Our Leadership Twin Cities cohort came together for their Education & Workforce Day at Junior Achievement North in Saint Paul. These 55 leaders from local business, nonprofits, and governments have committed to expanding their awareness of critical issues and better engaging in the community to make a more positive impact. On this day, we discussed the current state of the Minnesotan and MSP metro's education system, ways to support children and youth outside the classroom, removing barriers for college access and success, and how to better develop our talent pipeline. We also enjoyed a tour of Junior Achievement North seeing many ways to volunteer including their entrepreneurship and money management programs. Thanks to our guest speakers: Executive Director of EdAllies Joshua Crosson, Vice President of Community Engagement at Great MN Schools Kyle Parsons, Executive Director of Black Men Teach Markus Flynn, Chief Operations Officer of @Junior Achievement North Geoff Wilson, President and CEO of Northside Achievement Zone (NAZ) Sondra Samuels, Director of Career and College Readiness at Achieve Twin Cities
Caitlyn Cole, Director of Employment Services at Goodwill-Easter Seals Minnesota Jim Durdle, Director of Employer Development at Project for Pride in Living (PPL) Madalynn Gerold, Director of Strategic Initiatives & Corporate Engagement of Undergraduate Education at the College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota Twin Cities Cassidy Titcomb, Managing Director of ConnextMSP at GREATER MSP Partnership Ieesha McKinzie Collins, and Communications and Brand Manager at Takeda Sarah Bryant. Thanks to our volunteer alumni: Brad White, Updraft Education; Sarah Bryant, Takeda; Maryse Birr, M.A., Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation; Paula Kashtan, ECMC Foundation; Erin Weber Martin, MBA, MSW, LISW, Youthprise; Kenny Devine, Padilla; Karla Henderson, Project for Pride in Living (PPL); and Matthew Koncar, Rose Hill Stay-at-Home Services. And thanks to our program sponsors: Huntington National Bank and Target.