The Disrupting Poverty Conference: Rise Together is hosted every two years by Economic Mobility Pathways (EMPath). It brings together people doing this work across the country — comparing notes, sharing models, and pushing the field forward. Last week, Omega CDC had a seat at that table.
Rachel Ward on the National Stage
Omega CDC President Rachel Ward opened the week as a panelist for Building Futures Together: Intergenerational Approaches to Economic Mobility, joining leaders from the Ascend at Aspen Institute and the WONDER Foundation. The conversation centered on what whole-family economic mobility actually looks like in practice — work Omega CDC has been doing in Northwest Dayton for years.
Roe Woods and Her Team Present the Omega Model
Managing Director of Family Programming Roe Woods co-led a session with three members of her team titled Intersectional Approaches to Poverty Disruption: Community-Driven Economic Development in Action. They walked the room through the Omega CDC model — the wraparound programming, the cross-sector partnerships, the data practices, and the families at the center of it all.
Roe Woods
Managing Director, Family Programming
Eleanor Newman-Bumpus
Workforce Coordinator
Sha’Kiesha Thompson
Omega CDC Family
Mackenzie Ragland
Family Support Coach
Here are the core principles they shared.
Principle 01
Families navigate multiple layers at once — programming should too.
Education, employment, housing, health, and systems don’t operate in isolation for families, so support can’t either. Omega CDC builds programming that accounts for the full picture of what a family is carrying, so the help they receive matches the lives they are actually living.
Principle 02
The family is the unit of change, not the individual.
Omega CDC’s model is built around whole-family thinking — 2-Gen financial literacy classes, family coaching alongside workforce development, and programming that accounts for the full household. When the whole family is supported, the progress families make has somewhere to land and grow.
Principle 03
Coaching starts with where families want to go.
The Omega model uses tools like Mobility Mentoring® and Bridge Assessments to center the family’s own vision for their future. Coaches walk alongside families toward goals the families themselves define, building confidence and capacity at every step.
Principle 04
Data is how we listen.
Omega tracks outcomes across employment placements, educational completion, Empath Bridge Scores, income assessments, and family retention. That data isn’t just for reporting — it’s how the team stays accountable to families. When outcomes show a pattern, programming adjusts. Every data point represents a real family moving forward.
Principle 05
Strong communities are built through strong ecosystems.
Omega CDC coordinates a network of partners — Goodwill Easter Seals, Dayton Metro Library, local schools, employer partners with guaranteed interview pipelines, courts, and Preschool Promise — so families have access to connected support. Each partner brings what they do best, and Omega holds the full picture together.
“The model is replicable because it’s rooted in principles, not programs.”
For Practitioners and Community Members: A Few Questions Worth Sitting With
The Omega CDC model didn’t come from a textbook. It came from paying close attention to what families in Northwest Dayton actually need. If you do this work — in any capacity — these questions are worth taking back to your own context.
Reflect
- Who defines success in your current model — your organization, your funders, or the families you serve? What would change if the family’s vision drove the goal?
- Which partners are missing from your ecosystem? What becomes possible for the people you serve when that relationship exists?
- Is your programming designed for individuals or for households? What would it look like to expand the unit of support?
- What does your data actually measure — and is it telling you what families need, or only what funders want to see?
- Where in your work does trust need to come before programming? What would it take to build that first?
Keep the Conversation Going
Omega CDC went to Boston to share what has been built here and to learn from people doing this work across the country. What Roe, Eleanor, Sha’Kiesha, and Mackenzie brought to that stage came from Northwest Dayton — and everything they learned comes back to the families we serve.
We are proud of this team.
Interested in learning more about the Omega CDC model, exploring a partnership, or bringing this work to your community? We would love to hear from you.
