Growing Inland Achievement

Category: News

  • Education and Community Leaders Affirm Five New Goals for the Inland Empire

    Education and Community Leaders Affirm Five New Goals for the Inland Empire

    Over 230 community leaders from education, business, government, and nonprofit sectors gathered virtually on September 21-22 for the fourth annual Toward a Shared Vision convening presented by Growing Inland Achievement (GIA).

    A focal point of the convening was to affirm five new goals set forth for the region, emphasizing the opportunity to improve educational equity and economic opportunity for historically marginalized populations in the Inland Empire. “The goals we have set are ambitious, but not unrealistic,” said Dr. Wolde-Ab Issac, Chancellor of Riverside Community College District. “The past goals we have set—we have definitely exceeded them—and I think the success we have achieved is inspiring us to raise the bar even higher, breaking down the barriers from K-12, to community colleges, to universities. Working together as one strong family gives us the inspiration that we can achieve all the goals we are shaping right now.”

    The five new regional goals are:

    1. Increase educational attainment, with a specific emphasis on accelerating success for historically marginalized student groups.
    2. Foster an efficient, high-quality education system that creates equitable access for all students.
    3. Build equitable structures in education to eradicate systemic racism.
    4. Fuel a robust future economy that increases equitable career opportunities and employment.
    5. Eliminate the chasms in wealth, income, and poverty rate, which disproportionately affect people of color.

    The first day of the Toward a Shared vision convening featured a panel discussion with the GIA Board of Directors on how these new regional goals will meet the moment of our new reality. Recordings for both days of the convening are available to watch online on GIA’s website.

    GIA solicited broad regional stakeholder feedback as part of its strategic planning process, which helped shape the new regional goals. “The hard work of our regional network of partners got us here, and that movement—that momentum we have, is what we’re going to continue to use to push us forward,” said Dr. Carlos Ayala, President & CEO of GIA. “I believe in having high expectations and that we have the right talent in our region to make these goals achievable.”

    The convening connected the region’s 56 K-12 districts, 12 community colleges, two public four-year institutions, four private four-year institutions, education-related nonprofits, with over 230 attendees across the two-day virtual event. Additional convening sessions focused on the concept of collective impact to achieve equity, catalyze economic growth, and financial prosperity for the Inland Empire residents.

    “The region’s population of talented students, robust educational institutions, and student support organizations creates the opportunity to produce a vast supply of educated workers to transform the regional economy,” said Ann Marie Sakrekoff, Senior Director at GIA. “This time of crisis is also a time of opportunity—for us to unite as a region and work together to achieve transformational change.”

    By researching, resourcing, and connecting educational institutions, nonprofits, and businesses in the Inland Empire, GIA has helped facilitate regional educational policy alignment to increase college preparedness, certificate and degree attainment, and career readiness. Learn more by viewing GIA’s recently published 5-year Report and by visiting their website at https://gia.echofactory.dev.

     

    GIA is a regional intermediary organization aimed at increasing postsecondary credential attainment, adding more qualified people to the workforce, and contributing to a thriving economy. GIA brings together leaders across K-20 education, civic, and business sectors to work together through a collective impact approach to achieve educational and economic success. Several grants have helped GIA carry out their work, including a Governors Innovation Award, College Futures Foundation, James Irvine Foundation funding, and a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Learn more at https://gia.echofactory.dev.

  • SoCal Edison Scholarship Opportunities for High School Seniors

    SoCal Edison Scholarship Opportunities for High School Seniors

    $40,000 in Scholarship Applications Open to Inland High School Seniors

    Each year, Edison Scholars awards $40,000 scholarships to 30 high school seniors who want to make a difference in the world.

    The 2021 Edison Scholars application window will be open October 1 – December 14. Please help us spread the word to eligible high school seniors who want to make a difference in the world by studying science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) that they can apply for a $40,000 college scholarship to help reach their goals.

    From reducing greenhouse gas emissions to increasing access to clean energy in disadvantaged communities, real issues need bright ideas to create change. This is a chance for students to stand up, advance their education, and be part of the solution.

    Student Applicant must:

    • Live in Southern California Edison’s service area
    • Be a high school senior with at least a cumulative 3.0 GPA
    • Plan to pursue studies in eligible STEM fields at a four-year accredited college or university
    • Show financial need

    For more information visit: https://www.edison.com/home/community/edison-scholars.html

  • Toward A Shared Vision: The Importance of Regional Collaboration

    Toward A Shared Vision: The Importance of Regional Collaboration

    Collective Impact Collaboration

    The COVID19 pandemic has magnified the glaring economic and educational problems in the Inland Empire. Throughout the crisis, regional leaders have doubled their efforts to help students succeed and families financially stay afloat. However, it’s important to recognize that educational improvement spurs economic growth. Cross-sector collaboration to move toward a shared vision of improving degree attainment rates will improve regional standards of living in this unprecedented time.

    Regional Problems

    Understanding the regional educational attainment gap, workforce demand and labor market gap is crucial to understanding why increasing degree attainment will improve the Inland economy. For instance, with 11.6% of the State’s population, the Inland Empire is one of the most populous regions in California, yet its students are less likely to earn college degrees than the average Californian. According to recent data from College Futures Foundation, for every 1,000 high school freshmen in the Inland Empire, only 151 will complete a BA degree.

    A result of low regional degree attainment rates is a lack of growth in the regional economy. The projected workforce demand for Inland students with baccalaureate degrees will outweigh our labor supply by almost 2.3x in the next few years. Data USA found the regional poverty rate is 17.5%, and median household income is $56,087 because the current workforce demand for knowledge workers can’t be filled. To improve the regional economy and increase median household income, we must increase degree attainment rates to fill the labor market gap.

    The Inland Empire Higher Educational Network

    Collaboration across industries and sectors will increase educational attainment rates and improve the regional economy. Growing Inland Achievement (GIA) serves as a backbone organization to the Inland Empire Higher Education Network to pursue this mission. The network constitutes regional leaders who collaborate to create strategies and tactics that solve the Inland Empire’s most pressing educational issues. 

    One example of a successful collaborative effort coordinated and funded by GIA is the Promise Scholars Achieve Partnership (PSAP) program. Promise Scholars, a member organization of the network, launched PSAP program to increase postsecondary enrollment rates. Promise Scholars hired college ambassadors like Gloria, a compassionate and understanding individual that reflects the student community she serves. Ambassadors like Gloria develop long-term individualized student relationships and create early college awareness. In this way, PSAP facilitates local students’ transition from high school to college.

    Gloria and her fellow College Ambassadors are highly successful at getting local students to enroll in and attend college. For example, before the PSAP program, the baseline FAFSA or Dream Act completion rates were 33% at Chaffey High, 36% at Montclair High, and 42% at Ontario High in 2012. After Promise Scholars and College Ambassadors began to serve local students and spread college awareness, increase college access, and facilitate college transition, the FAFSA or Dream Act completion rate increased to 53% at Chaffey High, 60% at Montclair High, and 45% at Ontario High in 2019. These increased numbers signify an increase in postsecondary enrollment rates by local students.

    Why You Should Join

    When regional networks are coordinated to improve educational success, they quickly make a world of difference for students. More students with college degrees will launch careers as knowledge workers and entice businesses to move into the Inland Empire to access our labor market. But without network growth, network successes cannot be scaled. You can help scale network strategies and help students succeed by joining the Toward A Shared Vision virtual regional event. At the Toward A Shared Vision event, you’ll learn about network goals and get FREE training and professional development from the collective impact forum. Learn more about and register for the Toward A Shared Vision event by clicking the button below.

     

     

  • Growing Inland Achievement Announces 2020 Innovation Awards

    Growing Inland Achievement Announces 2020 Innovation Awards

    Growing Inland Achievement (GIA) is pleased to announce our 2020 Innovation Award recipients. Innovation Awards are two-year $150,000 awards provided to organizations with plans to support and facilitate student success in the bi-county region of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties.

    This year, four organizations have been selected, including:

    Barstow Community College

    • Funding will support the development of an instrument to measure student “creative confidence,” as well as an outreach campaign based on “college is for all” messaging. It will also help 8th-grade students attend creative learning activities to improve awareness about workplace skills and knowledge.

    California State University, San Bernardino – Inland Empire Fellowship Program

    • Funding will be used to recruit and train 22 academic fellows per academic year from the CSUSB Undocumented Student Success Center, Office of Pre-College Programs, and 2020 alumni. Fellows will receive professional development, while working on completion campaigns, mentoring, and advising students toward achieving college degrees.

    Promise Scholars Ontario-Montclair Schools Foundation

    • Funding will be used to implement the “College is 4 You” project that focuses on reaching African American males and other underserved groups to close the equity gap in education. Campaign messaging of “College is 4 You” will be promoted through a regional marketing campaign. High school students will serve as brand ambassadors who will help with social media marketing while Promise Scholars College Advisors will support and guide brand ambassadors. Activities include workshops, values affirmations exercises, video messages, social media posts, and texting campaigns.

    Riverside County Office of Education – Magnify the Middle

    • Funding will help to increase middle school awareness of college eligibility and providing a systematic prep system leading to 9th-grade A-G on-track schedule. Activities will include a monthly meeting to share ideas at sites, middle school transcript analysis (HS readiness indicator), site-based parent engagement programs, and a “College Making it Happen” themed event for middle school students.

    “We’re very excited about the 2020 Innovation Award recipients because these four organizations have an exceptional track record of facilitating college and career success for students in the Inland Empire,” said Dr. Ayala, President at CEO at GIA. “They also place equity at the forefront of their programs to ensure student success.”

    Innovation Award funding provides $150,000 over two years while encouraging the contribution of local resources through a 50% matching requirement to promote sustainability and organizational capacity. This year’s awards were solicited by GIA’s regional Action Network Teams to ensure that the work is aligned with GIA’s goals. All awardees are required to have partnerships to implement the activities as well as a scalability plan to share the successes with the region. GIA has distributed nearly 2-million dollars in Innovation Award funding since 2017. To see a list of past awardees, please visit GIA’s website at inlandempiregia.org.

    Growing Inland Achievement is a bi-county, educational collaborative in the Inland Empire that brings together leaders across K-20 education, civic, and business sectors. GIA organizes and collaborates with the Inland Empire educational network to create innovative practices that achieve large-scale social and institutional change.

  • Regional Website Launches to Support Inland Empire Class of 2020

    Regional Website Launches to Support Inland Empire Class of 2020

    The new website helps to connect Inland Empire students with college advising and other critical resources, including technology and basic needs support.

    Growing Inland Achievement, a regional collective impact organization seeking to increase Inland educational attainment rates, recently launched IEStudents.org, a website to support high school students as they transition to college amid the coronavirus pandemic. The website provides access to college advisors and current information on the changes in college admissions, testing, and financial aid.

    The idea for a regional support website stemmed from a post-secondary education task force comprised of educational leaders across the region, who have united to develop support mechanisms for students amid the crisis. GIA staff and students supported the website build with guidance from the task force and other partners across the region.

    “With the help of our partners, GIA launched IEStudents.org based on the vision of connecting high school students with critical information and college advising support to ensure the pandemic does not inhibit any student’s journey to college, especially those more likely to fall through the cracks. The college success advisors page helps to match students with a college success advisor to assist with their individual needs,” said GIA Director of Operations & Partnerships, Ida Hermosillo.

    GIA student interns played a crucial role in developing the website and curating the site content. “The website is easy to navigate and very helpful for students,” said GIA Intern, Ian Sherman. “I’m very proud that I have played a key role in building and maintaining this website to help students like me here in the Inland Empire to pursue their dreams of going to college.”

    Partners in the Inland Empire Educational Network offered insight on the educational challenges presented by the pandemic. Feedback from the network highlighted critical student needs and helped to drive the website architecture and page content. Each section of the website contains pages with relevant and timely updates for students, such as updates regarding financial aid administration, emergency funds, food resources, technology, and virtual learning support, among other student success resources.

    “I’m grateful for the many Inland Empire colleges and organizations that came together to work collectively and remove barriers for high school students making a transition to college during this difficult time,” said President & CEO of GIA, Dr. Carlos Ayala. “I’m also extremely proud of our GIA staff and interns who stepped up to develop this outstanding website resource for students in our region.”

    Growing Inland Achievement is a bi-county,  educational collaborative in the Inland Empire that brings together leaders across K-20 education, civic, and business sectors. GIA organizes and collaborates with the Inland Empire Educational Network to create innovative practices that achieve large-scale social and institutional change. Visit GIA’s website at inlandempiregia.org to learn more.