GoLocalProv — a news outlet dedicated to covering Providence, R.I. — reports that a Rhode Island businessman is exploring a Promise-type program for the state’s capital. Richard Lappin, co-owner of Regency Plaza, LLC, and president of LISCO Development, has started a program, A Door to the Future, which hopes to entice families to move to and remain in the Providence schools, attract businesses looking for a qualified, educated workforce, and improve Providence Public Schools by helping to motivate students who may currently believe that post-secondary education is financially out of their reach. Continue reading
Should Camden Become A City of Promise?
In February, the FBI named it the most dangerous U.S. city of its size. Forty percent of its residents live below the federal poverty line and its unemployment rate is three times the national average. Fewer than half of its students graduate from high school and three of its mayors left office heading directly to jail.
Camden, New Jersey — which sits across the Delaware River from Philadelphia — has been notorious for decades, but the buzz words today are rebuild, revitalize, restore and relocate. In fact, in the second half of 2014, six major development projects have been approved for more than $600 million in tax credits from the state’s Economic Development Authority, drawing attention from both the Washington Post and the New York Times in recent weeks. Continue reading
Atlanta Looks For Achieve Leadership
Achieve Atlanta — which was announced as a commitment during the White House College Opportunity Day of Action last week — is a big idea with the goal to increase the number of Atlanta Public Schools students graduating from college by 20 percent by the year 2025.
To do that, the organization will invest in strategies that Assist students in preparing for and enrolling in college through consistent high-quality high school advising; ensure students are supported academically, socially and emotionally once enrolled in college through intensive advising; provide students with financial assistance to help them persist and graduate; and mobilize community and civic support for students.
And Achieve Atlanta is looking to hire its first executive director, who will provide vision and leadership to develop and execute a data-driven, growth-oriented college attainment program, using community-building and collective impact principles. To learn more about the opportunity, please download the announcement.
The New Way To Socialize
A Promise program should easily be a “golden” brand. After all, how many complaints can people have about organizations that give away money and ask little in return?
Well, nothing worth doing is ever complaint free. Some people don’t like the eligibility rules while others think the requirements to maintain a scholarship are too demanding. Some simply don’t like that private funders elect to apply their gift as an exclusively “in-state” opportunity while others just don’t think that they are getting enough free money. Continue reading
Cities Of Promise 