Whereopportunitytakesroot
Opportunity enables people to fulfill their highest potential.
To build choice-filled lives. Our work helps create access to opportunity so people and communities thrive. It is rooted in a simple idea: that people can accomplish extraordinary things when they have the encouragement and conditions to succeed.
The conditions that shape opportunity change over time. So we asked the question:
What does opportunity
mean today?
Our partners at Gallup asked the American people to share their insights and experience about opportunity in their lives and communities. This is what they had to say.
Lets go deeper...
67% of Americans
feel they can shape their own path, even when things are difficult.
Adults who feel they can shape their own path are more than twice as likely to be thriving and optimistic about their future.
About 7 in 10 adults
agree their community is worth investing in.
Americans remain
hopeful about the future
Americans believe opportunity can flourish in communities when those closest to the challenges are engaged in shaping solutions.
50% of adults
say their community is moving in a positive direction.
64% of adults
believe they have a great future ahead of them.
What creates or limits opportunity?
Agency is uneven
1 in 3
adults say they feel their lives are pushed by circumstances outside their control.
Participation gap
about 1 in 3
adults believe their ideas for improving their community would be heard and less than half feel motivated to engage.
Conditions impact outcomes
People in communities with strong social ties and economic conditions are more likely to feel in control of their lives and optimistic about their future.
The Walton Family Foundation invests for the long term to strengthen systems that expand opportunity—supporting local leadership, working alongside communities and helping lower barriers to participation and progress. We believe good ideas can come from anywhere and that lasting solutions take time. Here's how we put that into practice.
Access to quality education helps children thrive and strengthens communities for the future
A quality education opens doors for opportunity to flourish by inspiring hopefulness and resilience in our youth.
57% of adults
80% of adults
61% of adults
We work to expand access to high-quality education so more students—regardless of background—have the preparation, confidence and pathways to pursue their chosen futures. By investing in great schools, supporting educators and strengthening systems, we help ensure education opens doors to opportunity for every child.
Our vision is that all children, especially those in need, are thriving academically and socially and supported in finding their unique path to the careers and lives they choose. The foundation is:
Working to grow
and expand high-quality schools that support thriving youth.
Investing in teaching
tools and better classroom supports for teachers.
Helping school systems
spark, scale and sustain successful interventions so all students thrive.
Nature supports thriving, resilient communities
Opportunity is deeply connected to a healthy natural environment, because people rely on nature every day to sustain life.
Roughly 8 in 10
2 in 3 U.S. adults
57% of adults
The foundation helps create access to opportunity by partnering with people and communities that work with the power of nature to protect the water and natural systems we depend on every day. By following nature's lead, healthy ecosystems emerge—reducing risk, renewing resources and building resilience to allow communities to thrive over time.
We work with the power of nature to reduce the impacts of climate change on rivers, oceans and communities. Our goal is to:
Build the Case
for nature-based solutions for rivers and oceans.
Establish new models
and networks of support to protect river and ocean resources for future generations.
Push systems
to expand nature-based solutions with a focus on policies and financial models that are nature-positive.
Stronger communities support stronger pathways to opportunity
Opportunity grows when people can learn, earn and build full lives in the communities they call home.
44% of non-metro
Fewer than 1 in 4
The foundation invests in place-based solutions that strengthen communities, expand pathways from education to employment, support local economies and help residents build full lives where they live. In our Home Region Program, we support communities to create opportunity that is rooted, durable and shaped by those who call these places home.
Our vision is to help Northwest Arkansas be one of the most vibrant and welcoming communities in the nation. The foundation invests in:
Building Civic Infrastructure
for a strong and future-ready region, supporting systems that enable cities and people to thrive.
Enhancing Economic Opportunity
by improving access to resources that enable residents to thrive, build and contribute to a diversified and resilient economy.
Our vision in the Arkansas-Mississippi Delta that all residents have opportunities to access resources to learn, build assets and lead in their communities. Working with local leadership, the foundation invests in:
High-quality education
and youth engagement that open pathways to economic mobility for the region’s young people.
Helping residents
build and retain economic assets over time.
Meeting the moment
This Gallup research reveals a consistent truth: High-quality education, access to nature and strong community infrastructure shape how Americans experience opportunity at every level. When people have access to opportunity—and the ability to shape what comes next—they can build better futures for themselves and stronger, more resilient communities for everyone. That is how opportunity takes root. About us
“ It is not what you gather in life, it's what you scatter in life that tells the kind of life you have lived.
( ONE OF HELEN WALTON'S FAVORITE SAYINGS )
