Reflections on the Beginning of a Movement

Posted on September 25, 2008

2020logoThe launch of 20/20 Vision for Schools may be over, but the work just begins.

Here are some initial thoughts and a synopsis of two launch events in three days.




1) The New York City Leadership Center’s Executive Forum
“An Urgent Appeal to Engage a Generation At-Risk: Helping Everyone Reach Their Highest Potential,” Thursday, September 18, 12-5 pm, at The Cornell Club


MULTI-SECTOR LEADERSHIP FORUM TO DEVELOP ACTIONABLE PLAN
TO TRANSFORM YOUTH PERFORMANCE IN SCHOOL & IN LIFE



Hosted by:

Convened by:

Presenters included:

Participants:

  • 120 Executives Representing Religious, Business, Government and Social Sectors to Collaborate to Address a Generation At-Risk
  • Participants include representatives of the Geneva School, United Federation of Teachers, Teach For America, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Cornell University, New York University, Deutsche Bank, M&T Bank, Salem Communications, Dow Corning Corp., Princeton Theological Seminary, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, American Express Business Travel, The West Paces Hotel Group, World Vision, Latino Pastoral Action Center, hedge funds, and more.

Format

    In keeping with our theme – “An Urgent Appeal to Engage a Generation At-Risk” – we structured the program into four parts.

    The first part laid the framework for the rest of the afternoon. In their introductory remarks, Mayor Wilson Goode and Jeremy Del Rio made the case for the urgency of the appeal by describing the risk factors confronting young people in 2008. Hon. Goode focused on the national crisis and Del Rio emphasized the dynamics in New York City, while also putting flesh and blood on the stats.

    Next, a panel facilitated by Mr. William Pollard explored how the panelists are empowering young people to overcome the various risk factors in their unique contexts, as well as recommendations for how they, and the other guests, can collaborate for scalable impact.

    The heart of the gathering was the table discussions facilitated by Ms. Frances Hesselbein. The audience consisted of experts in their respective fields, including business leaders, youth specialists, educators, and foundation executives. The round tables solicited their collective wisdom to find common cause for future collaborations for exponential effectiveness in New York City and beyond. We will post the table questions separately as discussion questions in the 20/20 FaceBook Group. Join the group today so you can weigh in.

    Finally, Dr. Larry Acosta captured the day’s recommendations and proposed workable next steps for a scalable engagement strategy. Rev. Gary Frost concluded with specific suggestions for how the NYCLC can serve an ongoing conversation.

    Jeremy Del Rio will be working with a team of contributors to collate the findings and recommendations into a White Paper and action plan consistent with 20/20 Vision for Schools.

2. The Launch Event
Saturday, September 20, 2008 @ Christian Cultural Center

Fifteen hundred church leaders attended the launch of The New York City Leadership Center and 20/20 Vision for Schools. Pastors Rick Warren and Dr. A. R. Bernard headlined the event, and sandwiched between them was a session co-facilitated by Pastor Gary Frost and Jeremy Del Rio called, “The Power of Promise: Empowering Emerging Leaders.”

Pastor Gary contrasted Moses’ investment in Joshua with Solomon’s lack of investment in Rehoboam. Del Rio introduced the concept of the Joshua Paradox (”Moses groomed Joshua and others to lead in his absence, but Joshua’s generation failed to reproduce the investment — and their children and grandchildren paid a steep price”), and from there focused on the failure of successive generations to invest in the education of our children. Against that backdrop we launched 20/20.

If you haven’t already done so, register your church today.

Some have asked me about the relationship between 20/20 Vision for Schools and the New York City Leadership Center. Officially, 20/20 Vision has launched as a joint venture between the Coalition of Urban Youth Workers, the local network of youth workers who conceived and birthed the plan called 20/20, and the NYCLC. At the executive forum, The NYCLC described their interest in 20/20 this way:

The New York City Leadership Center has embraced education reform through 20/20 Vision for Schools as its first initiative because investing in future-oriented, emerging leaders insures leadership for generations to come; and transformational leadership requires engaging critical social issues with meaningful solutions.

20/20 Vision begins with the idea that New York City public schools can and must be transformed within a single generation of students, so that first graders in September 2008 – who are the graduating high school class of 2020 – reverse decades-long, chronic under-performance. We seek to mobilize grass-roots community partners to reject status quo failure and fight for our students’ future.

Related

+ Download launch weekend PowerPoints
+ Event photos coming soon

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