To Our TWC Community

Since our founding in 1975, The Washington Center has served as a vital bridge between higher education and the professional world. This past year gave us a powerful opportunity to reflect on the more than 71,000 alumni whose lives and careers have been transformed by our mission.

As we celebrated our 50th anniversary, we also confronted a modern crisis in career access. Last year, 8 million people in the U.S. sought internships, yet only 3.7 million quality roles existed. As economic shifts and AI-driven automation shrink traditional pathways, the "experience gap" is widening, particularly for talented students who lack the financial flexibility to pursue traditional opportunities.

The past two years have also brought challenges we did not anticipate. Federal funding cuts tested our organization – as they have so many organizations. Yet we prevailed, thanks to the commitment of our staff, partners, and supporters, and we emerged more resilient and more focused on the success of our students and our mission.

In response to the gap in access, TWC drew on five decades of expertise to help build a more equitable workforce. In 2025, we took bold steps to dismantle these barriers:

• Short-Term Immersive Pathways: We launched accelerated programs that let young professionals build high-impact skills and connect with top employers without the burden of long-term relocation.

• Place Based Innovations: We debuted our first regional partnership with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, bringing TWC's curriculum directly to students in their home state.

• Strategic Growth: With the success of North Carolina, we are expanding our short-term programming beyond Washington, DC to Pennsylvania, Colorado, and Florida. These programs focus on career-connected skills, AI policy/guardrails and American competitiveness as well as on rural policy and career pathways, ensuring students can apply their skills in a technology-driven landscape.

As we look back on 2025, we are filled with pride and gratitude. Because of your steadfast support, 80% of our students received the financial support they needed to pursue their goals. The pace of change in the workforce is accelerating, but TWC remains as resilient and mission-driven today as it was in a one-room office more than fifty years ago.

The work does not stop here. By ensuring quality internships are available, scaling  place-based programs and deepening our relationships with university partners, nonprofits, employers, and emerging industries, TWC is evolving into a lifelong engine for career agility. Our goal is to ensure that every student is equipped not just for a first job, but for a lifetime of leadership in a world we can only begin to imagine.

Thank you for helping us build the next fifty years of impact.

With gratitude,