Originally published in Milwaukee Succeeds’ “Hey It’s Danae!” newsletter

The Greater Milwaukee Committee is proud to be a founding partner of Milwaukee Succeeds. We need community-wide collaboration to educate our children, move Milwaukee forward and redefine our community’s future. Collaboration is a key tenet of not just Milwaukee Succeeds, but all of the GMC’s projects and initiatives. The more people who are at the table, the better outcomes we can expect.

An ongoing tenet of our work is an important one: STUDENTS COME FIRST. All of our students deserve a school that embraces high standards for learning, an inclusive and celebrated multicultural student body, an excellent faculty, a vibrant environment and a caring community. With these qualities in place, our schools will better serve all of our area’s children.

Every child, regardless of where he or she is born and his or her circumstances, deserves a great education. The GMC is committed to racial equity and inclusion and we view all of our initiatives through this lens. This is one of the many reasons why the GMC is involved with Milwaukee Succeeds, an initiative that embraces the same approaches through similar lenses.

The GMC’s enduring commitment to Goal 3 (all young people utilize postsecondary education or training to advance their opportunities beyond high school and prepare for a successful career) is one that the GMC continues to focus on throughout our work in education. The Goal 3 network strategies include reducing summer melt into postsecondary, supporting continual academic and career planning, and helping students successfully complete a postsecondary education program. These strong pillars of our educational agenda are found throughout the GMC’s Reimagining High Schools initiative, our continuing work with Bradley Tech & Trade, and our commitment to MKE Fellows.

In 2014, the Lumina Foundation announced Milwaukee as a “Community Partnership for Attainment” and subsequently invested $180,000 into Milwaukee Succeeds’ framework for change. As a partner in this grant, we believe that Lumina’s investment is an exciting opportunity to incorporate institutes of higher education throughout the Milwaukee region into Milwaukee Succeeds. Already, delegates from many of our region’s institutions have come together to share best practices regarding student attraction and retention. This approach has tremendous promise. We know that with postsecondary education or training, there are almost eight times more available positions than job openings without requirements.

The GMC is committed to the work and progress of Milwaukee Succeeds, and we thank all of you for the passion you put into educating our children every day. We know this is a long process and remain committed to the process and the initiative. These challenges have faced our city for years, and will take years to overcome. Our collective impact will be the game-changer for our Milwaukee children.

Thanks to our many members who have joined in our commitment to Milwaukee Succeeds.

Sincerely,

Julia Taylor President