E3 Alliance

E3 Alliance’s Blueprint for Change – 2008 Leaders Summit, held January 23rd at the Four Seasons in Austin, was a unique forum that brought together over 150 Central Texas leaders representing a cross-section of business, government, community and education to explore ways to collectively drive the educational future of the region. Summit Leaders worked together to set education priorities that will drive systemic change over the next decade.

Commissioner Raymund Paredes of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board opened the event from a national perspective, emphasizing the need for change. He highlighted the often big disconnect between what the education system produces and what the business market needs. Paredes emphasized that it is in the self-interest of every CEO, college president, superintendent and community leader to commit to true systemic change – not just for their organizations, but for the region and state.

Executive Director, Susan Dawson, shared some of the ground-breaking research that has been undertaken by E3 Alliance, as well as the thousands of hours engaging Central Texas grass roots communities over the last year. Together, this research and the voice of the community provided the input to the Blueprint for Change.

The Blueprint for Change is the regional strategic plan that defines critical leverage points enabling systemic alignment of our education systems from early childhood to workforce prosperity, based on the strategic goals prioritized at this Summit.

The Blueprint for Change will define quantified goals and strategic actions for the alignment of practices and institutions, optimization of resources, needed policy changes, and financial opportunities. The completed Blueprint will provide a way for people at every level to connect into and engage in education reform for our region.

Summit Leaders took the better part of the morning discussing, prioritizing and adopting four strategic education goals based on research and community input compiled by the E3 Alliance. They examined how Central Texas has responded to the educational challenges of the region, and how we could adopt ambitious goals to “move the needle” in educational and economic outcomes.

Senator Kirk Watson then led an inspirational “auction” process where over a hundred leaders from across the region pledged to champion one or more of the selected goals. In his closing remarks, Senator Watson spoke of the centrality of education to the future of Central Texas. “Education is the most socially responsible way to address economic development. We must all become MOTOs (Master Of The Obvious) for education to secure a winning future for every child in Central Texas.”

The summit far surpassed expectations of attendees, presenters and hosts. By combining objective data, community input from across the region and the best ideas of our leaders, we launched the Blueprint for Change for Central Texas.

Please contact us if you would like to add your name to the list of champions for any of the strategic goals at info@e3alliance.org.

Of course, the hours and hours of work that went into planning the event should also be acknowledged. The organizers were Susan Dawson, Hannah Gourgey, Millie Marquis, Meg Moore, Rick Olmos and Taylor Willingham.

Leaders Summit 2008