A summit on how business can help transform U.S. education
April 27-29, 2009 • New Orleans

American business leaders are acutely aware today’s students will need a very different type of education to succeed in the 21st century global economy. Yet many of schools are remarkably resistant to change and offer what amounts to an obsolete education. This situation is a huge headache for business leaders, who increasingly worry about their ability to find the talent they need to compete. It is also an enormous opportunity for business to lead the way in solving this significant problem.

This summit marked the beginning of a major new effort to reimagine and reinvigorate corporate efforts to revitalize U.S. education. Improving education is a leading priority for business. Collectively business has invested billions of dollars and millions of employee volunteer hours. These investments have done little to narrow the achievement gap between American students and their counterparts around the world. Given the economic crisis, we can no longer afford a “business as usual” approach to education.

This summit brought together many of the nation’s top education thought leaders with senior corporate practitioners to begin tackling this enormous challenge. Participants also had the opportunity to learn about and influence the direction of a major new initiative at the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship: the Innovation Lab for Business Leadership in Education launched with a generous grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Leaders at this event included:

• Maggi Alexander: Program director, W.K. Kellogg Foundation
• Robert A. Compton: Entrepreneur and executive producer, “Two Million Minutes”
• Richard Harriman: Senior fellow, Synectics® Corporation
• Curt Johnson: Managing director of Education Evolving
• Stanley S. Litow: Vice president, Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs, president, IBM International Foundation
• Michelle Mann: Director, Corporate Social Responsibility, Adobe Systems Inc.
• Margery Mayer: President of the Education Division, Scholastic Inc.
• Gerald W. McElvy: President, ExxonMobil Foundation
• Jason Saul: CEO, Mission Measurement
• Peggy M. Siegel, Ph.D.: President and CEO, Education free agent, LLC
• William C. Symonds: Director, The Forgotten Half Project, Harvard Graduate School of Education
• Paul Vallas: Superintendent of the New Orleans Recovery School District
• Tony Wagner: Co-director of the Change Leadership Group at the Harvard Graduate School of Education

Click here to view post-conference materials, including blog posts and presentations.

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