ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE), the nation's largest professional organization committed to the advancement of education that prepares youth and adults for successful careers, and Rhodes Branding, a strategic branding and marketing agency serving education exclusively, today announced a collaboration to make the CLNA Strategy Lab™ available to ACTE members across the country.
Under Perkins V, every local CTE provider must complete a Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment (CLNA) at least every two years, a process that shapes funding decisions, program priorities, and how CTE serves students, families, and employers. For many CTE directors, however, the CLNA remains a challenging requirement that can become an administrative burden rather than an opportunity for strategic planning.
The CLNA Strategy Lab™ was built to change that. Developed by Rhodes Branding alongside CTE directors across the country, the Lab is a structured community engagement process that helps education leaders gather meaningful input from students, families, educators, industry partners, and community stakeholders and translate that input into a strategic roadmap to drive program improvement, strengthen labor market alignment, and build lasting community engagement for CTE.
“ACTE is always looking for ways to connect our members to practical tools that address the challenges they face every day,” said LeAnn Curry, Executive Director of ACTE. “The CLNA Strategy Lab complements the resources and guidance ACTE already provides by helping CTE leaders turn the CLNA from a compliance requirement into an opportunity to engage their communities, identify priorities and strengthen programs. We’re excited to partner with Rhodes Branding to help leaders translate that insight into action and better outcomes for students.”
"The CLNA is the single best opportunity a CTE leader has to bring their community to the table and build a shared vision for what career and technical education can be," said Dan Wyar, President of Rhodes Branding. "This partnership with ACTE means every CTE professional now has a proven process for turning their CLNA into a powerful strategic planning tool."
What ACTE members can expect
As part of the collaboration, ACTE and Rhodes Branding will offer members:
- The CLNA Readiness Self-Assessment — a free diagnostic tool that helps CTE directors evaluate how prepared their district is for the next CLNA cycle and where a more structured engagement process could strengthen their approach.
- A free educational webinar — an ACTE-hosted session led by Rhodes Branding on how to run a more strategic CLNA stakeholder engagement process, open to all members. Register here.
- Access to the CLNA Strategy Lab — Rhodes Branding's full facilitated engagement, including workshop facilitation, participant workbooks, and post-workshop deliverables that turn community input into actionable priorities. ACTE members receive priority placement on the facilitation calendar.
The collaboration builds on Rhodes Branding's growing body of work in the CTE space, including community engagement initiatives with district CTE programs nationwide and its award-winning CTE awareness campaigns. Rhodes Branding will also deliver a Wednesday workshop, "Vision to Action: Mastering Brand Strategy and Marketing for CTE," during ACTE's CareerTech VISION 2026 & Centennial Celebration on Dec. 1.
ACTE members can learn more and take the free CLNA Readiness Self-Assessment at rhodesbranding.com/clna or through ACTE's Perkins V resource pages at acteonline.org.
About ACTE
Proudly celebrating its 100th anniversary, the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) is the nation's largest not-for-profit association committed to the advancement of education that prepares youth and adults for successful careers. ACTE represents the community of CTE professionals, including educators, administrators, researchers, school counselors, guidance and career development professionals, and others at all levels of education. ACTE is committed to excellence in providing advocacy, public awareness and access to resources, professional development and leadership opportunities. Learn more at acteonline.org.
About Rhodes Branding
Rhodes Branding is a strategic branding and marketing agency exclusively serving the education sector. Partnering with CTE leaders across the U.S., Rhodes Branding helps its partners clarify their story, engage their communities, and achieve measurable results. The agency's work has reached more than 5.1 million students and earned national recognition from the American Advertising Federation, Telly Awards, and others.
