Small City, Big Blueprint: The Cabinet's 2025 Annual Report
March 2, 2026 - The Poughkeepsie Children's Cabinet has released its 2025 Annual Report, documenting a year of growth in which Poughkeepsie's cradle-to-career model earned national attention while deepening its roots at home.
In her letter, Executive Director Jill Gomez reflects on what the year demonstrated: "Cradle-to-career strategies are often associated with big cities, and this year Poughkeepsie made a strong case that they belong in small cities too."
The year's defining milestone came in October, when the Cabinet was selected as one of just seven communities nationwide, from a field of more than 1,700, to join the Wallace Foundation's Advancing Opportunities for Adolescents Initiative. The multi-year commitment is expected to bring an estimated $5 to $6 million to Poughkeepsie to expand interest-driven career exploration and enrichment opportunities for youth.
That selection was one of several signs that Poughkeepsie's approach is being seen and studied. In April, Geoffrey Canada, founder of the Harlem Children's Zone, drew approximately 200 community members to Morse Elementary for "Putting Kids First: Unlocking the Promise of Poughkeepsie," and Harvard's EdRedesign Lab published a spotlight on the Cabinet's work. In September, Jill Gomez joined a national panel at the StriveTogether Cradle to Career Network Convening; meanwhile, the Cabinet's statewide advocacy through the NYS Place-Based Policy Coalition contributed to landmark wins, including Universal School Meals and $400 million in new child care assistance funding.
On the Northside of Poughkeepsie, five residents completed a six-week training to become Community Ambassadors for the HUD-funded Choice Neighborhoods planning process. Because the Ambassadors live in the buildings they surveyed, they built trust first; the result was a 70% household response rate on the Resident Needs Assessment across MLK Jr. Garden Apartments and Thurgood Marshall Terrace. In August, they helped unveil the Poughkeepsie Choice brand, created in partnership with residents themselves.
Read the complete 2025 Annual Report below to explore how collaborative action is building pathways to success for every child in Poughkeepsie, from cradle to career.
