DATA WALK | BLU Black Education Congress

What Happens When Community Meets Data

On April 22, 2026, the California Cradle-to-Career Data System (C2C) joined the BLU Educational Foundation’s 5^th Annual Black Education Congress in San Bernardino for a Data Walk and conversation centered on one question: What happens when community meets data?

Cradle-to-Career builds tools and resources to help Californians better understand education and workforce outcomes. After launching the Student Pathways Data Story, C2C’s first public tool, one message that came through clearly from communities is that people don’t just want access to data, they want to know how to use it.

For our very first Data Walk, Cradle-to-Career traveled to San Bernardino County to listen and learn, and explore data alongside educators, advocates, and community leaders from across the Inland Empire. While we came prepared to talk about foam boards and dashboards, we quickly learned the day was about much more than data. It was about community. It is about being invited to a space with its own culture, history, and relationships. 

During our conversation, community members shared that students in the Inland Empire may be having similar experiences, but it’s hard to see that in the data, advocating for the ability for side-by-side comparisons. People wanted to know what’s working for students “down the street from them,” to build and develop. In turn, education leaders agreed that sharing best practices for students in the Inland Empire is a shared responsibility and goal, and made commitments for continued collaboration across districts. 

We often talk about impact at scale. At this Data Walk, we saw what scale can look like. Not just building bigger systems or broader reach. But communities learning from one another, investing in what works, and building structures that can last.

We’re grateful to have been welcomed into the space to listen, learn, and continue building tools that support communities across California.