Invitation to Raise Your Voice: October 2014 All Hands Raised Partnership Update

Posted on October 21, 2014 in CEO Updates

Dear Friends –

Last week the All Hands Raised Partnership Leadership Advisory Council held its fall meeting. One of the major topics of conversation was the establishment of a fifth Collaborative focused on the transition from high school to college and career. We are exploring the value the All Hands Raised Partnership can add to the existing efforts in the community.

Over the past several weeks a task force of key leaders chaired by Michael Alexander, President and CEO of the Urban League of Portland, and Dave Underriner, CEO of Providence, has met to provide strategic feedback and insight to focus the work of the Collaborative as it takes shape. They are guided by local data that show:

  • Only 30.5% of Multnomah County high school graduates who enroll in any kind of post-secondary education complete that degree within time-and-a-half (e.g. for a bachelor’s degree 4+2 = 6 years);
  • In high schools with high rates of students who qualify for free and reduced lunch, there is a low rate of student completion of federal financial aid forms (FAFSAs), which are required to be eligible for financial aid;
  • For those with a high school degree or less not working in a skilled labor position, their annual income is below the poverty line; and
  • Many of our local companies face a growing skilled labor shortage as a large portion of their workforce will retire over the next decade without an adequate talent pipeline to replace them.

In addition to the feedback received from the task force, my staff and I have done targeted outreach to more than 100 stakeholders who play a critical role in ensuring the success of students transitioning from high school to college and career. Our next step is to garner feedback from a broader swath of the community. As such, we are hosting two community forums to receive additional feedback that will help the task force as they finalize the direction of the shared work and identify key partners for this Collaborative:

  • Monday, October 27th from 8:00 to 9:30 a.m. at Marshall High School (3905 SE 91st, Portland). Click here to register.
  • Thursday, October 30th from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. at Providence Portland (4805 NE Glisan, Portland). Click here to register.

Finally, I hope you can join us on Friday, November 7th, for “Raising Our Hands: Aligned Action for Student Success,” where we will reflect on our challenges, dig into the work ahead, and take a moment to celebrate our shared accomplishments. The free morning program (8:00-11:00 a.m.) will be immediately followed by a City Club Friday Forum “Meeting Our Schools on Their Edges to Align Action” (11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.).

This is an exciting time in our shared work as we look to add valuable action at the end of the cradle to career continuum. We look forward to hearing your voice.

Sincerely,

Dan Ryan

PS – Last week members of the All Hands Raised Partnership traveled to San Diego for the national StriveTogether convening, where I accepted the 2014 Bill Henningsgaard Cradle to Career Champion Award on behalf of this community. With over 400 attendees from more than 50 cradle to career communities, the All Hands Raised Partnership of Multnomah County stood out for its national leadership in building a civic infrastructure for the long term, focusing on equity and being willing to make mistakes, own them, reflect, regroup and make adjustments as we keep improving.