Civic Enterprises is partnering with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), WAMU, PBS, America's Promise Alliance and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to combat the dropout crisis in the U.S. through the American Graduate Initiative. Learn more on the CPB website.
The Building a Grad Nation Summit is the premier event of Grad Nation, our 10-year campaign to end the high school dropout crisis and prepare young people for college and the 21st century workforce. The 2012 summit will bring together hundreds of participants on March 18-21 in Washington, D.C. to focus on progress being made against the Grad Nation goals in communities and states across the nation. Speakers include General Colin Powell, Mrs. Alma Powell, Arne Duncan, Michelle Rhee, Civic Enterprises John Bridgeland, and more!
Iowa Governor Terry Branstad partners with Opportunity Nation and local leaders to declare February "Opportunity in Iowa Month"
Read the Opportunity Nation Press Release
Learn More on the Blog from Opportunity Nation's Executive Director, Mar Edwards: "From President Obama to IA Governor Branstad; A Call for Improving Opportunity"
Read an article from the Des Moines Register discussing Opportunity Nation and Iowa's commitment to opportunity.
There are no silver bullets to solve the dropout crisis and blunt instruments often go too far. But when President Obama in his State of the Union address urged states to raise the legal dropout age from 16 to when students graduate or turn 18, we cheered.
Almost a decade ago, we worked with Hart Research to listen to the perspectives of dropouts all across America to understand their life stories, challenges, hopes and solutions to keep more students on the graduation track. Among many findings catalogued in the report for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation called The Silent Epidemic, we discovered something alarming.
View the remarks offered by Civic Enterprises CEO, John Bridgeland, during the February 3rd meeting of the White House Council for Community Solutions.
Visit the official website to learn more on the Council's work.
The Council also supports the Administration's Summer Jobs Plus initiative, working to unite all citizens – across all sectors – to go “All In for Youth.” Learn more developed resources, research and information for businesses and communities.
Opportunity Road:
The Promise &
Challenge of America's Forgotten Youth
They number in the millions—young people ages 16 to 24 who are out of school and out of work—and they are often forgotten by our society. Many have left high school without a diploma. Others may finish high school and even attend college, but still lack the essential education, skills and credentials needed to obtain a decent job in a 21st century economy—a job that will not only help them support a family, but also become the engaged citizens our nation needs them to be. Their future is our success.
If we don’t help them find a path, given the billions of dollars they cost this country every year and over their lifetimes, all of our futures will be affected. We frequently mention the more than one million young people that drop out of high school every year. But what is less often discussed is that the movement to keep these youth in school must also embrace those who have already left. Like any major pandemic threatening the vitality of a nation, we cannot focus solely on prevention without helping recuperate those who have already been stricken. They have equal importance to our society. This scenario is as true for the dropout crisis as it is for any disease.
Reports published by Civic Enterprises are often cited in the press. The latest can be found here.
Why Kids Drop Out: Identifying The Early Warning Signs -- Feb. 7 -- WAMU
"Those are alarm bells in the system that for years and years and years have gone ignored," says John Bridgeland, who heads the public policy firm Civic ...
Investing in skills is good for workers and business -- Feb. 6 -- OregonLive.com
A 2011 report by Civic Enterprises found more than half of business leaders, and 67 percent of small business leaders, face a challenge recruiting employees ...
Dropping the dropout rate
Victorville Daily Press
The program's effectiveness was the subject of a recent report, “On Track for Success,” coauthored by Civic Enterprises and the Everyone Graduates Center at ...