2025 Collective Impact Report
Lead | Equip | Empower
COABE collaborates at the national, state, and locals levels to provide leadership, professional development, communication and advocacy to adult learners, educators and administrators. This report highlights the fields' extraordinary efforts and successes through 2025.
Lead
COABE provided over $800,000 in funding through awards and grants to the field in 2025!
With Generous Support from:
Lead
We lead by example, empowering our learners with the skills and confidence they need to seize opportunities. We equip them not just for today, but for the future they envision.
COABE provided over $800,000 in funding through awards and grants to the field in 2025!
Equip
We equip our educators with the tools and resources necessary to inspire transformation in every classroom, fueling a passion for lifelong learning.
4,263 Adult learners, teachers, administrators, and partners joined us in Dallas for our 2025 national conference!
Professional Development
Over 60,000 COABE members took part in 70 professional development webinars, equipping them for their journey through adult ed.
COABE’s LOCAL initiative is a professional development pathway that builds local leadership, strengthens programs, and connects adult education to the communities it serves.
Empower
We empower our members with the vision and strategies to innovate and implement change, building stronger, more adaptive institutions.
We offered our first national in-person Ambassador Training since 2019 at our second Students as Leaders Summit at the COABE National Conference.
150 new Ambassadors trained this year.
INVEST IN THE MIDWEST
9 STATES VISITED 4,000 MILES DRIVEN 1,240 MILES FLOWN
Over the summer of 2025 adult education was in danger of losing all federal funding. COABE hit the road to encourage programs, teachers and learners; meet with local, state and federal legislators; and collaborate with business partners to save adult ed.
We Serve...
82,653
Adult Educators
100K+
Active Members
100+
National Partners
50
State Partners
2,384
Local Programs
3.2M
Adult Learners
Advocacy Big Wins
66 Proclamations for Adult Education
75 Legislative Champions
283 Legislative visits
31 Community and school wide events
10 Press releases
18 Statewide social media campaigns
48 Adult Learner success stories
8 States increased state level funding
Together,
We Solve Big Problems
Helping local programs work more closely with local employers
Addressing adult learner retention issues in local programs
Advocating for additional funds at all levels
Advocating for access to digital devices and WiFi for adult learners
Providing targeted training and professional development
