Linking Learning to Life (LLL) was founded in 1997 as a partnership between the Burlington (VT) School District, the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce, and the University of Vermont. These entities were brought together by their shared mission to help all Burlington students successfully prepare for the future.

Original funding for the collaboration came through a federal School-to-Work Opportunities Act grant. The grant provided five years of seed funding to establish a collaboration and implement programs to support youth. When this funding ended, LLL merged with a regional school-to-work collaborative and expanded its services to begin serving all of the school districts in Chittenden County, Vermont. At this time, LLL became an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Since its inception, LLL has continued to grow and form new partnerships with regional entities around Vermont in an effort to replicate some of its programs statewide.

LLL manages multiple programs to increase students’ success and help them prepare for the future. Each LLL program fits into at least one of the “three C’s” that drive its work: Career, College, and Community.

• Career programs involve opportunities for career exploration, internships, and paid employment for students.
• College programs involve dual-enrollment opportunities, college exploration, and assistance for non-native English speakers in their preparation for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) exam.   
• Community programs involve community exploration, service learning, and youth leadership development.