The Alliance for the American Dream, a network of communities, each anchored by a public research university, seeks to stabilize and expand the middle class in four communities across the US by providing access to capital and access to market for new ideas. The Alliance, comprised of ASU, The Ohio State University, University of Utah and University of Wisconsin-Madison, maintains the belief that the presence of a healthy and robust middle class makes it more likely that low-income individuals and households will successfully climb out of and remain out of poverty.

With an initial grant of $1.5 million, each university is working with their respective communities to catalyze and support ideas that seek to strengthen and grow the middle class. Through the implementation of these ideas, local households will experience greater upward mobility toward an expanded middle class. This can include solutions in areas such as education, entrepreneurship, housing, workforce development and healthcare.