GFE 12th Annual Conference

GFE’s 12th annual conference will delve into one of the central challenges facing the U.S.: even as the nation’s prospects for economic well-being become more dependent on a highly skilled, innovative workforce, an alarming proportion of its citizens—those on whom the nation’s future could hinge—face daunting odds in overcoming intergenerational cycles of poverty. Meanwhile, our education system is tasked with reinventing itself to educate more and more students to ever higher global standards. The issues are complex: In communities where poverty runs deep, children, youth and families have little access to high-quality education and other pathways to opportunity. And the solutions are bigger than simply improving schools—they require family involvement, community supports and strong transitions between early education, K-12 education and higher education.

What can grantmakers do to break the poverty cycle and help all of the nation’s students find pathways to a prosperous future? How can we link our focused efforts in education to complementary change efforts in community revitalization, workforce training and youth development? Baltimore—where new leaders are bringing momentum to efforts to shrug off its industrial past and help its inner-city neighborhoods with unique partnerships between community builders and education reformers—is an ideal place to learn from your peers by reflecting on promising practices for improving educational outcomes and expanding economic opportunities.

2008 Conference Planning Committee
Lisa Kane, Annie E. Casey Foundation (co-chair)
Lata Reddy, The Prudential Foundation (co-chair)
Tony Berkeley, W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Yee-Ann Cho, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Ross Danis, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation
Rogéair Purnell, James Irvine Foundation
Jan Rivitz, Aaron Straus and Lillie Straus Foundation
Chris Shearer, National Geographic Education Foundation
Connie Yowell, MacArthur Foundation

2008 Conference Sponsors
Prudential Foundation
The Annie E. Casey Foundation
The Atlantic Philanthropies
The Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Foundation
The Abell Foundation
The Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers

GFE members: log in and click here to visit the conference archives in the GFE Knowledge Center.