Arizona trails behind nearly every state in the nation when it comes to academic achievement. Community experts agree that, if we don’t improve our education system, we’ll suffer the consequences economically and socially for generations to come.
While change doesn’t come easily to the public education system, some states have found success with the Collective Impact model. In it, core groups of community leaders come together to coordinate improvements at every stage of a young person’s life, from cradle to career. On February 12, a panel of local and national education experts will discuss systems change and the collective impact model.
Presented by Arizona Public Media (AZPM) and the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona (CFSAZ), “Moving Students Forward: A Community Interactive on Education,” takes place February 12, 2015, 6:15 – 8:00 p.m. at Rincon High School Auditorium, 421 N. Arcadia Street, Tucson. The event is free and open to the public, but seating is limited. Reserve your tickets at https://community.azpm.org/interactive/.
“Education is a top priority for the state of Arizona,” said Jack Gibson, director and general manager of AZPM. “We hope this event fosters a dialogue and, eventually, positive change for Arizona students.”
Clint Mabie, president and CEO of CFSAZ, added, “Education is an issue we all need to collaborate on to move the needle forward. This event is an important step in creating a structure for this collaboration to begin.”
Moderated by AZPM’s Lorraine Rivera, the panel includes:
• Jeff Cohen, M.A., M.B.A., Director at FSG, a national consulting group specializing in the Collective Impact process. He works with communities in the lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas, bringing together college presidents and district superintendents to develop a Collective Impact initiative to improve postsecondary attainment rates.
• Jeff Edmondson, Managing Director of StriveTogether, a subsidiary of KnowledgeWorks, helps communities unite stakeholders around shared goals, measures and results in education. He is a social entrepreneur with the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation.
• Angelo Gonzales, Ph.D., Executive Director of Mission:Graduate, the StriveTogether education partnership in Central New Mexico, which is committed to producing 60,000 new graduates with college degrees and certificates by 2020.
• Amanda Kucich, M.P.A., Senior Director of Youth Development at the United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona, and the lead staff developing a cradle-to-career Collective Impact partnership in Pima County.
• Jennifer Pullen, M.S., research economist in the Economic and Business Research Center at the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management, and an expert in data collection and analysis. She is project manager and analyst for Making Action Possible (MAP), a new community indicators dashboard that describes a broad range of socio-economic and quality-of-life issues pertaining to Southern Arizona, including education.
• Manny Valenzuela, Ed.D., Superintendent of Sahuarita Unified School District, coordinates a strategic partnership among business and educational entities in the region to support common planning and shared action initiatives. He serves on the Governor’s Commission for Postsecondary Education and chairs the Superintendents’ Group for Pima County.
About Community Interactive
Community Interactive is a series of engaging and informative live events addressing issues Southern Arizonans face, including poverty, the border, education and the arts. Produced in partnership by AZPM and CFSA, each event is free and open to the public and offers an opportunity to participate in a solution-driven conversation.
About AZPM Arizona Public Media is a member-supported, non-profit media organization that serves all of Southern Arizona. AZPM includes six public television channels and three radio stations, including PBS 6, PBS Kids and NPR 89.1. AZPM produces award-winning content from its digital studios on the campus of the University of Arizona and is provided as a community service and educational resource. For more information about AZPM, including program schedules and Video-on-Demand offerings, go to azpm.org.
Arizona Public Media® and AZPM® are registered trademarks of the Arizona Board of Regents.
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About CFSAZ
The Community Foundation of Southern Arizona provides expertise and skilled guidance to help donors give back to the community in ways that are aligned with their charitable and financial goals. Donors establish charitable funds that join hundreds of other funds under one organizational roof and, every year, portions of each fund are used to make grants, scholarships and award. For more information, visit www.cfsaz.org.
CONTACT:
Romi Wittman
Chief Communications Officer
(520) 621-0763
RWittman@azpm.org
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