Fresno County Community Graduation Summit

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Summit Convener: United Way of Fresno County and America s Promise Alliance

Summit Facilitator: Rick Phillips, Executive Director and Founder of Community Matters.

Community Matters is a California based nonprofit organization whose mission is to engage, equip, and empower young people to be contributors and peacemakers in their schools and communities. Author of 10 Years after Columbine: School Violence-Prevention Report Card .

Keynote Speaker: John Hope Bryant is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Operation HOPE (HOPE), and the Vice Chairman of the U.S. President s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy. Operation HOPE is America s first non-profit social investment banking organization, now operating in 51 U.S. communities and South Africa , having raised more than $400 million from the private sector to empower the poor. A national community leader cited by the past four sitting U.S. Presidents for his work to empower low-wealth communities across America, and an active advisor to the past two U.S. Presidents, John Hope Bryant is one of the most authoritative and compelling advocates for poverty eradication in America today. He believes that children are dropping out of high school because they don t see education as relevant to their future.

Purpose of the Summit :

To develop a plan of action by:

• engaging in active dialogue,
• identifying community resources that include more than money, and
• building community partnerships.
• To bring awareness of the dropout issue and understanding of the options and resources available to support student success.
• To create a collaborative effort that will implement the plan of action.
  
  

Key Summit Components:

• National, State, and County Data

• Student Presentations

• Community Perspectives

• Collaborative Building Breakout Sessions

• Commitment to the Plan of Action

Outcomes:

The resulting outcomes for this summit will be:

• A greater community awareness of the dropout issue,
• An understanding of the options and resources available to combat the high dropout rate in Fresno ,
• The commitment of community stakeholders to address the issue, and
• The creation of a collaborative task force to implement a community action plan.

For More Information Contact:

Yvonne Freve

yfreve@unitedwayfresno.org

559.243.3668

National Sponsors: AT&T and State Farm Insurance

Local Sponsors: AT&T; Fresno Compact; Heald College; League of Women Voters of Fresno; State Center Consortium; State Farm Insurance; Union Bank of California; United Way of Fresno County

United Way of Fresno County is partnering with America s Promise Alliance to mobilize resources in Fresno County to support High School graduation.

The goals of the Fresno Community Graduation Summit are to:

Increase Community Awareness of the Dropout Crisis Engage groups of stakeholders in an active community dialogue.

Understand Available Resources - Identify the Options to Support Student Success.

Build Community Partnerships Bring Together the following Stakeholders:

local education districts, including Fresno County Office of Education, Fresno Unified, Clovis Unified and others; local government; community based organizations; students; parents and caring adults; and local business.

Create a Plan of Action - to Increase the Number of Students Who Graduate From High School.

Our Partners Include:

American Humanics

Big Brothers Big Sisters

California State University , Fresno

Center for Multicultural Cooperation

Central Valley Educational Leadership Institute

City of Fresno

Clovis

Unified School District

Central Unified School District

Encourage Tomorrow

Fresno Community Regional Medical Center

Fresno

Office of Education

Fresno

EOC

Fresno

Unified School District

Fresno Pacific University

Goodwill Industries

Hands on C entral Valley

Heald College

Reading and Beyond

The Standards Company

Youth Leadership Institute

Kaiser Permanente

More Information about the America s Promise can be found at

http://www.americaspromise.org/Our-Work/Dropout-Prevention.aspx

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