong learning competencies, transferable skills, and self-efficacy, individuals and the community will have the resiliency needed to thrive now and in the future.
HIGH PERFORMANCE, FOR EVERYONE
Excel Together introduces the CSM Course and CSM Certificate of High Peformance as a community-wide standard for key skills needed to thrive in school, college, work, and life.
UNIVERSALLY VALUABLE
While every job requires different specific skills, the High Performance competencies built by the CSM Course and certified by the CSM Certificate are a universal foundation for excellence for everyone, from frontline employees to executives in all industry.
UNIVERSALLY ATTAINABLE
The CSM Course is the first instructional technology to simultaneously address academic skills and how people learn, act and feel, and to instill key personal mindsets and behaviors. The CSM Course is effective for people at all levels (including low-literacy adults), while providing even people with college degrees with an efficient skills boost.
UNIVERSALLY AVAILABLE
Excel Together will work with schools, libraries, adult education and workforce development programs, public housing, workplaces and more to ensure that everyone in the community has access to the CSM Course with optimal technology and coaches. CSM can be accessed on any internet-enabled device, and is very inexpensive.
"It was a rewarding experience to complete the program.
As an employer, one can have absolute confidence that a team member who has successfully completed the CSM course will have a solid foundation upon which to build their job-specific knowledge and skills.
It has the potential to affect the team culture, and strengthen the foundation of the enterprise."
Don Fox, CEO, Firehouse Subs
COMMUNITY BENEFITS
Excel Together will work together with schools, colleges, adult education, workforce development, employers, churches, unions, civic organizations, and more to encourage and enable people throughout the Greater Philadelphia region – across all ages, career paths, and educational backgrounds – to take the CSM Course and earn their CSM Certificate. The benefits will be broadly felt.
EMPLOYERS: A BETTER WORKFORCE TODAY AND FOR TOMORROW
Employers will increase adoption of the CSM Certificate in the workforce pipeline by advertising that jobs are “CSM Certificate Preferred”, and can upskill their existing workforce with the CSM Course.
COLLEGES: A MORE PREPARED STUDENT BODY
Colleges will provide credit or placement for the CSM Certificate, leading to incoming students with the math and literacy skills, independent learning, and persistence to succeed at rigorous postsecondary programs.
SCHOOLS AND TRAINING PROGRAMS: A NEW WORKFORCE CERTIFICATION
With the CSM Certificate widely recognized by employers and colleges, schools and training programs will incorporate the CSM Course into new and existing programs so students graduate with a credential for future success.
INDIVIDUALS: NEW SKILLS AND HOPE
Individuals will have an inexpensive, short duration, supportive and attainable path to develop and demonstrate their High Performance skills and build their confidence, transforming their career and educational opportunities.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: A TRANSFORMED WORKFORCE
Greater Philadelphia will grow a world-class workforce and a reputation for High Performance to spur economic growth and retain and attract employers.
BUILDING COMMUNITY
Excel Together Greater Philadelphia unites family, friends, neighbors and coworkers – all of us earning the CSM Certificate together, in unprecedented scale across the community, and reaping its benefits. This is possible because, uniquely, the CSM Certificate is universally attainable and universally available, yet also of universal value.
By encouraging individuals, organizations, and institutions to commit to a common goal, apply the required effort, and share the accomplishment, Excel Together builds mutual respect and a lasting feeling of community.
JOIN EXCEL TOGETHER
GREATER PHILADELPHIA!
We're looking for partners and enthusiastic participants of all kinds. Do you want to:
earn your own CSM Certificate?
use the CSM Certificate in hiring or upskilling?
incorporate CSM into your school or training program?
help fund Excel Together Greater Philadelphia?
work or volunteer for Excel Together?
Become a CSM Coach to help other community members?
something else altogether?
We're excited to hear from you.
FAQ
WHAT CONSTITUTES GREATER PHILADELPHIA?
Excel Together works in the Greater Philadelphia area, including:
Philadelphia County, PA
Bucks County, PA
Chester County, PA
Montgomery County, PA
Delaware County, PA
Camden County, NJ
Burlington County, NJ
Gloucester County, NJ
Salem County, NJ
New Castle County, DE
WHAT IS HIGH PERFORMANCE?
High Performance is:
college-level quantitative reasoning
strong workforce literacy
learning strategies and mindset
problem-solving abilities
attention to detail
persistence
an intention to excel founded in deep self-confidence
HOW DOES EXCEL TOGETHER HELP UNDERSERVED PEOPLE?
Excel Together enables everyone to inexpensively and quickly earn a credential that gains concrete hiring and educational benefits, including people with low educational attainment and bad past experiences with education. Because the whole Greater Philadelphia community is earning certificates together, the CSM Certificate remains an aspirational and meaningful credential instead of becoming a deprecated certification.