[CHEYENNE, WY, April 23, 2025] Climb Wyoming, a statewide nonprofit that helps low-income single moms overcome poverty through free job training and placement, has been named one of the leading programs in the U.S. helping parents and children thrive.

Ascend at the Aspen Institute selected Climb to participate in its 2Gen Accelerator Community, a group of 15 organizations from across the country with unique and innovative methods for influencing the next generation.

“Climb Wyoming’s commitment to helping both children and parents is truly exceptional,” says Marjorie Sims, Managing Director of Ascend at the Aspen Institute. “We recognized Climb as a member of our 2Gen Accelerator Community because of its strong infrastructure, measurable impact, and integrated focus on parental employment and mental health. Climb’s whole-family approach – backed by robust data and evaluation – sets it apart. We’re proud to support their work as they scale and reach thousands more families. Ascend looks forward to continuing this partnership and sharing Climb’s promising practices with family well-being leaders nationwide.”

“It’s profound that Climb graduates have forged a path that will now help other families and communities in need across the U.S.”

Katie Hogarty, Climb Wyoming CEO

 

As part of Ascend’s select cohort, Climb is participating in national-level conversations to advance poverty alleviation best practices while sharing tools and resources so more families nationwide can reach economic security. Other participating programs have locations in Massachusetts, Kansas, Ohio, Washington, D.C., Colorado, Texas, Maryland, Minnesota, Tennessee, Illinois, and Mississippi, each with missions that serve and impact parents and children.

“Families across the U.S. are really struggling right now, and we’re honored to work with moms as they strengthen their families and communities within and beyond Wyoming,” says Climb Wyoming’s CEO Katie Hogarty. “With almost 40 years of experience, we know that investing in parents profoundly affects children. Climb has so much to share from our many years listening to and working alongside moms that can be transformational across generations.”

One of Climb’s unique contributions to national conversations on family well-being is a community-based approach that seeks input and collaboration from employers, community partners, and parents to strengthen communities together.

Climb’s pairing of job training with mental health services also creates generational impact, with participants receiving both individual and group counseling with licensed therapists during the program to develop powerful new tools for long-term employment success.

80% of Climb’s participants report significant improvement in mental health symptoms after completing the 12-week program.

 

“At Climb, moms practice the executive functioning skills we all need to be successful in work and life, including planning and decision-making, organization, time management, and emotional regulation,” Hogarty says. “The trauma and stress of poverty can disrupt these skills, but there’s a lot of healing that can happen when they are built up.”

Focusing on the intersection of employment and mental health means that 80% of Climb’s participants report significant improvement in mental health symptoms after completing the 12-week program.

Hogarty says Climb graduates also more than double their incomes two years post-program. As graduates achieve economic mobility, Climb data show that 79% reduce their food stamp use, and the State of Wyoming has saved over $120 million from decreased dependence on public assistance programs among Climb graduates.

“The motivation and determination Climb moms bring into the program propels them forward in a way that totally re-shapes their children’s futures,” says Ronn Jeffrey, a parenting facilitator, family counselor, and juvenile court judge who has worked with Climb groups for more than a decade.

Since 1986, Climb has served over 12,000 moms at its six locations across the state, impacting the lives of more than 25,000 children.

Climb graduate Artesia completed the program more than a decade ago and was selected by Ascend as a Parent Advisor for the 2Gen Accelerator Community. At Climb, Artesia says she got connected to resources that helped her balance raising her daughter and reaching her career aspirations. Since Climb, Artesia has advanced in a public health career and is now the Clinic Director at a nonprofit healthcare provider in Cheyenne.

“I feel honored to be a role model for my daughter and niece,” Artesia says. “It’s amazing to see how my hard work to reach my goals has inspired and motivated them to pursue their college dreams. It’s incredibly rewarding to set such a strong example for them.”

For Hogarty, the Ascend recognition is a way for Climb to amplify the hard work that Artesia and other Climb graduates have put into changing their lives through the Climb program.

“Climb’s core program components have developed over the past four decades by listening to women who are bravely building better lives for themselves and their children,” says Hogarty. “It’s profound that Climb graduates have forged a path that will now help other families and communities in need across the U.S.”

To see tools and resources created for Ascend at the Aspen Institute’s 2Gen Accelerator Community, visit climbwyoming.org/leadingpractices.

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