President Bill Clinton kicks off Clinton Global Initiative America in Chicago. Photo by G. Lyon.
June 9, 2012
What’s the best way to make a dent in a really big problem? Put some big minds into a room, have them brainstorm some big ideas for two days – with breaks for food and inspiring examples of ideas that work – and let them know you expect them not only to THINK but to DO.
Such was the second annual Clinton Global Initiative America, held here in Chicago, this past June 7-8. A domestic version of the international Clinton Global Initiative, this is a convening with a purpose. Through the course of the event everyone who attends is expected to make a “commitment” towards making America a better place by creating jobs or improving education or peoples’ living situation. (They say it better on the website)
Alex Reeves asked me to be an advisor for the STEM Education working group. For the past six months, I and the other two advisors – Kumar Garg, Senior Policy Advisor from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and Maya Agarwal Lundhagen of the Carnegie Institute for Advanced Studies and Director of 100K in 10 (an initiative working to train 100,000 STEM education teachers) – have been chewing on invitation lists and attendee recruitment, reviewing important and creative work emerging in science education, considering which organizations can – and have – brought ideas and funding to STEM education, developing the program goals and, (the hardest work of all) figuring out the agendas and facilitation plans for the precious three working sessions.
The STEM Education working group advisory team working (and eating) till the last minute before show time. Photo by G. Lyon.
I’ll give the punch line here and if you’re interested in hearing highlights about CGI America (and seeing some photos) you can read on.
Here is me with Erik Schwartz, CEO and Founder of Citizen Schools, just after the ink had dried on our commitment letter.
Project Exploration made a commitment at Clinton Global Initiative America 2012. We will be partnering with Citizen Schools to train and support 1,000 STEM professionals in Chicago to do outreach with youth over the next three years. We’ll work with Google, Fidelity, Cognizant, and Cisco to recruit scientists and engineers, get them ready to be volunteers in programs during school and after school. The STEM professionals will work in Project Exploration programs and other schools and programs around the city.
Opening Plenary: Randi Weingarten, AFT and Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Photo by G. Lyon.
Given the brewing teachers’ strike, it was a little awkward to have the opening plenary center on Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers, talking about how to get people back to work. The Chicagoan in me couldn’t help but be excited that the event was even happening here. And when Randi said, “What goes on outside the classroom has a huge influence on what goes on INSIDE the classroom,” I couldn’t help but be excited that we might actually be making progress on education being a “whole enchilada” kind of endeavor.
Alex Reeves and Jan Cuny talk through goals for the upcoming working session.
In addition to the Kumar, Maya, and myself, Alex recruited five people to serve as facilitators for the topic-area working groups: Jan Morrison of TIES (Teaching Institute for Excellence in STEM), Erik Schwartz of Citizen Schools, Jan Cuny of the National Science Foundation, Paloma Garcia-Lopez of the Maker Education Initiative, and Adam Frankel of Digital Promise.
Kumar Garg, the original "let's make something good happen" guy gets the STEM Education working group to work. Photo by G. Lyon.
We got people warmed up and then the group of 100+ participants moved to tables to get to their working group of choice: STEM professionals, Educational Technology, Engineering and Robotics, K-12 Teachers, Hands-On and Making, Computer Science and Gaming, Out of School Time.
The Out of School Time working group (two tables!). Photo by G. Lyon.
This was a room of people who wanted to get to work. The group I facilitated, Out of School Time, had representatives from Sesame Street, Nascar, the After School Alliance, and Festo Corporation. Other groups had folks from Darpa, Motorola Mobility, and the Maker movement; we even kept Neil DeGrasse Tyson scanning the skies for possibilities.
Adam Frankel of Digital Promise reports out from the Education Technology working group. Photo by G. Lyon.
Because CGI attracts individuals from organizations that don’t often have cause to come together, the working groups were able to get creative. In our group, the issue of bringing arts and what arts can do for young people as they work to find their voice and vision was an important theme.
Roosevelt Johnson of NASA and Carol Tang from the Coalition for Science After School discuss the role of an online learning center for out of school time. Photo by G. Lyon.
“Put an “A” in STEM and you have “STEAM”– this phrase took shape in actual commitments. For example, Time Warner Cable and 826 National are partnering to bring science into after school creative writing programs around the country. (We’ll be piloting our own version of this with our buddies over at 826 Chicago this summer).
Many of the commitments are still being shaped and refined. The CGI America team takes the job of commitments seriously and most of the ones that get made come to fruition and have impact. You can get a flavor for the diversity and scope of some of the commitments that were made at CGI America 2012 HERE.
Tessie Topol, Time Warner Cable, Mark Achler, Redbox (and Project Exploration Board member) and Paige Ponder, CEO of Project Exploration meet, greet, and eat at the evening reception at the Sheraton. Photo by G. Lyon.
Along with the action-packed working sessions, there were plenary speakers, evening receptions, and a site visit to 1871 hosted by Kevin Willer of the Chicago Entrepreneurial Center.
Kevin Willer (left) hosts an early morning breakfast for CGI America attendees from the Small Business, Entrepreneurial and STEM Education working groups at the newly-opened 1871 in the Merchandise Mart. Photo by G. Lyon.
AND best of all, working group advisors got a chance to have their photo taken with President Clinton. Of course I asked him to sign something for our students. He wrote “Explore and Discover” and signed it.
The golden ticket to the photo line.
"Explore and Discover!" Straight from President Bill Clinton to YOU Project Exploration students!
The closing ceremony was heady stuff as President Clinton read out some of the nearly 100 projects and partnerships that had taken shape during the convening. But even more than the work ahead, it was hard not to be inspired by the hope President Clinton described when assessing America’s strengths. According to Clinton the most important power we have is our youth.
Who am I to argue with that?
The more things change the more they stay the same. Me with Jose Rico - my buddy and colleague from my days at the Small Schools Workshop. Rico is now the Executive Director for the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispancis. !Que bueno!
I was one of the ‘first-year’ participants of CGI, America and the STEM Education work group and cannot agree more with Gabrielle that the overall CGI conference, President Bill Clinton’s inspiring leadership, and the STEM work session were not just full of ideas, but emanated a synergetic ‘can-do’ spirit. Wow! I came back energized with a stronger belief that working together with a shared vision and pooled resources of like-minded partners, we can make a big difference in the lives of our youth. We can prepare the 21st century innovators, scientists and engineers by re-igniting the spirit of innovation and providing real-world opportunities for them to practice critical thinking, problem solving and creativity, which are the core tenets of STEM education and workforce preparedness. The Henry Ford, a national repository of stories of innovators past and present, of ordinary people who became extraordinary, is fully committed to collaborating with the CGI partners and contributing our assets and resources to formal and informal STEM education providers. Lastly, kudos to Alex Reeves and Kumar Garg for their leadership and excellent facilitation of the STEM session. Best wishes to all. ~Paula Gangopadhyay. Chief Learning Officer, The Henry Ford.
[...] an event in Chicago this month, a rich and diverse group of experts was convened by Bill Cllinton to explore [...]