In just three years, the Office of California Cradle-to-Career Data (C2C) expanded from having eight initial data partners submit data in 2023 to 16 data partners submitting data in 2026.
By: Belicia Smith, Executive Office Analyst
Key takeaways:
The increase from eight initial data partners to 16 data partners submitting data to C2C was possible with a few key factors. These factors will continue to be the blueprint of future achievements and insights the California Cradle-to-Career Data System will unlock:
- Having created a strong governance model that describes who gets to make decisions, how, and when set the foundation for decisions to be made quickly.
- Relationships built on trust and transparency successfully developed a robust data system with eight initial data partners submitting data to 16 data partners submitting data in the span of three years.
- Developing a secure and nimble data system that’s easily adaptable and allows for the data system to seamlessly ingest large amounts of data with ease.
- Both C2C and data partners technical teams have grown familiar with the nuances and complexities of the data submission process, to become a familiar annual routine.
The Office of Cradle-to-Career Data is bringing statewide data together to provide richer understandings of the many factors that shape the lives and paths of Californians everyday and over time. There is a rising call to better enable data-informed decision making and improving services by collecting and linking data, however working through the complexities and nuances of defining legal agreements, security, privacy, and ethical frameworks to share and link data is a significant undertaking. California has invested time in creating a foundation that enables clear and transparent processes to share data insights, holistically understand what shapes lived experiences, and inform decision making. With a few key ingredients, C2C has been able to define and cultivate a new reality of what data sharing looks and feels like.
Establishing Trust and Transparency Through Collaboration
In 2019, the California State Legislature passed SB 75 initiating an unprecedented design process to determine the purpose of the C2C, identify the data partners* and establish essential data points to be included in the data system. The 18-month planning process consisted of over 100 public meetings and over 200 hundred participants, including data partners, advocates, educators, researchers, and community members. Allowing for all stakeholders to be deeply immersed in this process led to the creation of a robust governance structure that aligns differing priorities, paving a way for clear decision making and execution for years to come. Throughout the 18 months, trust and transparency were two foundational principles baked in these collaborative efforts, which ultimately became the most fundamental and necessary values driving the work of the Office of Cradle-to-Career Data.
One Participation Agreement
In 2022, Executive Director Mary Ann Bates was hired as the inaugural Executive Director of C2C and the actual work of the office began. In addition to a clear governance structure, the planning process outlined and established the Participation Agreement (PA)*, the first foundational legal agreement that data partners would sign with C2C. The PA was signed by all data partners included in the planning process. Having all data partners sign one PA, or data sharing agreement, enables C2C to create data insights through the development of dashboards, query builders, and future research request process. One single PA agreement equips all 16 data partners with a complete and mutual understanding of the collaborative partnership, allows for clear and efficient decisions to be made, and promotes transparency and accountability at all levels.
By 2023, the data system was fully operating with legal agreements, security and privacy frameworks in place, and ready to ingest data. The very first initial data transfer included eight data partners submitting over ten years of historical data to C2C to ingest into the system. Having eight data partners submit data for C2C’s first data ingestion is a significant achievement and a reflection of the thoughtfulness of those who responded to big problems with creative solutions and maintaining transparency throughout the planning process. The submitted data spanned across multiple domains such as K-12 education data, data from public higher education segments (California State University, University of California, and California Community Colleges), earnings and workforce data, health care data, and social services take up data. For the next three years, C2C continued to build collaborative relationships with data partners built on trust and transparency and in 2026, 16 data partners submitted data to C2C, doubling the amount of data within the system.
Building a Nimble and Flexible System that Prioritizes Privacy and Security
The C2C Data System is a scalable, flexible, efficient, and traceable system, where the underlying functionalities of the data system positions C2C to link and store large quantities of data, and produce meaningful insights to inform decisions of students, educators, researchers, and legislatures. In the span of just three years, the data system significantly expanded and doubled in size, and now contains an extensive scope and breadth of data from 16 data partners.
The quality of the data system has been intentionally designed to be nimble and flexible while also ensuring the data within the system is safe, secure, and follows strict state, and federal security and privacy protocols. To proactively prepare for the future state of producing insights at scale through C2C’s research request process, C2C’s Data Infrastructure team has created a strong underlying foundation for the data system that has the flexibility to create custom queries and maintain a scalable system for cutting data reports in the near future.